Quick Clam 101

[PreauxPhoto]

ok this is weird. here i am sitting at home watching some TV and there is a knock at the door. it's some guy i've never met before after he introduces himself he tells me that he see's my tank every time he leaves home ( it's located that it can be seen through the front window when you stop at the cross street's stop sign). he began to tell me that he is moving to london next month and wont be taking his 125 tank with him. then asked me if i want any livestock. i told him that i dont want to add to my bio-load I'm afraid that it might be too much. he said he has some filter feeders if i want them. i said ok let me see what you got. he comes back an hour later with this clam! almost everything in his tank is spoken for except this clam. well i can let a poor clam get tossed out on the street in the middle of winter (i do have a heart) so i take it. it's acclimating right now.

The only problem is I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT CLAMS........... HELP!!!!

Here is a pic for ID. the main thing i need is how to feed it, and most of the basics. i have ordered a book but it will take a while to get here

Thanks everyone.

[wwest]

What type of lighting do you have?

It looks like a healthy crocea clam.

The more i think about it the more it sounds strange he knocked on your door like that lol

[Seahorsedreams]

For a positive ID we really need to see the clam's shell from the side. Grab it up so that it retracts some. Also a detailed pic of the intake siphon... the open mouth-like thingy.

Why, when people knock on my door, do I only receive bills!

[PreauxPhoto]

your telling me! imagine how i felt. anyway i live less than 1 mile from a saltwater only LFS. there are alot of people around here that have reef tanks. i will take photo's tomorrow when the lights come back on.

lighting i have a 384 watt PC 50/50 the clam is sitting about 6" under the water line and the light is about 4" from the water line the lights and fixture is less than 4 months old.

[Seahorsedreams]

I want to move into your town.... oh wait... it gets cold there.... I changed my mind.

:-)

[iglowce]

omg u can take all of his livestock and we will pay for the shipping to have them shipped to us =]

[gwen_o_lyn]

What kind of lighting did the original owner have?

[George]

lighting i have a 384 watt PC 50/50 the clam is sitting about 6" under the water line and the light is about 4" from the water line the lights and fixture is less than 4 months old.

What size is the fixture? Metal Halides are a point source, but PC's can be spread out so that 384 watts can be intense enough or not depending on the area covered.

[PreauxPhoto]

it's a 48" fixture with 4 bulbs and moonlights. i have the clam located halfway between one set of bulbs directly under. i'm taking note of it's color and how much it opens to see if it's doing ok.

Do i need to target feed him if so with what? if i have to i will go get a MH pendant but i have been saving that for my SH setup.

can anyone lead me to a link for a basic clam care article?

[saxman]

unfortunately, i can tell you that you don't have sufficient lighting for your clam, especially if it's a crocea (hard to tell if we can't see the shape of the shell and its incurrent siphon, as Renee mentioned.). if i had to hazard an educated guess, i'd say it's a maxima, as croceas tend to be quite a bit more "gapy", especially in a new system. without the intense light of MH, the clam will most likely bleach over time and die.

at this point, the best thing you can do in your system is to get the clam as high in the rockwork as you can so it's as close to the lights as possible.

also, clams hate flow...if their mantles do more than gentle lifting, the flow is too much. they typically won't extend their mantles if this is the case.

keep your Ca at about 450...at LEAST 400. also, they don't tolerate heat very well...so keep the tank below 80.

since clams have a fully developed digestive system, and since your lighting is sub par, you'd do well to feed the tank with live phyto such as DT's...your coral will appreciate it as well.

if you have any angelfish or butterflies, there's a good chance they'll nip at the clam's mantle. dwarf angels such as the coral beauty can be especially problematic since they feed on the mucous of clam mantles.

all that being said, i see a lighting upgrade in your future if you want to keep the clam.

[PreauxPhoto]

thanks sax that's exactly what i was looking for. so that leaves me with moving a power head and getting a MH pendant, since i already feed phyto and keep my Ca up. Hopeully my wife has taking a liking to it and will let me get a new lighting system!

[CarmieJo]

OK, yesterday the people knocking at my door brought a washer and dryer (much needed since the 15 year old dryer smoked and burned a week ago) but someone offering me livestock for my tank would have been more fun!

[iglowce]

SHOOOT i put my clam WAY UP at the top. that would be too much flow. i think i can direct water a lil off to reduce flow. whats the potential dmg greg?

[Rob]

SHOOOT i put my clam WAY UP at the top. that would be too much flow. i think i can direct water a lil off to reduce flow. whats the potential dmg greg?

the amount of flow in relation to the placement is something only you can answer as we dont know where your high/low flow areas are.
the best thing is to make sure the mantle gets nothing more then a gentle periodic flap or it will not fair well (as Greg outlined)

[saxman]

i know this is a late reply, but the potential damage is stress to the clam.

a clam will often move from an area of high flow...they will literally bail off of their spot on the rockwork or turn on the substrate.

[PreauxPhoto]

well he seems to be happy where i put him he is open and full of color. though his color faded slightly the first couple of days it's come back. though i have another light on a diffrent tank i think i will add it and see if i can perk him up a little more.