Small squamosa and maxima

[Scoobaman17]

The best LFS I have near me only gets maxima clams and squamosa clams that are about 1.5-2 inches in length. Would it be a risk to get one or would they be as hardy as a larger one? I heard 3 inches is the shortest they should be.

 

[Scoobaman17]

Does anyone know it's these small clams are as hardy as larger sizes? The sale on them ends today and I was wondering since if they should be fine I want to get on of their squamosas

 

[Fsurocks99]

I would try and get bigger ones if I were you, but it you have strong lighting then you could probably get away with it.

 

[Scoobaman17]

I have 650 watts of halides over a 100 gallon display. 50 gallon fuge/sump.

 

[Fsurocks99]

is that 4 150watt halides?

 

[Fsurocks99]

If so you will want to put the maxima near the top and the dereasa should be okay on the bottom.

 

[BlastoEric1589]

bigger is better for maximas, but so are the price tags. Derasas IME are more hardy, but not as colorful and exciting.

 

[Fsurocks99]

+1 on what BlastoEric1589 wrote.

 

[Scoobaman17]

I have a 250/150/250 watt setup and I already have two derasa clams. One small and one large. I'm mainly interested in the squamosa. I love their patterns.

 

[Fsurocks99]

Have you thought about croceas? I love mine. They have great color.

 

[Scoobaman17]

Yeah I want one of them as well just none are available around my location at the time.

 

[Fsurocks99]

Really? I thought they were everywhere in Cali.

 

[Scoobaman17]

Near Torrance there are a couple of placed that have 1 of the following croceas:

small and dieing
small and don't live
huge and mega bucks
small and ridiculously priced

I can't find healthy medium or small sized croceas around much at all.

 

[JamesJR]

Re: Small squamosa and maxima

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14716714#post14716714 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Scoobaman17
The best LFS I have near me only gets maxima clams and squamosa clams that are about 1.5-2 inches in length. Would it be a risk to get one or would they be as hardy as a larger one? I heard 3 inches is the shortest they should be.

I would opt for a medium size clam. For a deressa or a maxima I would aim for something larger than 2 inches and would avoid clams that are larger than about 6 inches. Smaller clams grow rapidly and have higher feeding requirements that are hard to meet making them tougher to keep.
I would also steer away from full sized and larger clams as they are difficult to acclimate to new conditions once they are fully established. I would suspect that it is mostly to do with the rigors of transport. I've seen even experienced clam keepers lose newly introduced larger specimens.

medium size are the lowest risk.

 

[Scoobaman17]

Thats what I try to go for. I have about a 7 inch derasa I had since it was about 4 inches. I have a 3 incher as well doing great. some of the only croceas I have found are over 6 inches. I want to come by some clams that are roughly 3-4 inches.

 

[jhentr]

If that's all you can get, then it could be a gamble. I bought my first and at the moment, only clam...a ultra gold maxima. It was about 2 inches when I bought it and now it's 3 inches. Over the last 5 months, it added about 3 layers of scutes to it's shell and doing well.

So if you get a good one, you should be okay (mines was from ORA bought at a LFS).

I have less light than you, but my clam is in the middle of my 13" deep tank running Nova Extreme (4x39watts T5).