Such a thing as a "beginner" clam?

[cvonseggern]

Deb's eye was caught the other day by an ultra Crocea at Fin Addict...we're contemplating going back to get one. BUT, we've never kept clams before. Is the Crocea a suitable clam for someone who hasn't tried these, or are there others we should consider first?

It'd be going under a 250W DE 20K pendant...I'm not worried about having *enough* light, but is there a wavelength under which clams do best?

Thanks,

Chris

[Brett Wilson]

I wonder if any clams are more/less tolerant as any other.... good question.
when I was a 'beginner' I kept a squamosa with no problems at all..... in my 20g tank with 4x55w PC bulbs.

[Brett Wilson]

Jim is online, maybe he has an opinion!

[GaryP]

My first was a Derasa.

Gary

[alexwolf]

I found the Crocea to be harder than the others. Maxima's have pretty high light demands, but mine is doing well 30" from the 250w halide! Squamosa seem fairly easy to me. Out of 7 clams, the only one i ever lost was a crocea.

[Jimnorris]

IMO
Crocea is the hardest
Maxima is alittle less hard
Squamosa is easy
Gigas is easy
Derasa is very easy
Hippoppus is very, very, very easy!
Jim

[bprewit]

My first clam was a crocea in a 55g tank with a single 250w 10K MH and two 48" NO actnic tubes. It grew at a slow but steady rate and its mantle opened up large enough it looked as if it would spill out of its shell. Awesome clam and great colors. It stayed on sand bed and with its matle fully open you could not tell it was a clam because its shell was completly hidden by the mantle. I kept it for close to two years before my tank died and never any problems. Lots of weird looking critters made their homes on its shell as well. I think squamosa are supposed to be a bit easier than others and have less light requirement to be happy atleast this is what I have read from various sources. I fed DT's on a regular basis after I added the clam as well. Local LFS gets clams from time to time but they charge $100+ for small sized crocea and of course nobody buys them and they always die in his display tank.

[captexas]

I have two Maximas, a Crocea, a Derasa, and a Squamosa and I really couldn't say if any one type of clam is easier than others to keep. Usually the main concern is lighting and you seem to have that taken care of. The only other issue is that the size of the clam does affect things. If the clam is under 3inches you will need to periodically remove the clam from your tank to feed it (usually place in a bowl of tank water and left to feed for a few minutes). Once the clam gets larger in size it can support itself by filter feeding from the tank although it is still good to target feed them from time to time.

[cvonseggern]

Makes sense. Feed with phyto? And what should I do if feeding in a separate container...just add some phyto to the water in the bowl and let the clam filter away? How much phyto, and how often?

Sorry for all the questions...I just want to do it right if we do it at all.

Chris

[cvonseggern]

One more question - I read a post on another site from someone who said his rabbitfish constantly nibbled his clam's mantle, which the clam obviously did not appreciate. Is this common? I already have a foxface in the tank.

Chris

[CD]

I think foxfaces are generally interested in veggie matter, so there shouldn't be a problem with him nipping your clam. Of course, that is providing that he's well fed.

Wendy

[GaryP]

The foxface was probably nibbling algae from the clam's shell and just look like it was eating the mantle. I have seen mine chow down on black mussels but has never touched my clams.

Gary

[DeletedAccount]

My foxface leaves my clam alone. What other fish do you have? What kind of sand bed?

Crocea have less tolerance for sand in the water column. They have gills that get clogged easier than the other clams, causing death. If you have fine sand and a sand stirring fish, you may have a problem.

I had one with engineer gobies and it could not tolerate it.

[cvonseggern]

No sand-moving fish (2 Banggais, royal gramma, foxface and sixline), but I have a way of kicking up a little sand when doing water changes (vacuuming substrate). Sandbed is about 3" of the sugar-fine aragonite.

Good to know about the sand/gills issue. That may influence my choice of clam, and if nothing else maybe I can take precautions if I know I'm going to be working in the tank.

Chris

[Jenn]

I also have a foxface, a huge one, and I have 3 croceas and a derasa. No problems.

[astrong]

Croceas are rock borers and require lots of light. Put them up high. Once they attach you won't be able to move them without damaging their byssal gland, so choose wisely. They like lower K light since they are surface dwellers. They are quite intolerant to low light. Look for white growth at the edges of the shell, that means they are happy.

[mharris7]

all I gotta say is feed feed feed! If you do that clams in general aren't too difficult. Need to maintain your calcium and alk levels and have good light, but if you do that and feed they're pretty hardy. I've been using Korralvit F that I got from clamsdirect.com and I love it! The clams dig it too! ;)

[mharris7]

ps - I have a rabbit fish (not a fox face though) and he's never done anything to the clams other than nibble algae off of their shells.