ATTN all current and future clam keepers!!

[skinz78]

ATTN all current and future clam keepers!!

Hello fellow reef enthusiasts. I check the clam forum "as many much more knowledgeable people than I do" almost dayly. When I can I throw in my $.02 and try to help others out.

I see alot of posts asking for help on sick and dieing clams that don't list all info that is needed. There is back and fourth communication problem asking for info and wasting time while clams suffer and die. People need to know how important it is to post all water paramaters, pic's of the problem clam, aquarium lighting, recent tank changes, and ALL tank inhabitants when asking for help.

Here is a good link to recomended water parameters:
water paramaters

And ten important tests:

#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

Pictures can sometime be worth a thousand words. So if you can please please post them.

Also I think all clam keepers old and new present and future should read about keeping clams from one or even both of these fine books:

Giant clams in the sea and the aquarium by
James Fatherree

Giant Clams: A Comprehensive Guide to the Identification and Care of Tridacnid Clams by
Daniel Knopp


Both books are about the same price of a small clam and I urge first time clam keepers to purchase one or the other and read it before buying thier first clam. In the long run people could possibly help thier clams thrive and save some money too.

More useful links:

clam pic's and Id
This site doesn't really tell you much about Id'ing clams but it has lots of pictures of different types of clams. Yow will have to scroll down and click the picture link on the left side to see the pic's
click on the clam type to see pic's
click on clam type on left side of page for pic's


Id page written by chrisandbarb
clam idclam id

Reefkeeping magazine's clam Id page
clam id


Clam feeding

It is my belief that if you have good strong lighting "IE Metal Halide or VHO T5's with individual reflectors" and a good source of ammonia "fish pee" and nitrates "fish poo" then you don't need to do any supplimental feeding for clams. Supplimental feeding clams when done wrong can clog thier gills and possibly kill the clam.

Basically clams and the bactieria in our live rock and sandbeds compete pretty heavily for ammonia eaquily. Ammonia is preferred. The byproduct is then nitrite. Clams don't use this but the bactieria in the sand and rock does. And the byproduct from that is nitrate wich is consumed by clams but not the bactieria

Clam Acclimation

First start off by turning off all of your lighting. Float it in the bag for 15-20 min. Then I take the clam in the bag if the bag is big enough hold at least 1 litre of water and if it isn't I dump the clam and all the water into a big plastic cup. I then place it and bag/cup in a 5 gallon bucket. Then I have a 1/4" airline hose that is about 3-4 feet long. On one end of the hose I have tied a knot in it to restrict flow to a very slow drip. Place the hose into your tank and start a slow siphon into the bag or cup the clam is in. I then forget about the operation for about an hour letting the container overflow into the 5 gallon bucket. When the bag or cup is starting to float in the bucket I check the water temp and compare it to my tank temp. Sometimes refloating is nesisary because the container water cools off again. Once I am sure the clam has been very slowly acclimated to the tank water temp and paramaters I add it to the tank on the sand bottom.

After the clam has been in the tank for about an hour I slowly start to turn my lights on again. Leave the clam on the sand for a few days and when you place it there put something small and flat burried in the sand under it. The clam will attach to it. This step makes it easy to move the clam from spot to spot on your rockwork later. After the clam has been there for a few days and it is one of the more light loveing clams IE Crocea or maxima. I slowly start moveing it up on to the rockwork.

If it is a squamosa giga's or derasa and I like it to be on the sand, if the clam hasent moved from where I placed it to begin with I just leave it alone. If it does move IE from side to side or turns I know it wants to be elsewhere and I move it to another spot until it sits in one space. The same go's for clams up on the rocks, if they move themselves I don't put them back to the same spot. They are moving for a reason.


Clam VS Fish

I recently had one of the many problems in clam keeping happen to me. My false percula clown got a little too friendly with my crocea clam. The clam closed on the fish's head, and by the time I noticed them the fish was dead. I am guessing the fish died instantly by the looks of things. This usually kills both the fish and the clam. So I freaked, I tried turning the clam upside down to see if it would release the fish. I gave it about 30 min and nothing changed. So I then came up with my bbq skewer idea. It looks gross and inhumane but it worked. Remember the fish was already dead.



I stuck the fork through the fish and proped them up so the clam was hanging by its own weight from the fish. Five minuites went by and the clam dropped free.

HTH,
Chris

[PEMfish]

Originally Posted by skinz78

It is my belief that if you have good strong lighting "IE Metal Halide or VHO T5's with individual reflectors"

This is extremely important people. They need a lot of light to live. I just want to empathize the importance of MH, or a bank of T5 HOs with good individual reflectors.

[Frankie]

Great info Skinz
Sorry about your clown Great thinking though on saving the clam. I am sure glad my T.Gigas cannot close all the way

[ZAPCOnj]

Great Thread! Thanks for the info!!!

[prow]

ahh good deal. this will be a great thread for me. i did/am doing lots of readings as i just started what will be a clam domintated tank. only have five now, no wait make that 7,lol.. more will be coming soon though.

there was a study done; called Uptake of dissolved inorganic nitrogen by the symbiotic clam Tridacna gigas and the coral Acropora sp. i think you will like; it was done here:

Department of Biological Sciences and Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara, 93106 Santa Barbara, California, USA

sorry my link is not working for some reason, think i need to update acrobat/java or something. a search may turn it up for you. i will share more and learn more from other clam lovers as the thread grows...
its jsut i recently upgraded my pc and but did not save the info from the old HD, going to have to do some gathering..

[cheeks69]

Is this one the one your talking about Prow ?

Aquacultured giant clams, Tridacna gigas and Hippopus hippopus, used as the main biofilter in a saltwater aquarium recirculation system.

[prow]

nope, but that is very similar and with like results. good link cheeks, nice to have you join in.

[Shelly Borg]

Thank you! As a future clam keeper. (at least a year or two down the line) This gives me ideas where to read up and study more.

[skinz78]

Thanks for the compliments, all this info when followed makes it much easyer for me and others to help out when the time for helping comes.

[dmyers557]

Subscribed!!!

[newreefguy]

I've got a question... I want a crocea, I have a nova extreme 1081 model HO t-5 setup (6 bulb , 3 actinic 3 10,000K)
Is this enough in a 55 gal aquarium 20.25" deep

[prow]

yup should be ok with that light..

[Dentoid]

Prow, I like your idea with the clam dominated tank. What constitutes "dominated"?

[newreefguy]

Thanks prow...

[prow]

Originally Posted by Dentoid

Prow, I like your idea with the clam dominated tank. What constitutes "dominated"?

currently 10..6 crocea, 3 maxima and a squamosa. i so underestimated the amount of Ca+ these boys soak up. i knew it was going to be a heavy load but i am having to fill my reactor every couple months..and there still growing. i may have to get rid of some before too long, dont want to go bigger on anything. believe it or not i think i am upgraded out for a good while (except lighting, LED's are on the list when prices make it worth it). i have a few big pieces of sps too that use up good amounts of Ca+, but these clams are the ones that are soaking up some serious Ca+. my old sps dominated tank did not even come close to what these clams are soaking up..