Which clam to begin with?

[Tennyson]

As you have probably seen in my other thread, I will be able to get clams soon because of my upgrade in lighting.

Which clam should I start out with? I keep hearing different opinions in books on which to start out with.

I know deresa is one of the easiest, but I'd rather start out with a crocea or maxima. Which one of those two should I start out with? And what makes them easier to take care of?

Thanks!

 

[plateboy3293]

Crocea and maxima have the same requirements. I personally like maximas though.

 

[Tennyson]

I thought crocea's needed much more lighting than any other clam. Right?

 

[cweber]

Im new to clams also, but i wanted to share my experience. I have a 75g with 175watt halides, and wanted to try a clam. I bought a crocea clam in February, and its doing great. I wanted a maxima, but couldnt turn this down. I feel it is easy to care for, and am looking forward a couple other clams as well. Hope this helps.

 

[skinz78]

Derasa is the easyest I say try the crocea to start out with. They are the most light demanding though

 

[Tennyson]

But if crocea's are so light demanding, then why try them first and not maxima's? What makes maxima's the clam to try second?

Thanks

 

[skinz78]

Maxima's, especially the small one's "2"or less" have a high mortality rate. Plus they are twice as much in price.

 

[Tennyson]

So should I try and get a small clam to begin with or does it not really matter? I think I will try a crocea, but if theres a nice maxima, then I'll try a maxima, unless theres something wrong with that.
Thanks

 

[TJ_Burton]

I was always a fan of starting with Squamosa or Derasa.
I would also take a 3+" maxima over any sized crocea.

I have always found crocea clams to have a higher death rate then any other clam.

 

[Lake75]

If you only want to choose between crocea and maxima, then I would go with crocea. I've had four of these in the past, ranging from 1" (an ORA baby clam) to 4.5" when I bought them. None of them died on me. If you could find a decent size maxima (i.e. >=3") with good color, then you could certainly go for it. There is really not much difference between crocea and maxima (except price). The only problem is like what skinz78 said above: Many of the maxima in LFS are the tiny 1-2" clams, which are very difficult to keep alive.

 

[Tennyson]

My lfs gets maximas around 2-5 inches long. I could get them there. But if crocea's have a higher death rate, then why would I want to start out with one?

When I'm looking for a crocea or maxima, what qualities should I look for? So should I generally get larger clams? What would a healthy one look like? And what qualities would an ideal clam have?

Thanks

 

[plateboy3293]

Extended maantle and all other clams that run on the same system looking healthy with extened mantle and mouth not gaping.

 

[capture]

Tennyson, I think Maximas have the higher mortality rate when small, not the Crocea.

 

[Tennyson]

Wait, I must be confused or something. A higher mortality rate means they are more likely to die or the opposite?

 

[skinz78]

yes small maxima's die alot more often than crocea's. Get a crocea to begin with.

FWIW Clams Direct just posted a lot of nice crocea's, if you are going to get one I would start with buying there.

 

[ROB2005]

I'm surprised that the most light demanding clam actually fairs a bit better than a maxima at a small size, why is that?

 

[skinz78]

Little maxima's just have a high mortality rate. They are very succeptable to param changes. And in a smaller tank such as the OP's I wouldn't chance my first clam being a maxima in a small tank.

Now some people have really good luck with the smaller maxima's, I have had fair luck. My problem was they kept falling down in the rockwork and I couldn't find them until it was too late.

The only problems with crocea's in my opinion is that they tend to be the most succeptable to pinched mantle and plus they need alot of light. With the very reputable vendor I before mentioned I wouldn't even give the possibility of pinched mantle a second thought.

 

[Tennyson]

Is there any information here I could look up about pinched mantles? It seems pretty common. What signs are there to tell if a clam has it? How well will the clam survive if it has a pinched mantle? Is there a certain way to pick them up and handle them? What if they have borrowed into the sand?

Thanks

 

[kdblove_99]

Crocea

 

[skinz78]

do a search on her for pm disease. if the clam burrows it isn't a problem.