Reef Sanctuary - Tridacnid Clams

Soft Leathers and Colts with Clams?

MotoReef — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:33:47 GMT

Hello, I have a 110 gallon reef tank with 25 gallon sump with predominantly protein skimmer doing all the filtration. My water parameters matches pretty much the same as what is recommended by the initial thread here on the recommended levels as follows:

#1 Calcium 380-450 ppm
#2 Salinity 1.024-1.026
#3 Alkalinity 2.5-4 meq/L
7-11 dKH
125-200 ppm CaCO3 equivalents
#4 Ph 8.1-8.4
#5 Magnesium 1250-1350 ppm
#6 Temp 78-82 deg F
#7 Nitrates 0
#8 Nitrites 0
#9 Phosphate < 0.03 ppm
#10 Ammonia <0.1 ppm

Only variable really being calcium levels fluctuation between additions at 350-480. Slighty wider variance than what's recommended and kept in check mostly within the parameters.

The tank is lit by two 150w Halide 14,000K bulbs at about 8" above water surface which penetrate the water column well to the bottom of 24" tall water.

My question:

The tank is predominantly soft corals of the simple colts, leathers and trees with healthy growth of all of them. I do have various mushroom corals and random growths of small frags of Xenia and one large bubble coral being the only LPS.

With knowlege of these soft corals sometimes emitting chemicals and enzymes into the water, I have not really tried heavily into mixing SPS or LPS in the same tank. I did have a button and brain coral that didn't survive long, but I am not sure if this is attributed to the soft corals or just simply a lighting and other issues.

Is this a safe environment for clams? namely tridacna sorts? Just wondering if anyone has had any success keeping clams in such system.

Any suggestions are appreciated. There is a pretty healthy clam I have been watching for couple weeks at a LFS and seems a good candidate provided that my tank can accommodate it.

clams not closing, are they ok?

beachbabies — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:19:35 GMT

Hi guys, I just recieved 2 corceas via fedex overnight. They are both open, even when i pulled them out of the bag and placed them in the water, they just stay open. They seem to be opening a little further and spreading out, or it could just be my wishful thinking.
Also, they're not mounted. I've never had to mount a clam before, I understand that all i have to do is place a rock under the clam, and the clam will attach itself on it's own. Is this correct?
All advice is welcomed and appreciated!

Bizzare foods guy ate a 5 y/o clam!

beachbabies — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:27:25 GMT

So, when I wanna watch TV and there's nothing on of interest I go into my TVO and watch an episode of bizzare foods. Well this episode was in Samoa, he was taken to a clam farm where they pulled out a 5 year old clam trew it into a boat, lugged it back to shore (all the while talking about how beautiful it was), pryed it open and ate it! they cut up the flesh into marshmellow sized chunks and ate it raw. It's posted on youtube if anyone wants to see it.
I understand that people gotta eat, but... it's a clam, it's a pretty, beautiful clam that would look far better in my tank than in his mouth!
We should make a deal w/ Samoa, a herd of cattle, or a flock of chickens or something for the clams in the farm.
Makes me wish I sent over more food during the hurricane relief!

Clam color fading

Tab964 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:27:44 GMT

I have a 3.5" crocea for about 4 months now. It is the normal deep blue and seems fine except it has some areas where the color is fading from its mantle. It is in the same spot anchorded to a rock resting on the sandbed. The shell has eveident it has grown and opens and closes noramally. The fading areas are near the ends between the folds and overlaps. Could this be a lighting problem? It is under a 250 MH which is only maybe 6 months old however a generic bulb maybe the life is exhausted. I ordered 2 new Pheonix bulbs hoping that is the issue could it be something else?
My stats are:
Cal 320
KH 10.2
Ph 8.2
Mag 1300
amn, trite, Pho at 0
trates are less the 5

found a clam

burntricer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:43:47 GMT

so i found a clam in my zoa's...

ill get a pic as soon as i can.

HOWEVER, can a clam nuke a tank if it dies? although my tank has been up almost 8 months i have no where NEAR the lighting to support it.

i have a 48w actinic and a 48w t8 power glo....

so what should i do?

can i keep a clam with this lighting?

molsen187 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:28:25 GMT

as the title suggests i was wondering if i could do a clam with my lights. i have 4 54w t5ho bulbs. they each have reflectors. the tank is a 55g-standard footprint, can't remember how deep it is off the top of my head. i've read to use 4w per gallon as a rule. i have 216w and 4x55 is 220 so do i have enough. i'm still in the preliminary stages of planning for a clam so i figured i should start with the lighting. i know some clams are more forgiving of lighting than others. any help or advice would be appreciated.

sexing clams?

beachbabies — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:39:33 GMT

Hi guys, I have a dumb question. Can you sex a clam? I just got 1 and it's beautiful! Well, stupid as it sounds, I love it so much i want to name it, something pretty, like Marabella or Lillian. IDK, well my hubbie is convinced that it's a male and wants to name it Frank. Why the hell would you name a clam frank? (but then again, why the hell would you name a clam) LOL! so any help would be great!

My new maxima...

KillerReef — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:35:48 GMT

went to RAP today and picked up this beauty. What do you think?:

simple question on clams

SiNiStEr NaTiOn — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:41:20 GMT

For either a 75 or 90 tank with 8x54w T5 lights. what type of clams would I be able to keep under this lighting. I probably won't buy a clam unitl after 6months to a year once this tank is running not counting the time it might take to cycle the tank.

Clam Fragging?

Kovu — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:31:11 GMT

I went to a coral frag swap two weeks ago just to find good deals on equipment but in one place they had clams that they said they fragged, how do they do this.

Huge clam...

Blurp — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:04:48 GMT

My new Derassa...