How to Acclimate and quarantine new clams? And how to remove them from rock.

[skinz78]

First off I highly recommend quarantining all new clams no matter what the circumstance. Even if you get a clam from your buddy who has had it for years and it looks healthy quarantine it!

I use a 12 gallon tank that is bare bottom with 2 Koralia Nano's for circulation and a 50 watt heater. I have a 24" Nova Extreme 4 bulb T5 light on top. I Quarantine all my clams for at least 10 days minimum. If they look good after 10 days I scrub them off with a toothbrush just to clean any unwanteds off and then I acclimate them into the display tank.

This QT setup I have is fairly cheap in the long run and I use it for my corals and most fish as well as my clams.

Clam Acclimation

First start off by turning off all of your lighting. Float it in the bag for 15-20 min. Then I take the clam in the bag if the bag is big enough hold at least 1 liter of water and if it isn't I dump the clam and all the water into a big plastic cup. I then place it and bag/cup in a 5 gallon bucket. Then I have a 1/4" airline hose that is about 3-4 feet long. On one end of the hose I have tied a knot in it to restrict flow to a very slow drip. Place the hose into your tank and start a slow siphon into the bag or cup the clam is in. I then forget about the operation for about an hour letting the container overflow into the 5 gallon bucket. When the bag or cup is starting to float in the bucket I check the water temp and compare it to my tank temp. I also take a toothbrush and gently scrub the clams shell to knock off any unwanted hitchhikers. Sometimes re floating is necessary because the container water cools off again. Once I am sure the clam has been very slowly acclimated to the tank water temp and parameters I add it to the tank on the sand bottom.

After the clam has been in the tank for about an hour I slowly start to turn my lights on again. Leave the clam on the sand for a few days and when you place it there put something small and flat buried in the sand under it. The clam will attach to it. This step makes it easy to move the clam from spot to spot on your rock work later. After the clam has been there for a few days and it is one of the more light loving clams IE Crocea or Maxima. I slowly start moving it up on to the rock work.

If it is a Squamosa Giga's or Derasa and I like it to be on the sand, if the clam hasn't moved from where I placed it to begin with I just leave it alone. If it does move IE from side to side or turns I know it wants to be elsewhere and I move it to another spot until it sits in one space. The same go's for clams up on the rocks, if they move themselves I don't put them back to the same spot. They are moving for a reason.

HTH,
Chris

 

[skinz78]

How to remove a clam from live rock.

I see this question come up all the time and I thought I would do a really awesome video on it.... :neutral:

What I do is use a sharp knife, get it under the clam and gently cut the byssal threads as close to the rock as possible. The byssal threads are like out hair and fingernails so the clam won't feel a thing.

Now if you just rip the clam from the rock you take the chance of damaging the byssal organ and causing infection.

Here is my awesome vid....

[video=youtube;0j-FkxXpWXU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j-FkxXpWXU[/video]

 

[Paul_N]

Excellent video! Shows you how easy it is to do. Great job...:bigsmile:

 

[n8rad]

IMO that could damage the foot. Easiest way is just get a powerhead and point it right at the clam..he will let go by the next day.

 

[skinz78]

I have removed hundreds of clams this way, as soon as you touch the clam if they had their foot down they retract it.

Using a powerhead is way more stressful for the clam.

 

[Oiseau Reefer]

I use a metal shoe horn haha but nice vid for sure

 

[juicesay]

It's just like giving your clam a haircut!

I go with the powerhead method too.

 

[lax5710]

why do you have to put the clams into a dark tank

 

[skinz78]

Because shipping or just transporting them home from a LFS can be stressful and a lights out period can help them get used to their surroundings and get settled in a little bit.

 

[reefaddictionrx]

Thanks for the thread guys... Exactly what I was looking for. Have been reefing for 5 years, and just brought home my first clam.

It's a Derasa, so I'll keep it in the sand. But do all of them have byssal thread? Which species do you place on the live rock?

