my first clam!!!!

[Sohal Tang]

Man,,,I wish I had my camera NOWWWW!!!!
I am picking it up this Saturday...but....

I picked up a gorrrrrrrgeous clam from Tom at ORG a week
ago...I was verrrrry afraid it would not make it with
only 2 x 175 MH + 2 x 40watt actinics in my 90....
Tom says, "they like the light Tim"

but...I wanted it bad so ...he advised me to put it up
high under the MH...and I did...and...

It is doing SUPER!!!! Today it coloured up even nicer!

wowwwww it is a colour that Tom says he has never
had in before and it is quite nice.....

it is like a goldish tan colour with a light green rim....
verrrry unusual but very nice.

I have a VERRRRY SERIOUS QUESTION....

whyyyyy and CANNNNN we feed our clams MYSIS?
AND IF NOT..WHY NOT? I know NOTHING about clams yet.
I should have studied them first..but seeing this little
guy I had ta have him......

But..in the wild I am sure the odd piece of floating food
gets into their jaws?

I am feeding him phyto also but can he not eat
mysis say sprayed above him slightly?

Thanks! I will take pics on Sunday if I can figure
out how to get them into the computer..but I am
sure when I pick it up I will get a lesson..

Thanks!

Tim
NOW I WANT A PURPLE ONE...A BLUE ONE...A BROWN
ONE AND THAT BIG BUGGER THAT IS ABOUT 50LBS
AT ORG HAHAHAHAHA THAT SUCKER...MAN O MAN...
NOW DATTTSA CLAMA!!!!!!!

[Chrismo]

Ohhh! I saw that one fr sale at ORG! That was really neat. The inner mantle was soo different than the outer "lips". I wanted to get it too. But already got one, so bought some Monti cap, and a green Hydrophora.

Smallish clams like the one you have are said to get 60 percent of their diet from phytoplancton, and 40 percent from the sun. As they get older and bigger, a bigger percentage of their "diet" is sunlight. Feed them DT's or culture your own from reef crew.

I've also heard that they uptake nitrates and loads of calcium. You shoulda went to the MAST meeting! It was all about clams. I'm sure you'll get a lott of resh new advice from whoever attended.

[afss]

Tim I think most clams are filter feeders and i am pretty sure that mysis shrimp would be too large. I think something like DT's or something from ReefCrew would be your best bet

Scott

[Dman]

Tim,
Perhaps you should have attended the MAST meeting last night.
Honestly
Dman
:spin:

[Sohal Tang]

mmm that would surprise me Scott...I mean if some
brine shrimp or mysis shrimp just HAPPENEd to LAND
in the clam...what will he do SPIT IT OUT? OR eat it?

????

I know zerooooo about clams.

Tim

[pbutkovich]

Tim,
I now have three clams and love them. I feed shrimp to my fish and have seen the results of the shrimp landing on them. They hate it!! Their mantal quickly retracts and they shoot out a blast of water to try to dislodge it. These are not all small clams either. The one Dersa clam must be about 10" long. From what I understand ( which I admit is limited) they feed primarily on small organisims that they can filter out of the water. That is why they have the whole syphon thing going on. Enjoy the clam Tim, You'll love it!

[Oakville Reef Gallery]

tim,dont feed your clam large particles as myisis,brine etc.it will kill the clam as they dont process large chunks of food.just filter feed. Flavio

[pbutkovich]

By the way...stop teasing us with how great this clam looks , go pick up the camera already and get some shots on here!!!

[Michael_Lambert]

Tim what Lights did you have on your Nano?

[ryan_lalande]

anyone using the cultured stuff from reef crew? i read a couple of things but didnt really find anything.
is it hard to use this stuff?

from what i read off the reef crew site, this stuff is major benifitial

any info would be great on any of there products

[Sohal Tang]

Tooloud I have a 65 watt PC fixture on the 10 gallon nano
Flavio, Paul, ok thanks..I will notttt feed the clam other then
the Phyto I bought from Tom...I was NOT feeding it but just
wondering what would happen...that is exactly why I asked
first..now I am very glad I did.
Thanks guys!


Tim

Paul...I am pickin the camera up tommorow (day early)
with any luck...as I am OFFFF TOMMORA YES YES YES!!!!

SO......cant wait to snap a few pics.....

The clam is verry nice.. I took a chance and moved him to
the bottom yesterday of my 90 gallon tank....
Only 2 x 175watt MH + 2 x 40watt NO...

anyone want to comment on the lights and depth v.s. the clam

Do you think it will be OK with only that much light?
I dont want to lose the little devil...he is verrry nice..

Thanks
Tim

:thanks:

[Michael_Lambert]

just wondering and sure Flavio would be able to help more but what about moving the Clam to the Nano till you get your 250 watt halides.

