Clams

[Kurtis1]

Hey guys my cousin who's a pretty good reefer has some clams that look really interesting, he says he has gold maximas and blue teardrop maximas. I heard online that clams prefer having at least 5ppm of nitrates but it goes back and forth, does anyone know whats the best parameters to have for these guys?

 

[vetteguy53081]

A little nitrates yes but that’s a bit.
Most important for their success-is moderate water glow, bright light for reproduction of zooxanthellae. Which they produce their own food source, temperature 78-79, salinity 1.025 and alk around 8.0

 

[Phil D.]

Calcium around 460, I keep my Alk at 11

 

[Kurtis1]

A little nitrates yes but that’s a bit.
Most important for their success-is moderate water glow, bright light for reproduction of zooxanthellae. Which they produce their own food source, temperature 78-79, salinity 1.025 and alk around 8.0

WOW! Thanks man, yeah my cousin said they actually eat a lot of alk so he's trying to push to 9 just so they're safe and doing well at all times. Definitely having a good amount of light is key for them, when they open and bloom extensively I can't tell if it's a bad sign or not, because I can't tell if they aren't getting enough light to eat or if they're doing that because it's normal. What do you think?

 

[Phil D.]

Bad sign would be if they don't open, or mantle looks shriveled.

 

[Kurtis1]

Calcium around 460, I keep my Alk at 11

Wow your alk is that high? Does your alk drop a lot? I heard that clam's can eat a ton of alk.

 

[Kurtis1]

Bad sign would be if they don't open, or mantle looks shriveled.

Yeah that makes sense, I think they need to attach to something so it prevents anything coming from the bottom of it and doing so it will prevent disease or parasites from coming and attacking it.

 

[Hercaluis]

Hey guys my cousin who's a pretty good reefer has some clams that look really interesting, he says he has gold maximas and blue teardrop maximas. I heard online that clams prefer having at least 5ppm of nitrates but it goes back and forth, does anyone know whats the best parameters to have for these guys?

not sure what the best parameters are but having them stable would be the best for success. I have my Alk at 10 and i have my cal at 480 mag at 1450 and i have never had an issue with my clam. Also the smaller they are the more delicate they are from my experience.

 

[vetteguy53081]

WOW! Thanks man, yeah my cousin said they actually eat a lot of alk so he's trying to push to 9 just so they're safe and doing well at all times. Definitely having a good amount of light is key for them, when they open and bloom extensively I can't tell if it's a bad sign or not, because I can't tell if they aren't getting enough light to eat or if they're doing that because it's normal. What do you think?

As long as they’re open and mantle is healthy.... good to go. Here is mine during entire day:

 

[NanoSteam]

I have a blue Maxima, I keep my Alk at 10.5, Ca at 440 and Nitrates at 5ppm. I have to dose nitrates twice a week and add some into my fresh saltwater mix to keep up with the demand. Besides that I had to double my Alk/Ca dosage. These guys are hungry!

Only reason I keep mine at 5ppm is because once it gets down to 1 to 2 I start to see Dino's pop up here and there.

 

[Saltyanimals]

I've already read/hear of them being a big consumer of Alk and of course Ca, but I haven't seen a higher consumption after adding a 7"+ blue maxima to my tank. Doser amounts are the same and measurements stable for Alk. I had 3" that went downhill for some unknown reason very rapidly. Replaced it with a bigger one this time hoping it's hardier.

However I've never heard of the Nitrate comment. + 1 on the earlier responsive for the high light as they make their own food and benefit from particles and what not in the water that they filter, but light is the primary source for mature clams. Nitrates is generally good in small amounts for the other corals.

 

[Kurtis1]

I've already read/hear of them being a big consumer of Alk and of course Ca, but I haven't seen a higher consumption after adding a 7"+ blue maxima to my tank. Doser amounts are the same and measurements stable for Alk. I had 3" that went downhill for some unknown reason very rapidly. Replaced it with a bigger one this time hoping it's hardier.

However I've never heard of the Nitrate comment. + 1 on the earlier responsive for the high light as they make their own food and benefit from particles and what not in the water that they filter, but light is the primary source for mature clams. Nitrates is generally good in small amounts for the other corals.

Ahh I see, huh that's interesting maybe my cousin's alk isn't just dropping because of the clams but maybe because he has so many creature's and anemones eating up the alk. Also I heard that they should be attached to a rock to prevent diseases and avoid worms. Your blue maxima looks great and has good coloring, blue is better than gold because of rarity and other reasons.

 

[Saltyanimals]

Ahh I see, huh that's interesting maybe my cousin's alk isn't just dropping because of the clams but maybe because he has so many creature's and anemones eating up the alk. Also I heard that they should be attached to a rock to prevent diseases and avoid worms. Your blue maxima looks great and has good coloring, blue is better than gold because of rarity and other reasons.

They're "suppose" to be big consumers of Alk. that was my understanding as well.. but just sharing that it varies and proportionally with the size and amount of coral in it. I have a 65g mix reef and go through a good amount of 3 part daily...just didn't see swings after adding to my unique tank situation.

As to your rock comment. I would be careful there. Trying to mount them to a rock may be risky. They will try to move and adjust to where they're happy.. so may blow itself off rocks and nothing good comes to a upside down clam in the sand. Mounting it based on where YOU want.. may result in an unhappy clam and thus.. not good either.

My advice is to put it on the sand in a place that you prefer and see how it moves. You may get lucky and it stays put and everyone is happy. I have mine on one of those clam plates where it has attached to.. this gives me a little freedom to move it around and never have it attach to the tank. I personally haven't heard of the worms and diseases theory with rock placement. They can get those anywhere..=)