Got a clam question? We've got you covered right here.

scardall · Oct 15, 2015

Will a heavy amount of detritus in the water column (stirred up on purpose to filter it out) Choke a 2.5" Clam???

memoal23 · Dec 15, 2015

Hi budys im thinking on getting a maxima clam i never had one before, will it survive with t5 lights ?i have 2 blue actenics 10k 2 white 12k , its a 55 gallon tank , currently in tank yellow tang, Marrone clownfish ,clean up crew just hermits, corals candy cane , xenia , torches, polyps , just whanted to hear u guys experience with maxima clam thanks in advanced

paraletho · Jan 24, 2016

Will Yellow Coris pick on clams? Mine seems to be hovering near the clam a lot lately. The clam is retreating every time the Coris shadow goes over. This is a new development. It has been well over a year with no issues.

Reeflogic · Feb 6, 2016

@skinz78 - Thanks for adding this thread! I have had a blue squamosa for roughly 3 years now and he has always done very good. I relocated to TN from MI about 6 months ago, lost all my SPS due to a few things, move related... Well this sent me into a reefer comatose, as I like to call it lol, and I got very lazy with my tank, I wasn't dosing, doing water changes, nothing, for roughly 4 months. The glass was disgusting, couldn't really even see my corals or fish, I just fed the fish daily and added top off. I guess it was late November when I woke up one day and was like what am I doing! I started doing smaller water changes every 5 days or so, checked parameters and my Alk had dropped to around 5!! Which was odd, because my PH was holding at 7.8-8.1 throughout the day (Apex), I mean I knew it had been dropping because of the lack of maintenance and dosing, but assumed it was still in the safe range. Nothing really looked too bad at that point, except a wall hammer, some duncans and my squamosa clam.

So December and January pass and everything is on the rebound, tank has finally turned the corner and is improving daily. Which leads to my question, the squamosa lost most of its vibrant blue color during this period and really only shows decent color along the mantle and spout, he is a dull brown during peak hours of my lighting schedule. Will he eventually regain his dark, vibrant blues? He doesn't show any signs of stress, mouth isn't gaping, he still has full mantle extension, as he did before and he has grown, only the loss of color. I assume this loss of color was due to the alk drop, which is why I mentioned what had happened so maybe you can diagnose it / confirm it for me. Thank you for your time!

glb · Feb 6, 2016

I'd love to have a clam in my 40g I'm planning right now. I'll probably have it up and running a year before I add lights for corals. It will be fowlr until then. How difficult are they? I've had a 12g nano for 5 years so I know a lot about keeping things stable. At the same time, I don't ever want to get an animal I can't take care of. Other than light and good parameters, what else is involved in keeping a clam happy?

scardall · Feb 6, 2016

glb said:
I'd love to have a clam in my 40g I'm planning right now. I'll probably have it up and running a year before I add lights for corals. It will be fowlr until then. How difficult are they? I've had a 12g nano for 5 years so I know a lot about keeping things stable. At the same time, I don't ever want to get an animal I can't take care of. Other than light and good parameters, what else is involved in keeping a clam happy?

Lighting is also critical. I would buy a book on clams. You can get used books on Amazon. When ready these people can help you as well. http://www.pacificeastaquaculture.com/Clams-for-Sale-Maxima-Crocea-Squamosa-Deresa-Prodlist.html

glb · Feb 6, 2016

scardall said:
Lighting is also critical. I would buy a book on clams. You can get used books on Amazon. When ready these people can help you as well. http://www.pacificeastaquaculture.com/Clams-for-Sale-Maxima-Crocea-Squamosa-Deresa-Prodlist.html

Thanks. I'm going to read up!

scardall · Feb 6, 2016

glb said:
Thanks. I'm going to read up!

This is a good book to read. "Giant Clams in the sea and aquarium" by James Fatherree copy right 2006 I bought it on amazon.com

glb · Feb 7, 2016

scardall said:
This is a good book to read. "Giant Clams in the sea and aquarium" by James Fatherree copy right 2006 I bought it on amazon.com

Thanks!

Reeflogic · Feb 7, 2016

@skinz78 - are you still active? If not, any other clam experts able to answer my question? I posted a few days ago, scroll up a few

Thanks!

scardall · Feb 7, 2016

Reeflogic said:
@skinz78 - Thanks for adding this thread! I have had a blue squamosa for roughly 3 years now and he has always done very good. I relocated to TN from MI about 6 months ago, lost all my SPS due to a few things, move related... Well this sent me into a reefer comatose, as I like to call it lol, and I got very lazy with my tank, I wasn't dosing, doing water changes, nothing, for roughly 4 months. The glass was disgusting, couldn't really even see my corals or fish, I just fed the fish daily and added top off. I guess it was late November when I woke up one day and was like what am I doing! I started doing smaller water changes every 5 days or so, checked parameters and my Alk had dropped to around 5!! Which was odd, because my PH was holding at 7.8-8.1 throughout the day (Apex), I mean I knew it had been dropping because of the lack of maintenance and dosing, but assumed it was still in the safe range. Nothing really looked too bad at that point, except a wall hammer, some duncans and my squamosa clam.

