Creating your own bivalve bliss: Are you interested in keeping clams?

[MantisShrimpMan]

I have yet to keep any tridacna clams or other sorta “intended to be fancy” bivalves like the flame scallops, but I HAVE kept mercenaria mercenaria (the common hard clams from the East coast of the US, used for food) and even argopecten irradians the Northeast US bay scallop, although those don’t tend to do as well or last quite as long in captivity IME.

The reason I’ve kept these is because I was keeping a Calappa Flammea flame streaked box crab and it hunted sessile inverts so it was an easy way of keeping it occupied/fed. Although over time he got lazy and realized mussels and scallops were a far easier crustacean to open than clams. Also, because I spearfish and generally explore the waters of Long Island NY, and catch these myself- so why not add them to the tank? lol.

I’ve kept both self-sourced wild caught and grocery store purchased m. Mercenaria alive for months and months, till I either used it to feed my crab or broke down my tank. I’ve seen clams, either same species or similar, being sold as “filter clams” at an LFS, for like a 750% upcharge compared to just buying them at the grocery store.

Honestly, they’re not a bad thing to consider for your standard reef tank. Assuming your sandbed is at least 1”, you won’t even see them, but all the while they’ll be sucking up waste and even adding some natural movement to the sandbed the same way that makes sea cucumbers, conch, and nassarius useful as well, although admittedly to a lesser extent.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Would love to have one, but I don't think a 40-gallon AIO cube(-ish) is really large enough to support one properly. If I put in a larger tank at any point, they will definitely be on the stocking list.

I'm here to give you hope,

Here's three in a 10 Gallon cube. As long as the water's good and the lights are strong enough, the clams won't require much "swimming room".

 

[tzabor10]

I think clams are cool but I have steered away from them in the past. I may not fully understand their needs but I've always thought they need higher PAR and to be on the sand. I am developing a mixed reef and only plan on a couple of lower light SPS with the rest being LPS. I recently got a PAR meter and was surprised at how low PAR the couple of LPS i have prefer so if I need higher par on the sandbed for a clam that wouldn't work for me. Also, I have been concerned with how big clams get although, there may be smaller varieties.

John Boi from Clammania often says that the sandbed thing is false. They CAN live there. But mine thrives near the acros UP on the scape

 

[tzabor10]

I have bare bottom, not certain, but I believed that means no clams for me.

Not so! Jon Bui from clammania says they do NOT need sand.

 

[tzabor10]

Does anyone know of a clam shelf I can get to put them on my overflow? Hopefully one that uses magnets or something like that.

 

[AtlantiCat]

I'm here to give you hope,

Here's three in a 10 Gallon cube. As long as the water's good and the lights are strong enough, the clams won't require much "swimming room".

Hmmm...I have a Kessil A360X. I've heard those wouldn't be strong enough unless the clam (Crocea) was seated at the very top of the rocks. What do you use?

 

[Dburr1014]

I think clams are cool but I have steered away from them in the past. I may not fully understand their needs but I've always thought they need higher PAR and to be on the sand. I am developing a mixed reef and only plan on a couple of lower light SPS with the rest being LPS. I recently got a PAR meter and was surprised at how low PAR the couple of LPS i have prefer so if I need higher par on the sandbed for a clam that wouldn't work for me. Also, I have been concerned with how big clams get although, there may be smaller varieties.

Some clams like the maxima are better off not in the sand. Most will tell you high 350+ par, but many have kept clams in 250ish par.

I have bare bottom, not certain, but I believed that means no clams for me.

Not true. Try a maxima on the rock work.
Do some research if your interested in keeping clams.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Hmmm...I have a Kessil A360X. I've heard those wouldn't be strong enough unless the clam (Crocea) was seated at the very top of the rocks. What do you use?

Reef Flare Pro S Blue on this tank. Running around 250 PAR at the clam top.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

I have bare bottom, not certain, but I believed that means no clams for me.

Here's hope for you too, as others have said, mounting on rocks works. This is in my bare bottom. Clams from Jon Bui of Clammania.

 

[Aeiyr]

As mentioned in a prior reply, I keep two maxima, one is 3 inches, the other just behind it at 2.5 or 2 3/4. I also have a small Crocea at about 1.25 inch. (Will include photos)

I had another maxima. A purple that has since perished. The cause isn't conclusive but it displayed what looked at first to be PMD. Did some fresh water baths, and it continued to decline. It was then suggested my small mixed tank wasn't providing enough light for the clams, so I put them in a nem box, and magnet stuck it to the side directly under an LED light providing 350+ PAR as measured by a meter. The Purple clam hung on for about a month and a half, bit never rebounded, and found it perished one morning. I fed the remains to my scavengers.

The other three clams however Have seemed to pick up in growth quite nicely. Both maxima have a very large growth band on them and have finished creating nearly an entire new row of scutes. The Crocea clam has also begun growing quite quickly. In two months it's grown a brilliance white band of new scutes measuring about 1/8 of an inch thick and is always open and looking brilliant.

I used to feed them phyto, but havent in mmonths. I do light carbon dosing to control Nitrates and my clams and fanworm feed passively on the resulting bacteria population as a bonus.

Since moving things around this way and noticing the growth I've also started weighing the clams once a month as another way to measure growth and make sure they're not starving through fat reserves. It's not entirely accurate because they hold water, but it's enough to tell me they really are growing and healthy. I'm looking forward to sharing those results about every 6 months.

I really do love these strange creatures, and they're easily one of the top three things that have pulled me so deep into the hobby.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

@Miami Reef : heyyyy!

got clams ???

 

[Miami Reef]

@Miami Reef : heyyyy!

got clams ???

17 maximas right now.

 

[paragrouper]

I think clams are cool but I have steered away from them in the past. I may not fully understand their needs but I've always thought they need higher PAR and to be on the sand. I am developing a mixed reef and only plan on a couple of lower light SPS with the rest being LPS. I recently got a PAR meter and was surprised at how low PAR the couple of LPS i have prefer so if I need higher par on the sandbed for a clam that wouldn't work for me. Also, I have been concerned with how big clams get although, there may be smaller varieties.

This is how my tank is set up—and why I don’t have clams.

 

[i cant think]

17 maximas right now.

I swear, those last two are new right?

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

17 maximas right now.

those pictures are amazing!!!!!!!

 

[Fishy888]

I voted “other” because I kept a clam before AND I plan to keep a couple of clams. I love clams and all the life in the reef from the smallest to the biggest.

 

[CRABDADDY]

I really want to try a maxima or squamosa clam in my SPS tank. The tank is only 6 months old, so I don't know that it's really ready yet. I've got some easy sps that are doing alright, but I'd rather not get an expensive clam and lose it right away.

I always read that anemones do better in established tanks, are clams similar in that regard? I haven't heard many people say that about them.

 

[JoJosReef]

Just got a new clam today!

 

[ThaBeast]

I really enjoy clam keeping. I do not plan to keep clams in my current tank as they don't fit the theme and my crown jewel fish will be a regal angel. I successfully kept a 5-6" wild caught regal with a 10" deresa for years in a previous tank, I probably won't get lucky twice

 

[tzabor10]

I really want to try a maxima or squamosa clam in my SPS tank. The tank is only 6 months old, so I don't know that it's really ready yet. I've got some easy sps that are doing alright, but I'd rather not get an expensive clam and lose it right away.

I always read that anemones do better in established tanks, are clams similar in that regard? I haven't heard many people say that about them.

I have one happy little clam in my tank that was started up in may. BRS has an excellent interview with John Bui from Clam Mania. Worth a look if you want one. They can be super hardy. In the wild they are sometimes exposed at low tides