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

[old salt reefer]

Since title of thread says bivalve here's a picture of a bivalve hitchhiker I've had for 4 years now, as well as my 1 and only Maxima.

 

[MrGisonni]

Same here. I have been so intrigued with the 2 or 3 species I have seen so far. Awesome little creatures.

So until I saw your post, I had no idea what type of bivalve I had! So thank you for posting a reply. Looked it up and sure enough, I've got a big turkey wing clam and a few small ones in other rocks! They definitely aren't as pretty, but knowing they survived and are currently thriving in my tank, makes me think I may be able to try a fancier clam!

I have quite a few hitchhiker bivalves too. I haven't seen any move though. Interesting.

Whoa! I love blastos. How long did it take to acclimate to a PAR that high?!

That's amazing to see one thriving in the lower PAR range. Goes to show how good they can adapt. Thanks for sharing!

If I wanted to add one to my upper rockwork, what's the best way to get them to attach and stay?

Also, do they need to acclimate to the light intensity?

They adapt pretty well. A little acclimation is always good. Maybe glue a few small pieces of rock or shell to make a small corral for him. Mine has stayed out since the beginning, he has only rotated a few degrees to the right.

 

[Arthacker87]

I keep clams happy and going with 100 par tops on sand bed. Have 3 right now. Biggest part for me is keeping things outnof their vents and harming from the inside.

 

[Timfish]

Since the thread specifies bivalves (and not Tridacna genus clams) I'm going to add these I've found reproducing in my systems.

This is the first one I found over a decade ago with the parents.



Jewel Box Clam, Arcinella arcinella. These re very common on maricultured live rock from the Caribbean. I normally wouldn't have thought much seeing a small one on rock but this one is growing on an artificial cave made of concrete that was very dry when it was added to this system.


I've ended up with three baby "Turkey Wing" clams over a decade. One stayed hidden for quite awhile under a T. squamosa. Unfortunately all the juvinile and a couple of adults were lost during covid when some lysol over spray was getting into the system.



Found these when I was moving a system. In addition to these on this filter there were a couple dozen of various sizes on the back and undersides of rock.


This find was pretty sad. When moving a system some of the rubble in the sump was put in an empty bucket. Later this clam was found attached to an old piece of candy cane skeleton but it had already died.

 

[Dburr1014]

Since the thread specifies bivalves (and not Tridacna genus clams) I'm going to add these I've found reproducing in my systems.

This is the first one I found over a decade ago with the parents.



Jewel Box Clam, Arcinella arcinella. These re very common on maricultured live rock from the Caribbean. I normally wouldn't have thought much seeing a small one on rock but this one is growing on an artificial cave made of concrete that was very dry when it was added to this system.


I've ended up with three baby "Turkey Wing" clams over a decade. One stayed hidden for quite awhile under a T. squamosa. Unfortunately all the juvinile and a couple of adults were lost during covid when some lysol over spray was getting into the system.



Found these when I was moving a system. In addition to these on this filter there were a couple dozen of various sizes on the back and undersides of rock.


This find was pretty sad. When moving a system some of the rubble in the sump was put in an empty bucket. Later this clam was found attached to an old piece of candy cane skeleton but it had already died.

Pretty cool finds!

 

[Fishy888]

Since the thread specifies bivalves (and not Tridacna genus clams) I'm going to add these I've found reproducing in my systems.

This is the first one I found over a decade ago with the parents.



Jewel Box Clam, Arcinella arcinella. These re very common on maricultured live rock from the Caribbean. I normally wouldn't have thought much seeing a small one on rock but this one is growing on an artificial cave made of concrete that was very dry when it was added to this system.


I've ended up with three baby "Turkey Wing" clams over a decade. One stayed hidden for quite awhile under a T. squamosa. Unfortunately all the juvinile and a couple of adults were lost during covid when some lysol over spray was getting into the system.



Found these when I was moving a system. In addition to these on this filter there were a couple dozen of various sizes on the back and undersides of rock.


This find was pretty sad. When moving a system some of the rubble in the sump was put in an empty bucket. Later this clam was found attached to an old piece of candy cane skeleton but it had already died.

I’m sorry you lost that last one. Do you still have any of either type of clam and do they still reproduce for you?

 

[Timfish]

I’m sorry you lost that last one. Do you still have any of either type of clam and do they still reproduce for you?

I still have 3 species in my systems. The tiny white clams on the filter part in the third picture were lost when the system was crashed during a renovation. But this is the third or fourth system I've found them in over the decades.

The other three species I still have. As ubiquitous as the "Jewel Box" clams are on maricultured Caribbean live rock I would be very surprised if no other systems have them spawning.

The "Turkey Wing" clams are a good example of how unlikely successful spawning and settling of the larva is in a display system. (They're in this system here.) First off, none of these systems had skimmers that would be pulling out the larva. But even with out a skimmer survival, has gotta be abysmally low with fish and corals eating the lrava and pumps killing a portion. The time it takes for a species to mature is another factor as well. The "Turkey Wing" clams almost certanly showed up on some maricultured live rock in 2000. The first juvenile didn't show up until 2011. Between 2011 and 2020 only three more showed up. None have been found since 2019 although the adults do seem to be ok.


For the record, initially there were two clams found when the system was moved in 2007 and those are the ones in the first picture from 20ll. Several times since 2011 I've added several I've found in other systems so currently there's five adults.