So December and January pass and everything is on the rebound, tank has finally turned the corner and is improving daily. Which leads to my question, the squamosa lost most of its vibrant blue color during this period and really only shows decent color along the mantle and spout, he is a dull brown during peak hours of my lighting schedule. Will he eventually regain his dark, vibrant blues? He doesn't show any signs of stress, mouth isn't gaping, he still has full mantle extension, as he did before and he has grown, only the loss of color. I assume this loss of color was due to the alk drop, which is why I mentioned what had happened so maybe you can diagnose it / confirm it for me. Thank you for your time!

Yes I can Confirm that when alk. drops out of range it will have a negative affect on clams, SPS and other inverts. 8-9dkh seems to be a happy median overall. General range 7-12dkh .

Reeflogic · Feb 7, 2016

Thanks scardall, do you have any experience with the color loss? Since I got my tank back under control, everything is growing and fully colored up. The clam looks great physically but doesn't have his color back. Just curious if it will regain the color

scardall · Feb 8, 2016

Reeflogic said:
Thanks scardall, do you have any experience with the color loss? Since I got my tank back under control, everything is growing and fully colored up. The clam looks great physically but doesn't have his color back. Just curious if it will regain the color

Sorry I don't. The book I suggested many things,such as bleaching. pg.189-194 . Shotgun reasons: Water parameters, acclimation issues,sudden changes, Different additives recently or lighting to high. Wish I could help as bleaching is a guess on my part.
Good Luck

Reeflogic · Feb 8, 2016

Thank you for the responses

I'm almost positive the alk drop was what led to his "browning" out, was just hoping someone would chime in that may have experienced this before with a clam and whether it would color back up over time. I'm sure he will, he looks fat and healthy, just not vibrant. Thanks again, @scardall!

Grant · Feb 14, 2016

Would like a recommendation for a colorful clam, that is ideal for beginners and won't outgrow your tank

.

StephanieRodriguez · Mar 17, 2016

Hey everyone so I have been reading through this thread and I am a little confused. I was informed that corals need some nitrates in the water in order to be healthy, however from what I am reading here about clams people are saying 0. So should clams not be mixed with corals?

Reeflogic · Mar 17, 2016

I'm by no means a clam expert, but I have had this blue squamosa for a few years now and other than my recent drop in alk, he has been super healthy and is now almost fully colored again. FWIW, I have never had 0 nitrates in my system. I think with anything, 0 nitrates could be harmful and high nitrates could be harmful, so finding that sweet spot is the key to success. Water quality plays a major role for anything we keep in our systems, but lighting and flow seem to be huge factors for clams as well.

I'm sure an expert will chime in here, but I noticed responses in this thread can be slow, so I thought I'd buy you some time, lol.

StephanieRodriguez · Mar 17, 2016

Reeflogic said:
I'm by no means a clam expert, but I have had this blue squamosa for a few years now and other than my recent drop in alk, he has been super healthy and is now almost fully colored again. FWIW, I have never had 0 nitrates in my system. I think with anything, 0 nitrates could be harmful and high nitrates could be harmful, so finding that sweet spot is the key to success. Water quality plays a major role for anything we keep in our systems, but lighting and flow seem to be huge factors for clams as well.

I'm sure an expert will chime in here, but I noticed responses in this thread can be slow, so I thought I'd buy you some time, lol.

That was my understanding as well. That's why I was confused by many of the responses in this thread stating you should have 0 Nitrates. Thanks so much!! Do you have a pic of your clam?

Reeflogic · Mar 17, 2016

Not a recent one! I went through a reefer comatose awhile back after losing a bunch of SPS during a cross-country move, I neglected my tank for several months and by the time I noticed I was losing stuff, my clam was literally brown.... from a deep blue... He is almost fully recovered now. I will get a picture soon and post it!

Also, I purchased my clam from Reefwise, an LFS in the Chicago area. They told me that my blue squamosa was aquacultured, which is supposed to make the animals hardier.
So you may consider this when choosing your clam!

Davesgt · Mar 17, 2016

Reeflogic said:
Not a recent one! I went through a reefer comatose awhile back after losing a bunch of SPS during a cross-country move, I neglected my tank for several months and by the time I noticed I was losing stuff, my clam was literally brown.... from a deep blue... He is almost fully recovered now. I will get a picture soon and post it!

Also, I purchased my clam from Reefwise, an LFS in the Chicago area. They told me that my blue squamosa was aquacultured, which is supposed to make the animals hardier.
So you may consider this when choosing your clam!

Yea I had a Alk drop for a few weeks totally brown out a few maximas and it took almost a years to fully color up. Glad to see yours is doin better.