Electric flame scallop, and id help

Joshua Hurst · Feb 13, 2017

Hello everyone! I bought an electric flame scallop from aquarium a few days ago (only $20!) and was wondering are they suppose to let their frilly membrane open all the time? Seems like half of the day he has it half stitched up, and the other half of the day he keeps it open. Can't find much online about it :/ also sometimes I've noticed he'll close up a good bit, and stick out his mouth about an inch or so. Is this normal? He seems as perky as a clam could be, but just unsure of the behavior!

Is this a feather duster?

VelasCorals · Feb 13, 2017

I really don't think there is a absolute answer for you that follows some rule. The behavior of a flame scallop can depend on so many things. Is there a predator picking at it? Is there too much flow? Is it perfectly happy? I've kept those for some time and seen them move around tanks, stay open for a while and randomly close up. I would try to feed it when appropriate and go from there.

jmann124 · Feb 13, 2017

I've never owned a scallop, but my understanding is that they can be quite picky and difficult. If you haven't gotten a skimmer yet, this was not a good purchase to make. You need a skimmer before you add any other living thing to your tank.

Chriscrna · Feb 13, 2017

It might be a dolphin?

NanaReefer · Feb 13, 2017

jmann124 said:
I've never owned a scallop, but my understanding is that they can be quite picky and difficult. If you haven't gotten a skimmer yet, this was not a good purchase to make. You need a skimmer before you add any other living thing to your tank.

Totally disagree with this comment. Skimmers are not a necessity but more of a personal preference.

jmann124 · Feb 13, 2017

NanaReefer said:
Totally disagree with this comment. Skimmers are not a necessity but more of a personal preference.

I agree with you, but the OP has been having some issues and looking for a skimmer for awhile.

Joshua Hurst · Feb 14, 2017

jmann124 said:
I agree with you, but the OP has been having some issues and looking for a skimmer for awhile.

hey lol it takes time for me to save up $300. I wanted to go a lil crazy and spend 20

jmann124 · Feb 14, 2017

Joshua Hurst said:
hey lol it takes time for me to save up $300. I wanted to go a lil crazy and spend 20

I understand the want, but one of the big things in this hobby is patience and delayed gratification. It is irresponsible to put a living creature in your tank if you are having parameter issues or problems keeping things alive, like the clams you had and a couple other things that went south on you. You need to figure out why before adding something else that could die. Also, you can find skimmers for much less than $300.

Joshua Hurst · Feb 14, 2017

jmann124 said:
I understand the want, but one of the big things in this hobby is patience and delayed gratification. It is irresponsible to put a living creature in your tank if you are having parameter issues or problems keeping things alive, like the clams you had and a couple other things that went south on you. You need to figure out why before adding something else that could die. Also, you can find skimmers for much less than $300.

my clam is the only thing that went south on me... Ive never lost a coral, and the only fish I lost was due to new tank syndrome

Joshua Hurst · Feb 14, 2017

and my corals are growing ALOT rn too which is super exciting!

jmann124 · Feb 14, 2017

Joshua Hurst said:
my clam is the only thing that went south on me... Ive never lost a coral, and the only fish I lost was due to new tank syndrome

Joshua Hurst said:
and my corals are growing ALOT rn too which is super exciting!

I'm glad your corals are growing a lot, but if you go back and look through all of your posts, there are a lot of times that you have said you can't keep something alive or that something looks sick or unhappy.

Joshua Hurst · Feb 14, 2017

jmann124 said:
I'm glad your corals are growing a lot, but if you go back and look through all of your posts, there are a lot of times that you have said you can't keep something alive or that something looks sick or unhappy.

haha funny story. So I when I got my sump I didn't account for all the evaporation, and it shot my salinity through the roof. Now I have regular water changes with freshwater to keep my salinity down.

Joshua Hurst · Feb 14, 2017

jmann124 said:
I'm glad your corals are growing a lot, but if you go back and look through all of your posts, there are a lot of times that you have said you can't keep something alive or that something looks sick or unhappy.

only exception is heliofungai; I think somehow I hurt his skin, and maybe it got infected, but hes been getting better everyday

Squirrel_reefer · Feb 14, 2017

Flame Scallops are really hard to judge, I just recently lost one that was only two months old (Mantis shrimp decided he wanted the shell)

They'll make they're way around your tank until they are happy with the flow and lighting etc. just make sure that you have high levels of dissolved organics in the water and lots of phyto. I used to mix phyto with my frozen food when adding it to the tank and the scallop seemed to be pretty happy. I wouldn't recommend clear clean water for this animal though. if that sort of thing bothers you I would suggest rehoming the animal, I actually ran without any filter socks for along while and that was the way to go for sure. He is a filter feeder so the cleaner you keep your water the less nutrition the animal will have. They are very hard to keep in an aquarium unless you are diligent with them, not impossible just hard. best of luck with it!

AcroNem · Feb 14, 2017

I do think your system isn't quite stable enough for a lot of things. But I completely disagree with the skimmer comment. People tend to treat skimmers like they'll magically fix all of our new system's problems but that isn't how it works, time and water changes is what will help if you're having those problems. Now, as for the scallop. You need to feed it often, they can be difficult to keep alive long term. But once your system is stable it might be a good thing you don't have a skimmer, which takes pretty much all of its food away. Either way, do some water changes if you're having problems with a new system.

Joshua Hurst · Feb 14, 2017

Squirrel_reefer said:
Flame Scallops are really hard to judge, I just recently lost one that was only two months old (Mantis shrimp decided he wanted the shell)

They'll make they're way around your tank until they are happy with the flow and lighting etc. just make sure that you have high levels of dissolved organics in the water and lots of phyto. I used to mix phyto with my frozen food when adding it to the tank and the scallop seemed to be pretty happy. I wouldn't recommend clear clean water for this animal though. if that sort of thing bothers you I would suggest rehoming the animal, I actually ran without any filter socks for along while and that was the way to go for sure. He is a filter feeder so the cleaner you keep your water the less nutrition the animal will have. They are very hard to keep in an aquarium unless you are diligent with them, not impossible just hard. best of luck with it!

Thanks for the tips! ive heard blowing the rocks off in his direction can also be helpful

Joshua Hurst · Feb 14, 2017

AcroNem said:
I do think your system isn't quite stable enough for a lot of things. But I completely disagree with the skimmer comment. People tend to treat skimmers like they'll magically fix all of our new system's problems but that isn't how it works, time and water changes is what will help if you're having those problems. Now, as for the scallop. You need to feed it often, they can be difficult to keep alive long term. But once your system is stable it might be a good thing you don't have a skimmer, which takes pretty much all of its food away. Either way, do some water changes if you're having problems with a new system.

my system is about over a year now