yet another newb clam question

[a4twenty]

i just got a small wild crocea ( or that's what they said, i'll post a pic later for conformation. ) from what i've read they are quite light demanding, which should be no problem as i'm running a 400W 10K MH in a 24" deep tank. my question is should i start him off down at the bottom and gradually move him up? or start him off in the middle and let him decide?

oh yeah and when should i give him his first feeding? ( he's about 2")

 

[mbbuna]

i would start off down low and over the next week or 2 slowly move it up to where you want. as for feeding you could add a small amount of phyto every day to the tank or bowl feed 2 or 3 times a week.

 

[The steven liu]

I would start at the bottom too. Some clams have been in the holding facility of a wholesaler for a while and might not be as used to intense light as they should be or even bleached a little. So the safest way is to start from the bottom.

 

[a4twenty]

thanks guys, that's what i did. the LFS keeps them under 175MH in 18 " deep tanks. he seemed happy enough last night, i'm waiting for the lights to come back on to see if he's still smiling.

 

[parothead22]

Lighting at that size is not important, no matter what kind of Tridacna. At that size nano and phytoplankton is what it requires for survival. It isn't until it becomes a juvenille(4-5 inches) that it becomes symbiotic(photosynthetic) to survive. So for you it doesn't matter where you keep your clam regarding light.
However, certain clams require different places with regards to substrate to keep successfully. Maximas and Crocea's prefer to be placed in the rock work whereas Squamosa and Durasa's prefer sandy bottoms!!!!!!!!

 

[a4twenty]

hmmm, i put him at the bottom of the tank on a piece of LR and raised the MH to about 12" off the water just to be sure. he stayed put for 3 or 4 days and i bowl feed him on his 3rd day. yesterday when i got home from work he was down on the sand. he still looked very happy but he left a bit of his byssal thread behind on the rock. he hadn't attached to the bottom of the tank yet, so i picked him back up and placed him on the rock and moved him to a different spot. 10 min later i caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and he was back on the bottom. so again i picked him up and put him on his rock and tried another spot ( still down on the bottom of the tank ) he stayed put for the rest of the night. woke up this morning and he's back on the bottom again??

i find it hard to belive that the light is to strong for him? i don't care if he wants to wander and find his own special spot, my concern is if he attaches to the bottom ( i only have 1" of sand in my display ) that i won't be able to bowl feed him.

so my question is would he do this if he wanted to be higher in the tank? he has no way of getting up higher, or does he? and if he does attach to the bottom how much phyto would i need to feed the tank to keep him happy? ( he's in a 120G with 40G in the sump/ fuge ) i've searched and the only thing i've seen was guy putting a capful ( 5ml?? ) in his 90G. this doesn't sound like much.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mbbuna]

i would avoid constantly moving it to new spots. for now place a small flat rock just under the sand and place the clam on the rock. in a week or so the clam should be attached to the rock and you can slowly move it up to where you like. feeding phyto to the whole tank is fine, i would start off with 1/4 of what the bottle says and see how it go's.

lighting is very important to clams of all sizes. they obtain there zoox very early in life. photosynthethis plays a large role in clams from the beginning

 

[Sk8r]

Mine's growing and apparently happy, but refuses to be put into rock. He always goes to the same spot, which shows off his mantle to best advantage, so I've quit fussing with him.

 

[brettandlyndi]

I had a similar situation with a squamosa I added to my tank. I wanted him on the top of the tank, but he wanted to be on the bottom. What I did with my clam, is I put an old scallop shell under him, and he attached to that. You can place an oyster shell, clam shell or scallop shell under them, they'll attach, and you can move him all over.

 

[a4twenty]

i wish i could figure out why my computer won't read the card from my camera. ( has worked for years, but now that i need it to ....... )

the only reason i am moving him is that when he takes his leap he ends up laying on his side or worse. when i got home from work today he was almost upside down?? i'm a little worried that a crab or some worms will attack him through the hole in the bottom oh his shell ( where the byssal thread comes out. )

i guess i'll just let him decide. if he want to lay on his side then so be it

thanks for all you input.