Electric Flame Scallop

[Yano]

What are you expirences with these? I have done reading before and saw some pictures, never thought about getting one. But I saw one in person today and its was stunning, I want one now. Most places classify these as 'difficult' to keep. What does it take to care for one of these, its seems that target feeding with plankton/micro vert and good water conditions (like what doesn't?) is all that needed. Am I missing something here?

[pilot_bell777]

Never had one but know a couple people that have and they ALL said to say away from them. I wanted one too, even took my wife to the LFS to show her, but after talking with others I changed my mind. I was told you can do the target feeding and have the best water in the world and they thing will still die.

Oh well, up to you though! Cool little scallops though. I also heard that it is not a pulse of anything that makes it do that but a little lip like cover that they keep moving up and down showing the blue..ish underskin which makes it look like lightining.....

Hope that helps....if you get one keep me posted on how he does.....I might reconsider if you can keep him more than a month or two or three, well probably not.

Of course this is just what I have heard, I do not have an experince with them so please make up your own mind! Later

[MikeP]

Neat looking but pretty much doomed to die in most tanks. Actually for this one really clean water might not be the best - the short term successes I've heard about were all in tanks with a large amount of suspended matter. One of the older issues of one of the online reef magazines had a great article on them by Rob Toonen - I'll see if I can find it and post a link here. They live only a few years in the wild also.

[Ram_Puppy]

From what I have read, most, if not all the typical phyto-plankton additives, like DT's and such, have matter that is to large for the scallop to consume. Calfo's reef invertebrates book reccomends against these guys, but if you were to try, I would say definately to have a live phytoplankton culture going, and a drip if possible, this animal probably needs to feed constantly. If it is already at a local fish store, it is probably doomed anyhow... if you are educated on the problems of keeping one, and are willing to take the risk, and try to save it, better you than some poor soul who has no idea... my two cents... I would hit wet web media and check out what they say there.

[Yano]

I thought the same thing, but I don't like having to take dead stuff out of my tank. :D What other oddities are out there that are reef safe?