Electric Mullosk

[Prophet]

So we go to our LFS and the wifey see this mullosk. I tell her and tell her this guys are so hard to take care off. Well she wanted it and gave me this puppy dog eyes that I couldn't resist. So we got this guy...

http://www.dnaracing.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/saltwater052.JPG

Here is a short vid of it moving around in the tank....
http://www.dnaracing.net/videos/MVI_0257.AVI

You can even see what looks like electricity moving through it.

Now here is my question. I know this guys are very hard to take care of. From what I read they only last a couple of months if that. So anyone got suggestions to how to better take care of him?

[RonPeter]

They take an icredible amount of small phytoplankton to survive I believe, far more than we can provide in our tanks...they slowly starve to death in a tank.

[Klay]

they live in extremely dirty water.. conditions we wouldn't want to simulate in our tanks

[Prophet]

So it is next to impossable to keep them?

[RonPeter]

So it is next to impossable to keep them?

From what I understand yes they are impossible to keep in a home aquarium. I believe some have kept them alive for 3-4 month's but they end up starving to death unfortunately.

[lotus02]

Cool video.
Very hard to keep but get your self some ReefCrew phytoplankton or DTs this will help.

[Patwa]

So it is next to impossable to keep them?

...it's a flame scallop....and yes, they are definitely next to impossible to keep, especially in a reef tank....return him and get your money back (or credit) before he dies....

it'll take months for him to die, but during that time he'll be slowly starving....

Zach.

[Prophet]

Sorry flame scallop.....

Not going to return him. Better someone try to help him survive then a LFS that just wanted to sell him.

[ShipWreck]

Sorry flame scallop.....

Not going to return him. Better someone try to help him survive then a LFS that just wanted to sell him.

I used to agree with your statement but what I have realized is that if people buy stuff from the LFS then they will continue to stock them. It will die at the store but after a while if they can't sell them they will stop stocking them.

That being said they are very cool. I have had to resist these guys on numerous occasions.

[Michael_Lambert]

It will die at the store but after a while if they can't sell them they will stop stocking them.



I agree with this! But at the same time if we stop buying animals that we should not have in our tanks then well... lol, We would not have reef tanks! .. But the Flame scallop is one of the creatures that should be avoided just like the blue ring octos..ect..

Michael

[Prophet]

lol... catch 22 really. This could be argued back and forth forever. There will always be someone that wants one. One reason why you had to resist buying one a number of times. I wanted one when I first started out my nano until I did some quick research and found out how diffucult they are to keep. After that I didn't think twice until we went to this LFS there where three reasons why I bought it.


1. The wife wanted it. I am sure you married guys no when your wife wants something your kind of stuck.

2. Better someone try to help him survive then being stuck in a little cube waiting to be sold.

3. He was only $9.99

I really don't want this thread to turn out to... why did you buy him? What I need is ideas on how to keep him alive for as long as I can.

[ShipWreck]

I agree with your reasoning and also don't want to turn this thread into a "Why did you...?"

Obviously I haven't kept one but with there high need for phyto what about "unretiring" your 10g nano and keep him in a species tank. Basically a tank that you can keep a high level of phyto without polluting your corals (a 'dirty' tank).

[icyuod2]

first tank i owned, i had a fire scallop. lasted 6 months.
heres what ya do to keep him alive. water changes once a month. and over feed like crazy! lol i was young and foolish and really had no idea about the care of my tank. wasnt much of a reef tank though, more like a sea of algee.

[Patwa]

Hey Prophet,

how's your midget lionfish doing? hope he's doing alright! my bro's tank is almost ready for his...gonna place an order for a nice one soon


Zach.

[icyuod2]

btw are the fire scallops(not electric) as hard to keep?

[Prophet]

lol... first the dwarf lion. He is doing great. Here is the latest pictures of him.

http://www.dnaracing.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/saltwater063.JPG

Here he is about to get cleaned.
http://www.dnaracing.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/saltwater056.JPG

I am hoping that he doesn't feel the need to eat that fire shrimp because he now serves a purpose.

The 10 gallon is now a freash water tank being prepared to be a small planted tank. I do have a 45 gallon being cycled at my new home. I was planning on moving all this over to that and using the 20 gallon as a QT but now I guess I can use it as a only species tank. See how long I can keep a electric flame scallop. So what conditions need to be meet for a "dirty tank" High levels as well? Obviousley alot of food needs to be floating around and less water changes.

[jpdutton]

I wonder if you could keep him in a refugium where you could feed your phyto and give him first dibs before it flows into the DT. Maybe he'll also snack on some pods.

Thats what I would try.

Maybe if you don't have a refugium. You could tell your wife that you need to spend some money to get everything to set up a 10-40g refugium in order to try and care for her whatever that thing is called.

[Prophet]

Maybe if you don't have a refugium. You could tell your wife that you need to spend some money to get everything to set up a 10-40g refugium in order to try and care for her whatever that thing is called.

:bwink: way ahead of ya. Used this thread to show her how hard it is to take care of them and what you guys are saying. She wants to help me keep it alive. Now maybe I can get her intrested in this hobby instead of telling me how much money I spend.