Feeding Tridacne

[Danchik]

I'm constantly asking myself ... whether it is necessary to feed the Tridaknu, with the presence of fish in the aquarium....
If so, who is feeding what food?

 

[WheatToast]

Not a Tridacna expert, but I assume the symbiotic Zooxanthellae in their mantles provides them with most of their energy as opposed to filter-feeding like in NPS bivalves.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

After about 6-8" mantle size they are photosynthetic but they do filter feed yes. You can add small amounts of different size particulate foods and test and see. I'm not a clam expert by any means though.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Imo it's easy to over feed these smaller foods like coral foods. Gorgangians and such foods. A lot of people are dosing the green stuff.
Lol
D

 

[Danchik]

One thing when you feed the fish particles of food scattered in the aquarium and naturally absorbed by other organisms + to the waste of fish welcome))
But suddenly it is not enough for tridacna....
But this is not a reason to overfeed the fish and hello - Nitrates and Phosphates((

When I read the description of one company manufacturer ...... and so, offer a special mix for Tridacn ... dosing from pipette to pump flow, apparently amino-vitamins...

 

[Danchik]

After about 6-8" mantle size they are photosynthetic but they do filter feed yes. You can add small amounts of different size particulate foods and test and see. I'm not a clam expert by any means though.

Most likely you need to grind the feed into a fine fraction, so that only the dust is from the feed, and dose....)
I think...otherwise the feed will get stuck...

 

[Dburr1014]

I'm constantly asking myself ... whether it is necessary to feed the Tridaknu, with the presence of fish in the aquarium....
If so, who is feeding what food?

How big is the clam and what is your par?
Most likely no food is needed as long that it is getting enough quality light.

 

[WheatToast]

If you were to feed a Tridacna clam, I believe the ideal food particle size would be 2-20 μm (phytoplankton size) which is recommended for Perna viridis. Tridacna can grow larger, though I am still not sure if they can feed on flake food dust. Dose phytoplankton daily.
https://reefs.com/magazine/aquarium-invertebrates-green-lipped-mussels/

 

[minus9]

So here's the deal with tridacna clams and feeding. Simply put, there's no need to feed them directly and if you have fish in the tank/system, feed the fish and you'll be fine. If you want to feed the tank/system phyto to feed the food chain (pods and smaller crustaceans, etc), that's fine. Clams do require nitrogen and they will actively filter feed, but what they actually consume is up to them. Size of the clam does not matter at all in regards to feeding (the only clam that needs to filter feed when it first settles out is gigas and we're talking about a clam that is only a few millimeters big). If you kick up detritus, feed your fish and provide enough full spectrum lighting, that is all that's required (besides water quality). All tridacna clams that we keep in the hobby come fully formed with all of the zooxanthellae necessary (this happens when they settle out at just a few millimeters big) to provide them with all of the energy needed to sustain them. In fact, multiple studies concluded that some species produce nearly %180 of their nutritional needs through photosynthesis alone.
I really encourage you all to buy James Fatherree's book(s) on clams, it will give you all of the information needed to keep these beautiful, unique animals thriving and dispel most of the myths too.
And I'll repeat myself for those just joining the conversation, the size of the clam does not matter at all regarding feeding or care. The difference in size when we see clams is based on cultured vs wild caught. Most of the clams that are 5" or bigger are generally wild caught. The ones that are 1" to 4" are generally cultured. The idea that clams can't survive without feeding until they reach a certain size is completely and utterly wrong. All of the clams that enter this hobby are completely equipped with everything they need to survive. As far as parameters are concerned, keep the tank/system stable and close to NSW and you'll be fine, as long as you provide enough full spectrum lighting. If you have measurable N & P, provide alkalinity and calcium and feed your fish, most likely you'll be fine. I would consider lighting to be the most important parameter involved here, water chemistry is a given.
I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but I'm constantly seeing posts that give hard numbers and just wrong information, which doesn't help the animals, nor the hobbyist(s).

 

[Danchik]

How big is the clam and what is your par?
Most likely no food is needed as long that it is getting enough quality light.

Unfortunately, I lost Tridacna(
Somewhere in the size of 2 inches. And lived about 2 years.
I didn't feed her anything. In the last few days, she stopped showing her lips out. The chemical composition of the water was normal, judging by one of the articles on this site)

It is possible that she was disturbed by Aiptasia... since she's overgrown them, I've been cleaning them out.

 

[minus9]

What species? Maxima and crocea require a lot of full spectrum lighting, as do all clams that we keep. There are a number of reasons for a clam's demise. Do you have a picture of it when it was happy?

 

[Danchik]

What species? Maxima and crocea require a lot of full spectrum lighting, as do all clams that we keep. There are a number of reasons for a clam's demise. Do you have a picture of it when it was happy?

Sorry for the delayed response(

Was happy for about 2 months after the demise

 

[minus9]

Sorry for the delayed response(

Was happy for about 2 months after the demise

Nice blue maxima.

 

[Dburr1014]

Unfortunately, I lost Tridacna(
Somewhere in the size of 2 inches. And lived about 2 years.
I didn't feed her anything. In the last few days, she stopped showing her lips out. The chemical composition of the water was normal, judging by one of the articles on this site)

It is possible that she was disturbed by Aiptasia... since she's overgrown them, I've been cleaning them out.

I doubt it was the aptaisia.
You didn't say what par you have and maxima clams live on rock that they can bore into. Sand will irritate them and possibly kill them.
It was most likely 1 or the 2 of those problems.