Any luck with Flame Scallops while auto dosing live phyto?

[DemoAllBac]

It seems the general consensus regarding Flame Scallops is that they do poorly in captivity, and last only a few weeks to a few months if you're lucky.
Just a few weeks ago, I started auto dosing 110ml daily of a live phtyo blend to my 60gal mixed reef and am tempted to give a Flame Scallop a try. Does anyone have experience caring for a Flame Scallop while auto dosing live phyto? I'm considering if I would potentially need to up the phyto rate (I'm sure my phyto supplier would like that), and maybe add a splash of RotiFeast every couple days? Or is it truly just a losing game and they should be left in the ocean?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Biokabe]

I had a flame scallop hitchhiker that lived in my tank for 5 years, and the only reason it died is because I messed up a tank transfer. It was in my tank for a couple of years before I even realized it was in there.

I didn't dose phyto, but I did have a Plank autofeeder. I used a mixture of mysis, copepods, rotifers, Benereef, TDO pellets, Aquaforest zoa food, BRS golden pearls, and probably one or two other things. Dispensed for 40 seconds at a time, six times per day. I wasn't doing that for the scallop, mind you - that was just what I did for the tank overall. But the scallop lived and thrived in the tank for five years without me doing a thing for it with that as my feeding plan.

In my experience it was the easiest thing ever, but my tank had an abundance of feeding opportunities for filter feeders, and a filter feeder population that reflected that. I think you need that kind of abundance to successfully keep a scallop, with a filtration system to handle that increased feeding load (I ran a refugium, an ATS and a skimmer, all of which yielded heavy harvests within just a week of growth).

I also had persistently high phosphates, so that is definitely something to be aware of.

 

[rayadog]

I had a hitchiker as well and survived for the better part of a year; long enough for me to notice. Couldn’t tell you if it’s still alive but I don’t think so. Used to be able to see it through a hole in my rock. Gorilla grew and started to hang in that rock too til I caught them. Can’t say I saw it after that but new scape since.

I would like to see you try and succeed. They’re a cool bivalve I think everybody secretly wants.