T. Derasa Clam Acclimating?

[LittleSardines]

Hi All!

I recently purchased a T. Derasa clam for my tank (about a week ago), and he's been responsive to light and all that, but he hasn't opened up nearly as wide as he was when I bought him from my lfs and first put him in the tank.

I haven't seen any of my fish/other creatures bothering him directly, though as you can see my firefish is pretty taken by him. I'm using an (as in one) AI Sol Blue lighting unit over a 36g bowfront tank, it is usually on about 8 hours a day, but I'm trying to increase it to 12 hours a day to see how he does with that. Is it possible he's just not getting enough light? or is he maybe just not done acclimating yet?

This is my first clam, so I'm just kinda nervous and unsure of what hes doing. =)

Thanks for any input!

Attached are before/after pictures of him:
When I first put him in my tank:

Today:

 

[moliken]

i had one w/that exact pattern/color, while my other d opened well, this guy just grew, never widening much more than yours. does he have growth rings?

 

[LittleSardines]

He does look like he has some new shell growth, but I'm not sure whether that's from when he was in the lfs, or if that's new since I put him in my tank. =/
I'll keep watching to see if he's building some new shell!

By the way - how many clams do you/did you keep? Now that I've got the one I like him so much I might get another one after a while (if this one is doing ok!)! :spin1:

Thanks!

 

[moliken]

high of 21 clams.

 

[moliken]

dubblpost

 

[kichimark]

Nice clam. If it is being responsive to light and those around its ok. Having something new the first time definitely can be nerve wracking when you feel something is not going well but judging from your pictures he looks fine. Do you think perhaps he was open more at the LFS because they had less light than you do?

 

[LittleSardines]

Nice clam. If it is being responsive to light and those around its ok. Having something new the first time definitely can be nerve wracking when you feel something is not going well but judging from your pictures he looks fine. Do you think perhaps he was open more at the LFS because they had less light than you do?

Thanks! I'm starting to feel a little more confident that he's doing well in my tank. =)

It's possible that he opened wider due to less light, I guess I always just thought that they would open up as wide as they could whenever they had enough light - it never occurred to me that they might not need to open up as wide if they've got ample lighting.