[Sohal Tang]

hahaah When you asked me what lights I have on my Nano
I just KNEWWWW you were going there Mike!! hahahah


Well..there is no doubt room in the nano..the thing is I hate
movin ANYTHING anymore then absolutely necessary...
The damn thing cost me $160 so I do NOTTT want to ruffle it's
feathers so to speak...but then again....I was thinking the same
thing when you asked the question heheheheh

It will be at LEAST 2-3 weeks before I do the upgrade to the 250's IFFF I even do it....I have so much damn money going out
on cameras, live rock, tank, coral.....damn...have to PLUG THE HOLE NOW!! hehehe

BUT...upgrading the lights is NEXT is my guess.

I am HOPING someone will tell me the clam should be fine
on the bottom of a 90 with 2 x 175s and 2 x 40 NO...

Flavio...definitely comment when you read this please.

Andy...if your reading this...what say you?

Dman, Mitch, AJ, Archie,Red Sea....all you guys I need INPUT bad on this one as I know SQUAT about clams...I will find out about them soon but no time right now...your comments please.

Thanks
Tim

[pbutkovich]

Tim,
I am no expert on clams. I can only tell you about the three I have and how they are doing. I have 1- 175 MH and 2- 65w pcs on my 54 corner. The Maxima lives about halfway up the rock work and is doing well ( about 10 months or so). The Squamosa did not like to be higher up on the rock work and disloged itself twice before I set it on the bed. He is very happy down there. (about two months) The Dersa is just to damed big to go on the rockwork but still looks pretty darn good on the bed. (about 2 months as well) The mantal of the Dersa is not as extended as either of the other two clams. I believe that it could use more light. When I get my new tank going this month, it has 400w MH so I will try the Dersa there to see if there is any difference. Come to think of it... the Maxima was purchased over a year ago now, and was just under the 2-65w pcs for a few months before I threw the 175 mh on there. It did great under those. With a clam that costs that much though... go with expert opinion!!! Maybe someone that went to the clam presentation can tell us some more.

[Red-Sea]

Tim, by the sounds of it you got a Crocea Clam which requires quite bit of light, but with 2x175W + 2x40W Actinics it should be ok as long as you have it at least half way up the tank, again like everyone else stated do not feed anything to the Clam, they will get most of their nutrient from the water, light & they consume a lot of Nitrate.
Deresa's & Gigas are lower light clams so they should be ok on the sand bed.

[Sohal Tang]

Darn it.

I was hoping that on the bottom in the sand it would make it....
Now....Dan, I will have to move him BACK UP where I had him
and where TOM at ORG suggested in the first place....that is
where I had him 2 days ago but he is NOTTTT staying put the little
bugger keeps wanting to move....wish I could GLUE HIM into
the spot because he LOOKS GREAT there but will not stay put..and I HATE adjusting the rock because I am afraid of a cave in....Have you ever had the rock placed the way ya want it...so you dont want to MESS with it...thats my tank right now FOR ME.
So...darn it..here we go again..back up the little bugger goes
right now....

I am glad I asked...Thanks for the advice Red Sea.
That is what I suppose I was expecting but I was hoping
that SOMEONE would surprise me and say..."should be no prob
Tim" NO SUCH LUCK....knew it was a long shot.
Thanks
Tim :thanks: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

[Red-Sea]

Tim before you move him up make sure where ever he will be resting to put a piece of live rock very small about 1.5"-2" so he can attach to it & later on you won't have problems if you want to move him to diferent location, also piece of large shell will do... ;)

[Sohal Tang]

Thanks Dan,

I moved him 1/2 way up the tank and he is sitting in a new spot
that I pray he won't fool around in..JUST SIT STILL!!!

I put a little rock under him...but when I placed him down on
it I am not sure how centred he is on it...perhaps riding side saddle hahahaah.....is that ok?
What is the purpose of that? Do these have like a foot under
them like a conch that they use to attach? And if so..is the small
rock so that he does not attach to a big rock? is that the idea?

Tim :thanks:

[Red-Sea]

Exactly, they need to attach their foot to piece of rock and smaller the better so it wont attach to a big piece of live rock, just for convenience of moving it around, because if attach's to big rock & by trying to remove it you can damage the tissue of the foot those causing the clam to die...

[pbutkovich]

Tim,
Some people really like attaching their clams to small rocks in order to move the clam around. Some will remove the clam to give it concentratted feedings in a seperate container. If you wish your clam to stay on a particular spot, I prefer to position the clam so that it's little foot is in contact with the rock. It will attach itself very quickly to this spot. If it doesn't like the location, it will not. It is then secure and will not be easily dislodged by starfish etc. The disadvantage is that the only way to then move the clam is to sever the foot from the rock using a razor. Never tear the clam off as this will damage the clam and possibly cause death. To each his own though.
Paul

[Sohal Tang]

Ok thanks Paul...
I am hoping he is attaching to the little rock that I put under
him a little while ago when I moved him back UP 1/2 in the tank...
So far he looks ok...but....when I get more rock this weekend
I will have to MOVE him again.....hopefully he makes it through
the juggling....should be ok I hope.

Tim