Clams

[total*clowns]

OK, I'm liking these guys but wondered just how hard they are to keep honestly. I have heard mixed views on them so I would like an honest opinion :P THANKS :mrgreen:

[Coral Cultivations]

Normally the most important factor with keeping clams is high intensity lighitng - the more colourful the species the stronger the lighting requirement.

Deresa clams are often ok under T5 lighting, but if you want to try the more colourful Maxima species you really need metal halides.

Clams also require very good water flow, and need to be positioned on the base of the tank - if they are not happy where you place them they are fully capable of moving, so please bear this in mind - if you placed one high up on the rock work and it decided to move the resulting tumble could easily result in fatal injuries to the animal.

Clams also use a fair amount of calcium, and will grow well in ideal conditions, so in a smaller system it would be worthwhile monitoring the calcium levels and topping them up if necessary, or changing to a calcium enriched salt brand such as Tropic Marin Pro Reef, or Reef Crystals.

In a well established system with high intensity lighting clams are not difficult to keep - probably on par with most lps corals in that respect, but I think the high price tag makes people wary about them.

PS. When the animal is bagged up at the lfs make sure it is NEVER removed from the water, and be careful when aclimatising and placing it in your tank - if air is trapped in the shell it can kill the animal. Back in the shop days they used to laugh at me in TMC when I was bagging up clams because I was so careful about this - but I never lost a single one as a result!

Steve

[Macca]

good post Steve, Pro Reef salt IMHO has been very poor lately (or always has been, only statred checking it on the last 2 buckets). :evil: I plan to change brand, Dont understand why you have to supplement a fresh mix. :x

[Electric Monk]

good post Steve, Pro Reef salt IMHO has been very poor lately (or always has been, only statred checking it on the last 2 buckets). :evil: I plan to change brand, Dont understand why you have to supplement a fresh mix. :x

You just need to look at the long list of salt 'Additives' they are willing to sell you for a hefty price to get your answer :roll:

[Coral Cultivations]

I thought that was Kent Marine - that salt really is poor, and is aptly supported by their overwelming range of additives!

I have always had good results with Pro Reef in the past, although I have been away from the hobby since December, but James is carrying out some tests so we shall see.....

I have heard good reports on the Aquamedic salt - and its reasonably priced too.

Steve

[Macca]

Steve, I did it again finished a bucket of Instant Ocean before testing the parameters. I have a new bucket of pro reef and will check it tomorrow but dont hold up much hope.

James

[Paul P.]

I had my maxima high up on the rockwork under 6x55w T5`s and thought it was doing well until I changed to a triple 150w 10000k metal halide unit and it grew shed loads,

the prob with only having 3x150w halides was penetration into the 2.5ft deep tank, I had to keep any hard corals high up but I think I may have solved that by upgrading to 2 x 400 watts, so in short tank depth and halide wattage are really the deciding factors on what you can keep and where in the tank you can keep it.

when changing from T5`s to any halides it is best to acclimate any corals/clams by either placing them lower in the tank and moving them higher up over a couple of weeks or if they are securely fixed in place and this isnt possible you can shield them with 4-5 strips of acrylic placed across the tank stress bars directly over your corals/clams and removing them one at a time over a couple of weeks
both methods will prevent either UV burn (if the halides don`t have UV shields/glass covers) or stress which light sensitive animals such as clams can be prone to

[Macca]

Thanks for that Paul, some nice tips there!

James

[Blue]

We have had great results with Seachem Reef salt and we use it throughout the shop. It has good calc levels at about 445 and we have been using it for over 1 year now.
Steve visits our shop and often comments on the growth of the corals in the show tank, which you can now see in tank speks.
I have a big derassa in the shop but it outgrew the show tank so it had to be moved to one of the selling tanks.
Hope this helps.
Kind regards. :wink:
oh, you can see this clam on Marine Techs Pics or see it in the flesh at the shop.