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Reefer4ever
Wed, 20th Oct 2010, 08:56 PM
How do clams reproduce in nature? Don't be afraid to teach here MAASTard something as well as the future MAASTards that may read this! How does their life cycle work? Any information on how these things grow and reproduce is great!

Also, has anybody ever successfully artificially bread these wonderful creatures of the sea? Who? I'm talking about from the microscopic level to these huge T. gigas, T. squamosa, T. derasa, T. maxima, T. crocea, H. hippopus, and H. porcellanus clams. I love these great animals, but I would like to see clams being aquacultured and "tank-raised" instead of pulling them from their natural habitat.

I understand that people such as myself think that clams are somewhat difficult to keep, but I'm thinking that that is the point. When one of your buddies comes over to your house and sees a T. gigas clam the size of one of your sofa cushions, you have something to brag about. You can say "I raised it since it was the size of my fist" and feel all proud-like. This is one of those hobbies where you CAN brag, and nothing is wrong with it. Because this is what I'm presuming, I can conclude more people want to keep clams and in turn, depleting mother earth of her wondrous fascinations. I'm not so sure how fast the ocean's population of clams are decreasing OR increasing, though I'm very doubtful their population is ascending, but I would like to know if there is a way to stop the clam fishing and if anyone has thought of the same thing as I have.

NOW... enough of that mumbo jumbo, which I do believe in. I'm also interested in seeing some clams that you guys have had, whether it be for 1 month, 1 year, or 10 years. Post some pictures of your clams when they were itty bitty, and how big they are now!
txg8gxp
Wed, 20th Oct 2010, 09:02 PM
http://web.archive.org/web/20010625131130/www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1998/may/shell/default.asp
Good old google search
StevenSeas
Wed, 20th Oct 2010, 09:18 PM
ORA captive breeds their clams
tebstan
Wed, 20th Oct 2010, 09:30 PM
Clams are bred in captivity, with great success!

The breeding is kind of a communal, toss-the-genetic-goodies-in-the-water-and-see-what-grows method.

I'll type more detail in a bit, if you still want to know. But I learned what I know of clams and their breeding from James Fatherree's book. Giant Clams in the Sea and the Aquarium.
http://www.amazon.com/Giant-Clams-Aquarium-James-Fatherree/dp/0978619404/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1287628192&sr=8-1
Reefer4ever
Wed, 20th Oct 2010, 09:35 PM
So, from what I read from that cite, it is apparently very stressful to the clams when they release their gametes into the water column. They make a mess and "total" your system if not acted upon quickly. They release gametes when stressed as well which is bad because it is a sign of a possible clam casualty, which is understandable for them to want their DNA to be passed on and not risk the possibility of extinction. Wasn't really liking how spawning clams could be more detrimental to the clams in live aquaria than good. I don't think every question was answered on that cite, but it definitely had a lot of good answers.

If you have some clam growth pics, post them!
Reefer4ever
Wed, 20th Oct 2010, 09:45 PM
Great looking book. I may look into investing in such. From reading the cite, I inferred that the death-rate may actually be higher than the birth-rate, but I'm glad someone straitened out that this has actually been a success. Anybody want to give us a biology lesson on all the little things that make the existence of this clam possible? From gametes to giants? What makes a clam work?
jroescher
Wed, 20th Oct 2010, 10:10 PM
Check out Clams Direct. They used to be a sponsor here. Barry has published a book on clams that tells you everything you could ever want to know about the clams we keep, including how they are bred and grow.
Reefer4ever
Wed, 20th Oct 2010, 10:42 PM
I'll check them out! :D
hobogato
Thu, 21st Oct 2010, 06:34 AM
yep, i have had clams spawn in my tank and have seen it in a friend's tank. in mine, the clams were in a small tank plumbed into a 400 system and the 240 gallon display got very cloudy very fast. didnt really cause any problems tho. the one that spawned in the other tank was in the display and the water looked almost like milk.
jroescher
Thu, 21st Oct 2010, 08:43 AM
yep, i have had clams spawn in my tank and have seen it in a friend's tank. in mine, the clams were in a small tank plumbed into a 400 system and the 240 gallon display got very cloudy very fast. didnt really cause any problems tho. the one that spawned in the other tank was in the display and the water looked almost like milk.

I would think that would be a feast for the corals in a tank, at least until it started to foul the water.
hobogato
Thu, 21st Oct 2010, 08:46 AM
yep, the corals love it, they just cant take care of all of it, and that is where it can cause issues.
Reefer4ever
Wed, 27th Oct 2010, 08:25 PM
Anybody got some clam growth pictures?