i put a small Hippopus in my tank for a test subject to see if my tank is ready for clams. it was a boring brown and squiggly white when i got it. it is now developing blue spots on the edge of its mantle. it has grown between 1-1.5 cm in the last month and generally looks good. i was going to add 2 squamosa's next and move to maximas and croceas after a month or so. do you think that i should do this now or wait a little while longer? thanks.
time for more clams?
- Thread starter quantim0
- Start date
Tank specs
Tank specs
How much lighting do you have on your setup? I had a 2.5" squamosa in my old tank under 130 W PC. When I setup my 65 w/800W of MH, I transferred the squamosa after only a 2 week period of running the new tank (90 lbs cured LR and a new 6" DSB). I waited about a month before adding a maxima.
The squamosa has grown 30% since January, and the maxima has gone from 2.5" to 3" within a 4 month period. 2 weeks ago I added 5 more maximas and 1 derasa. They are all doing well so far - full mantle expansion, reaction to shadows above, no gaping, etc.
If your lighting is on the intense side, I'd go straight to the maximas (I don't have experience with croceas, but as everyone on the forum knows - the more intense the better for croceas). If your lighting in on the less intense side, the squamosas or derasas would be better.
If your hippo is growing, that is a good sign. How many fish do you have in your tank? The clams need some nitrates to feed their zooxanthelle - I have 4 fish in the 65 display and 2 in the 20 sump/refugium. They are all small, but get fed regularly so there is some nitrate production despite the extremely low nitrate readings (no excess to be read, but it is there because of the nitrogen cycle) - I do not know whether it is being consumed by the bacteria or the clams... I figure I'll know more in a few weeks once the system has had a chance to adjust to the new situation.
Tank specs
How much lighting do you have on your setup? I had a 2.5" squamosa in my old tank under 130 W PC. When I setup my 65 w/800W of MH, I transferred the squamosa after only a 2 week period of running the new tank (90 lbs cured LR and a new 6" DSB). I waited about a month before adding a maxima.
The squamosa has grown 30% since January, and the maxima has gone from 2.5" to 3" within a 4 month period. 2 weeks ago I added 5 more maximas and 1 derasa. They are all doing well so far - full mantle expansion, reaction to shadows above, no gaping, etc.
If your lighting is on the intense side, I'd go straight to the maximas (I don't have experience with croceas, but as everyone on the forum knows - the more intense the better for croceas). If your lighting in on the less intense side, the squamosas or derasas would be better.
If your hippo is growing, that is a good sign. How many fish do you have in your tank? The clams need some nitrates to feed their zooxanthelle - I have 4 fish in the 65 display and 2 in the 20 sump/refugium. They are all small, but get fed regularly so there is some nitrate production despite the extremely low nitrate readings (no excess to be read, but it is there because of the nitrogen cycle) - I do not know whether it is being consumed by the bacteria or the clams... I figure I'll know more in a few weeks once the system has had a chance to adjust to the new situation.
