Clam issue
- Thread starter rjcranor
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skinz78
10K Club member
Clams don't need fed.
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/cl...on-pyramidellid-snail-removal.html#post634767
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/cl...on-pyramidellid-snail-removal.html#post634767
Tom@HaslettMI
Active Member
+1 to not feeding a clam.
I still believe that something changed to cause the clam to start moving in the first place. Then you moved the rock it is on, which caused it to want to move more. Did you change anything just before the clam started moving on its own (e.g., lighting (bulbs, photoperiod, reflectors, anything), flow, salt brand, add a new fish, rearrange any rock work, ect.)?
I say let the clam decide where it is happiest (all too often its not in the best viewing spot). If you keep moving it you will only stress it out more.
Also clams look best when you look down from the top of the tank. I only say that because smart LFS owners will sell clams from a tank where you look down onto them. Then when you get them home they don't look quite as nice because you're looking at them from the side.
Tom
I still believe that something changed to cause the clam to start moving in the first place. Then you moved the rock it is on, which caused it to want to move more. Did you change anything just before the clam started moving on its own (e.g., lighting (bulbs, photoperiod, reflectors, anything), flow, salt brand, add a new fish, rearrange any rock work, ect.)?
I say let the clam decide where it is happiest (all too often its not in the best viewing spot). If you keep moving it you will only stress it out more.
Also clams look best when you look down from the top of the tank. I only say that because smart LFS owners will sell clams from a tank where you look down onto them. Then when you get them home they don't look quite as nice because you're looking at them from the side.
Tom
Naiad
Valuable Member
skinz... I find it funny that you say clams don't need fed yet in the article you wrote it clearly state that you feed yours phyto... rj has a light bio load and turf algea that is already striping the tank of nutrients more efficiently than a clam can. His light bulbs are getting a bit old which means they are favoring algea growth over coral anyway.
Naiad
Valuable Member
To be clear, when you say clams don't need feeding you are assuming the aquarium has enough free nutrients and other fine particulates for the clam to feed on without supplementation. This is all based on individual bioloads, filtation methods and clam metabolism. That is why clams under 2 in seem to always NEED extra food. They dont have the ability to meet their metabolic needs through photosynthesis or the "naturally" occuring "food" in our tanks. Yet to assume that just because a clam has reached 3 in makes the clam suddenly able to meet this need is a gross over simplification of the processes involved. This general assumption tends to work but if something is wrong it shouldn't be the fall back that clams don't NEED food. Generally our tanks and their photosynthesis provide what they need but that isn't always the case. I personally don't want to just sit by and let my animals starve because they dont generally need supplemental food.
OP
OP
rjcranor
Well-Known Member
I believe I had posted on here and Michiganreefers when I first got the clam where the mantle was reaching upwards. The feedback I had got was it appeared to be reaching for the light. So I had moved it up in the tank. And it had been fine till about a week ago. Did check my alk today and it was a 4 mg or 11.2 dkh. Says it should be around 4.5 for the clam. I've been dosing it with reef fusion 2 part additive.
skinz78
10K Club member
You have some great points but it's my belief that if a clam's mantle grows as the clam does it also increases it's surface area. In doing so it allows more Zoox to inhabit it's inter mantle thus causing more and more photosynthesis thus allowing the Zoox to release more and more by product into the clam as the clam grows.
People have always jumped to the conclusion that small Maxima clams need to be fed or they'll die. Over the years I've came to believe that this is not the case. I've seen tons of instances where someone says "why is my clam constantly moving from it's spot", and then you'll usually see someone reply "are you feeding it?". I firmly believe if the thought that a 2" or less Maxima needs feeding then why are all the millions of Maxima clams in the oceans around the world still alive? I mean, our tanks are complete septic tanks compared to the water conditions found in the wild reefs.
It's my belief that small Maxima clams don't usually die from being underfed, rather than they are extremely easy to stress out causing death by the aquarium keeper fussing with them too much. I've even done some tests on my own with small Maxima clams, now are they scientific? Not by any means but I do know what I have found and what works for me.
