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[Oakville Reef Gallery]

hi everyone,some on this site may know me and some don't,for the benefit of those who dont I'll tell you a little about myself (how formal). I've been in the saltwater hobby about 9yrs and the last 5 keeping acros.ive also been involved in the business end of this hobby for about 5yrs. My main passion is brightly coloured and rare acros and clams. I keep a 150g acro and clam dominated tank at home,(pictures will be avail soon). I won't come off as an expert but i can tell you my experiences with various acros, montipora, pocylipora, their care requirements, lighting, protein skimming etc, and tell you whats worked for me and what has not. Being in the business end also gives everyone an advantage, I've used most types of equipment on the market and am always testing new stuff. I'm also in contact with a couple of well known u.s. based authors and constantly looking for new input, opinions and ways to make our corals thrive even better. I won't be on this board every day as my schedule is pretty tight now, but will be on a minimum of 3days/week. So if i dont get back to you right away, I will. cheers Flavio

[canadawest]

Good to have you aboard Flavio!

Looking forward to utilizing your knowledge as I obtain more SPS corals in the future. I've had my tank setup for about 18 months now, but only recently added MH lighting so have held off on SPS up till recently.

You mentioned you keep clams as well. Have you had any losses this summer, and when was the last time you introduced a new clam?

There seems to be a small epidemic going around hobbiest's tanks with clams. I have just recently lost my 12+ month old T. Maxima and many other hobbiests are experiencing massive losses of their clams as well. There seems to be two common factors, a new clam introduction and greater temperature swings due to a hotter than average summer.

I'd be interested in your thoughts as a long time clam keeper.

[Oakville Reef Gallery]

hey Andrew,in my personal tank ive not experienced any losses in quite a while,i have 3 maximas about 4",1 derasa 5" and another derasa 8" and my prized squamosa 13" and about 10yrs old.most clams in my tank are 3yrs and older .temperature is constant at 79 or 80 this time of the year and 76 the rest of the year.i have my tank on the main floor so cooling is more difficult than a basement.(central air,super high hydro bills!)im in the process of contemplating a 355gallon,maybe next year and for sure in the basement.the most common parasite for clams are little white snails the size of a grain of rice( family pyramidellidae)they occur quite often and whenever adding a new clam,they should be turned upside down at your retailer for inspection.during the day they are not visible,but make their way up the clam at night and bore into the mantle.if they are present they must be manually removed(tweezers,patience)every day until they are gone.my last derasa had them and it took 2months to remove them,everyday with tweezers and magnyfing glass.a six line wrasse is a good addition which helps remove these.another scenario is a fish bothering it,cleaner wrasses are notorius for picking at clams mantles until the clam just doesnt open anymore,one of our display tanks had a 9"crocea which was just killed by a flame angel contantly picking at it.this was the first time ive seen this as usually flames are a good reef fish.as for disease,i havent heard of anything in the industry,weve moved about 250 clams this year with a 1% loss ratio.hope this helps you a bit,Flavio

[Dman]

One of the things I've noticed is that there are several species of fish that are reef safe and never bother anything until they see a clam.My very first clam addition was nearly a disaster, I had an Fiji blue devil Damsel that picked on it relentlessly, resulting in a complete teardown of my 50 gallon tank.
Next one up was a Peppermint shrimp that I noticed was not only bothering the clam, but at night I noticed him tearing at an open brain coral and BAM, teardown number two.
Both my second and third clams had those little boring snails on them, fortunately I didn't need 2 months to eradicate the little buggers, only about 4 and a half weeks:(
All in all I had 5 clams in my 50 gallon until a nasty case of RTN wiped out about 22 species of SPS and all my clams in about 11 days.
But I digress, I've heard that clams do need a small amount of Nitrate to thrive.
I also urge anyone that wants to keep these gorgeous creatures to make sure that their lighting requirements are met absolutely and without question.
Dman
:spin:

[Lukan]

Hi Flavio,

Nice to see you on board as a Moderator. :thumbsup: Dealing with you personally has been a pleasure. I know everyone on board will be happy getting advice from you with your experience and knowledge.

Hello Canada West,

I could also attest to what flavio said about the clams. Most of the clams that headed Ontario were pretty healthy. I know a little bit about clams because I'm constantly searching and learning about it . Flavio has seen my Old 55g Clam Tank. I eventually moved it to a 155g. I have about 30+ clams in various sizes from 6" to 1". I have mostly Maxima's, Derasa's, and Squomosa's.
Dman was right about clams consuming Nitrate at an alarming rate. I already have about 30 fishes in my tank to provide enough Nitrate but it is still not enough because I dose my tank with Sodium Nitrate every week . I also notice that clams use a lot of Iodine(Iodide) to detoxify themselves from all the oxidation from converting the light energy to carbon(sugar) for its food. I also feed my Tank Phytoplankton(DT's- which can be pruchased at Oakville Reef Gallery or Aquariumpros).
As far as fishes go, Tangs are good companion for Clams.However they are not 100% safe because I did have a Sailfin that was in my Tank for about a year and then one day it decided to start harassing my clams to a point they would not open. Fortunately, clams did not die but it faded a bit in colour from all the Harrassing. Then same behaviour was exhibited by a Bi-color blenny that I had for a year as well. I guess it was an individual behaviour rather than species related.
I also own a few beautiful acros that Flavio brought in a few months ago.
Sorry about your bad clam experience.

[Oakville Reef Gallery]

thanks,if you can post pictures of your old tank it would be great,a prime example of how a rather small tank can look stunning, looking forward to the new setup. Flavio