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[DSC reef]

That's a nice blue squamosa @OrionN

 

[._Z_.]

Here is my Squamosa

Looks stunning. Mind if I ask where you got it and what it cost you?

 

[GoPitt88]

At work now (as you can see......hardly working, lol), but will post a pic when I get home tonight. I recently bought the AquariClip photo lens for my cell phone camera from Algaebarn and anxious to try it.

 

[DSC reef]

Wow, that's stunning! That's what ours looked like when it was that small. It slowly developed blue spots over time. Glad it's doing well for you my friend and thank you for sharing.

 

[OrionN]

Looks stunning. Mind if I ask where you got it and what it cost you?

I got him from Austin Aqua Farm. I think he was 180.00. A lot cheaper than LA

 

[Endeavour]

Welcome to R2R @Endeavour
The first pic is showing bleaching which could be attributed to light shock from a direct change in lighting intensity from what the clam was previously under compared to your lighting. While maximas need a lot of light they do need to be given time to photo adapt to a more intense light, especially when smaller. The last pic of the clam does not look to bad so I'd leave it be. While having ammonia is not good for aquarium inhabitants, tridacna do have the ability to absorb ammonia, phosphorus, etc, through their mantles. The clam will position itself due to flow and lighting as to where it is comfortable.

Hello DSC - thanks for the welcome and reply.

The first photo was actually under the original lights, and I think is more of a poor shot on my part than anything else. The phone does funky things with actinics. The day after I set up and ran the kessil a little high, and the day after that set up the controller to operate it in acclimation mode.

In the interim ammonia has decreased and the missing sea cucumber re-appeared from wherever it has been hiding for the last two weeks, so I'm not really certain what caused the spike, but all's going in the right direction.

I am curious what might be causing the clam to not fully open. It will have been acclimating for two weeks on Monday and the cycle set on the controller will be complete. Should I expect it to take a while longer before it's comfortable with the tank?

Thanks for the help - This is the first clam I've kept, and I'm keen to give it a good home.

 

[Endeavour]

I got him from Austin Aqua Farm. I think he was 180.00. A lot cheaper than LA

I had not heard of Austin Aqua Farm until your post and visited them today in person - what a fantastic selection of acans, scolys, acros, and others.

 

[DSC reef]

Hello DSC - thanks for the welcome and reply.

The first photo was actually under the original lights, and I think is more of a poor shot on my part than anything else. The phone does funky things with actinics. The day after I set up and ran the kessil a little high, and the day after that set up the controller to operate it in acclimation mode.

In the interim ammonia has decreased and the missing sea cucumber re-appeared from wherever it has been hiding for the last two weeks, so I'm not really certain what caused the spike, but all's going in the right direction.

I am curious what might be causing the clam to not fully open. It will have been acclimating for two weeks on Monday and the cycle set on the controller will be complete. Should I expect it to take a while longer before it's comfortable with the tank?

Thanks for the help - This is the first clam I've kept, and I'm keen to give it a good home.

It doesn't look to bad honestly and the mantle could open more as it photo adapts to your lighting. I'd keep on the same schedule and keep an eye for new shell growth as that will tell you the clam is doing well.

 

[GoPitt88]

So my Squamy seems to like it best between the glass and mushrooms, but it's nearly under one of my powerheads, and when I feed the fish, the Squamy gets sand on top of it from the fish, especially my diamond goby, going nuts during feeding time. Is this OK? In the morning, she seems to be clear of sand. Just wondering if this is stressing her. I could move her against the glass on the other side of the tank. Thoughts?

 

[DSC reef]

That can definitely cause issues in the long run. It's when the sand gets in the shell under the mantle is when problems can start.

 

[GoPitt88]

Okay.....I’m going to move him to the other side and let him settle over there.

 

[GoPitt88]

She's looking happy this morning on the other side of the tank [emoji16]

 

[DSC reef]

Looking good! Those ricordea look amazing! Glad your clam is doing good my friend.

 

[topjimmy]

I'm thinking about adding a clam to my 65. Lighting is 2 t5 and one 250w mh. I'm worried about how big they can get. Is there a clam that will stay a little smaller for longer?

 

[DSC reef]

I'd recommend a crocea if you want one to stay small. However, if it's your first clam, I'd recommend a squamosa or derasa. They do get big but it will be a bit of time before one out grew the tank given the aquascape. The crocea is a very light demanding clam, then maxima.

 

[dcowboys2000]

Hello everyone, would an aquamaxx Nemo 48" light be good for a blue Maxima clam, on a 90 gallon tank that's 24" high, if not could I supplement the aquamaxx with t5 lighting

 

[DSC reef]

I personally do not have experience with that light but at 72 watts I don't think it will suffice for a maxima in a 90 gallon tank. Even with a less light needy clam I would supplement with no less than 4-T5 bulbs.

 

[dcowboys2000]

I personally do not have experience with that light but at 72 watts I don't think it will suffice for a maxima in a 90 gallon tank. Even with a less light needy clam I would supplement with no less than 4-T5 bulbs.

Awesome thank you for the advice, I will definitely look into a 4-T5 light.

 

[Val Shebeko]

Hello all you fellow clam keepers out there. I thought I would do a thread on clam keeping and all of the good stuff you will need to know.

One of the first things you will need for successful clam keeping are perfect water parameters.

#1 Calcium 380-450 ppm
#2 Salinity 1.024-1.026
#3 Alkalinity 2.5-4 meq/L
7-11 dKH
125-200 ppm CaCO3 equivalents
#4 Ph 8.1-8.4
#5 Magnesium 1250-1350 ppm
#6 Temp 78-82 deg F
#7 Nitrates 0
#8 Nitrites 0
#9 Phosphate < 0.03 ppm
#10 Ammonia <0.1 ppm

Other things that I highly recommend for successfully keeping clams are:

Read, read, read, you can't ever get enough info so take it all in.

Know what to do when you have an issue and have to ask a question, post pic's, params, and fish lists.

There is another thread here and it really tells a lot about how to keep clams and has many recommendations, once again read.

Now you may be wondering what kind of clam you may have right? Well There are many online clam ID pages but the one that I use the most is found here .

Do clams need to be placed in a Quarantine Tank "QT"? In my honest opinion yes they do with out a doubt. No matter who you get it from and how good their reputation is. A quarantine tank is really simple and fairly cheap to set up. The most expensive thing you will need is the light. But think of it this way, say you have 3 or 4 clams and want to add just one more. Now say that one more has a disease and it wipes out all your other clams too. Now you have just lost more money in clams than what a QT would cost. If you need to know how to set up a QT you can look at this thread and get some idea's.

Now lets say you did the right thing and did set up a QT tank, and while your new clam was in said tank you noticed that it was infested with Pyramidellidea Snails. Honestly they sound bad and the treatment sounds real painstaking but I honestly don't mind it. As long as you know you have them and do the proper treatment your clam should be fine. All you need is a toothpick and a tooth brush and get to scrubbing.

Some people will try and tell you that you need to feed clams. I believe that that is a false statement. As long as you have a good strong light set up you should be fine. If you still aren't convinced and would like to read some on the matter you can do so here.

And lastly I have compiled a group of video's with a bunch of clam info and if you are interested in viewing them you may do so here.

 

[Val Shebeko]

Following.