You may or may not have seen this photo kicking around the net, it's pretty popular and I got tons of comments on it when I originally posted it. The Montipora Cap in the picture was bowl shaped, and all the clams inside of it were 2" or less. All three were quite mobile and I couldn't ever get them to stay put in the places that I chose to keep them. After messing with them for about a week I decided to place them in the Cap and see what they did, since it was bowl shaped they couldn't jump out and within a few days they actually attached to it. If memory serves me correctly over a period of about a year they grew to about 3" without any supplemental feedings. I'm sad to say that I did loose the clams though, I made the mistake of adding three clams that had a virus.... Bad mistake, it wiped out all of my clams within a week or so...
So, do I currently feed my clams? No, nor will I.
Do I think that rjcranor's clam is doing what it's doing because it needs to be fed? No, I believe that maybe something has changed in the tanks environment causing the clam to no longer like it's current placement on the rock. I haven't a clue what the change could possibly be, it's not my tank so I don't have the ability to watch it day to day. My first guess is the algae is in some way causing the clam to want to move, weather it be just that it's irritating it or the possibility of a fish or invert picking the algae and irritating the clam. I would like to see a clear top down pic of the clams mantle to see if I can see any bleaching. If there is indeed bleaching then I would tend to think ether it's getting too much light or not enough. From the pic's above the mantle is not apparently reaching for light so that leads me to think it's getting enough light.
People have always jumped to the conclusion that small Maxima clams need to be fed or they'll die. Over the years I've came to believe that this is not the case. I've seen tons of instances where someone says "why is my clam constantly moving from it's spot", and then you'll usually see someone reply "are you feeding it?". I firmly believe if the thought that a 2" or less Maxima needs feeding then why are all the millions of Maxima clams in the oceans around the world still alive? I mean, our tanks are complete septic tanks compared to the water conditions found in the wild reefs.
It's my belief that small Maxima clams don't usually die from being underfed, rather than they are extremely easy to stress out causing death by the aquarium keeper fussing with them too much. I've even done some tests on my own with small Maxima clams, now are they scientific? Not by any means but I do know what I have found and what works for me.
You may or may not have seen this photo kicking around the net, it's pretty popular and I got tons of comments on it when I originally posted it. The Montipora Cap in the picture was bowl shaped, and all the clams inside of it were 2" or less. All three were quite mobile and I couldn't ever get them to stay put in the places that I chose to keep them. After messing with them for about a week I decided to place them in the Cap and see what they did, since it was bowl shaped they couldn't jump out and within a few days they actually attached to it. If memory serves me correctly over a period of about a year they grew to about 3" without any supplemental feedings. I'm sad to say that I did loose the clams though, I made the mistake of adding three clams that had a virus.... Bad mistake, it wiped out all of my clams within a week or so...
So, do I currently feed my clams? No, nor will I.
Do I think that rjcranor's clam is doing what it's doing because it needs to be fed? No, I believe that maybe something has changed in the tanks environment causing the clam to no longer like it's current placement on the rock. I haven't a clue what the change could possibly be, it's not my tank so I don't have the ability to watch it day to day. My first guess is the algae is in some way causing the clam to want to move, weather it be just that it's irritating it or the possibility of a fish or invert picking the algae and irritating the clam. I would like to see a clear top down pic of the clams mantle to see if I can see any bleaching. If there is indeed bleaching then I would tend to think ether it's getting too much light or not enough. From the pic's above the mantle is not apparently reaching for light so that leads me to think it's getting enough light.
skinz78
10K Club member
Ahh It's a Crocea, I don't see any bleaching or reaching ether... I do see new growth in the past pic's. Personally I wouldn't worry about the clam at all. If it moves just set it upright wherever it moves to and leave it be.
Naiad
Valuable Member
Thank-you for the info skinz. Perhaps I should ask what you consider "feeding" a clam? I consider adding anything that it can directly consume to the tank such as phytoplankton or coral foods designed for sps or other filter feeders feeding. I never directly spot feed a healthy clam, only make sure all my organisms get access to a variety of sources of nutrition through weekly or monthly additions.
