After 40 years of cleaning salt creep, I have recently begun attempting to keep a small Tridachna in my very healthy mixed, naturalistic reef. Please take my word for params, gear, lighting, etc., in the interest of brevity and relevance.
The bottom line is simply this: don’t target feed clams!
As I’m chronically ill, my significant other does the daily routines with my directions.
Three consecutive specimens have moved in, healthy and beautiful, only to mysteriously croak overnight. The tank’s become a clam boneyard :-(
Generally, the sump grows algea which the fish feed on, and the fish ‘feed’ the corals.
Regular supplements and water changes happen, and the tank supports a lush bioload, with rich macro life.
Given that I have a number of young frags, I’ve asked her to target feed a freeze dried blend, which I mix and keep in quantity.
I’ve preferrred to tread lightly with supplemental feeding, however, my SO is an Earth Mother type who equates food with love. Thus it’s predicatable to everyone but me, that she’ll not only overfeed, but that she’s also been blanketing the clams in a cloud of coral mix. Without knowing that this was the case, I’ve been distressed to then visit my reef only to find another pretty mollusk, croaked.
I accept the vituperation and scorn of my peers, and in no way attempt to shift the blame for my negligence in giving inconcise instruction, and allowing a neophyte to err so grievously.
In truth, we’ve battled a few crisises owing to the delegation of tasks to unqualified hands, but after the first or second incident, I shoulda known bettah.
I will wait awhile to process my grief and shame, before giving one, last go. I’ve been successful with them in the past, but sometimes, for arcane reasons, a species just ceases or refuses to thrive in a given environment. Given the health of the overall system, and from my measures and observations, I think that the causation is that the clams are suffocating when target fed.
While I may sound a little jocular, I do love these animals, and feel a special responsibility for their care and longevity. Reefers have contributed greatly to conservation and restoration, but we can also be eggregious consumers of fragile animals under great pressure.
So it is that I offer again, Please Don’t Feed the Clams!
The bottom line is simply this: don’t target feed clams!
As I’m chronically ill, my significant other does the daily routines with my directions.
Three consecutive specimens have moved in, healthy and beautiful, only to mysteriously croak overnight. The tank’s become a clam boneyard :-(
Generally, the sump grows algea which the fish feed on, and the fish ‘feed’ the corals.
Regular supplements and water changes happen, and the tank supports a lush bioload, with rich macro life.
Given that I have a number of young frags, I’ve asked her to target feed a freeze dried blend, which I mix and keep in quantity.
I’ve preferrred to tread lightly with supplemental feeding, however, my SO is an Earth Mother type who equates food with love. Thus it’s predicatable to everyone but me, that she’ll not only overfeed, but that she’s also been blanketing the clams in a cloud of coral mix. Without knowing that this was the case, I’ve been distressed to then visit my reef only to find another pretty mollusk, croaked.
I accept the vituperation and scorn of my peers, and in no way attempt to shift the blame for my negligence in giving inconcise instruction, and allowing a neophyte to err so grievously.
In truth, we’ve battled a few crisises owing to the delegation of tasks to unqualified hands, but after the first or second incident, I shoulda known bettah.
I will wait awhile to process my grief and shame, before giving one, last go. I’ve been successful with them in the past, but sometimes, for arcane reasons, a species just ceases or refuses to thrive in a given environment. Given the health of the overall system, and from my measures and observations, I think that the causation is that the clams are suffocating when target fed.
While I may sound a little jocular, I do love these animals, and feel a special responsibility for their care and longevity. Reefers have contributed greatly to conservation and restoration, but we can also be eggregious consumers of fragile animals under great pressure.
So it is that I offer again, Please Don’t Feed the Clams!