Also, what type of hitchhikers have you seen come off your clams?

 

[skinz78]

All clams have byssal threads, as the Giga's, Dereasa's, and Squamosa's close off their byssal openings as they get bigger.

All cams can go on the live rock but in general you will see Giga's, Dereasa's, and Squamosa's on the sand bed.

I have had tons of hitchhikers from SPS corals, mushrooms, snails, worms, etc. I have even seen another reefer get a clam in with a baby clam growing on the side of it.

 

[Clammania]

All clams have byssal threads, as the Giga's, Dereasa's, and Squamosa's close off their byssal openings as they get bigger.

All cams can go on the live rock but in general you will see Giga's, Dereasa's, and Squamosa's on the sand bed.

I have had tons of hitchhikers from SPS corals, mushrooms, snails, worms, etc. I have even seen another reefer get a clam in with a baby clam growing on the side of it.

I have had Tahitian clams come in with a baby clam hitch hiker.. About 1/2" big amazing to see a aqua color clam at that size.

 

[Clammania]

First off I highly recommend quarantining all new clams no matter what the circumstance. Even if you get a clam from your buddy who has had it for years and it looks healthy quarantine it!

I use a 12 gallon tank that is bare bottom with 2 Koralia Nano's for circulation and a 50 watt heater. I have a 24" Nova Extreme 4 bulb T5 light on top. I Quarantine all my clams for at least 10 days minimum. If they look good after 10 days I scrub them off with a toothbrush just to clean any unwanteds off and then I acclimate them into the display tank.

This QT setup I have is fairly cheap in the long run and I use it for my corals and most fish as well as my clams.


Clam Acclimation

First start off by turning off all of your lighting. Float it in the bag for 15-20 min. Then I take the clam in the bag if the bag is big enough hold at least 1 liter of water and if it isn't I dump the clam and all the water into a big plastic cup. I then place it and bag/cup in a 5 gallon bucket. Then I have a 1/4" airline hose that is about 3-4 feet long. On one end of the hose I have tied a knot in it to restrict flow to a very slow drip. Place the hose into your tank and start a slow siphon into the bag or cup the clam is in. I then forget about the operation for about an hour letting the container overflow into the 5 gallon bucket. When the bag or cup is starting to float in the bucket I check the water temp and compare it to my tank temp. I also take a toothbrush and gently scrub the clams shell to knock off any unwanted hitchhikers. Sometimes re floating is necessary because the container water cools off again. Once I am sure the clam has been very slowly acclimated to the tank water temp and parameters I add it to the tank on the sand bottom.

After the clam has been in the tank for about an hour I slowly start to turn my lights on again. Leave the clam on the sand for a few days and when you place it there put something small and flat buried in the sand under it. The clam will attach to it. This step makes it easy to move the clam from spot to spot on your rock work later. After the clam has been there for a few days and it is one of the more light loving clams IE Crocea or Maxima. I slowly start moving it up on to the rock work.

If it is a Squamosa Giga's or Derasa and I like it to be on the sand, if the clam hasn't moved from where I placed it to begin with I just leave it alone. If it does move IE from side to side or turns I know it wants to be elsewhere and I move it to another spot until it sits in one space. The same go's for clams up on the rocks, if they move themselves I don't put them back to the same spot. They are moving for a reason.

HTH,
Chris

I bring in and house over 1000 clams at any given time. As far as keeping the clam in the dark. I feel it's not needed but more for the hobbiest. We love our pets from the reef

 

[skinz78]

Very cool, can you post a pic of them?

I know a fellow reef enthusiast in Australia who got a 3/8" long blue Squamosa clam in on some live rock once. He raised it up to about 8" before he took his tank down and donated it to a local public aquarium.

 

[Clammania]

IMO that could damage the foot. Easiest way is just get a powerhead and point it right at the clam..he will let go by the next day.

I agree this can be more stressful, but if it as worked for you and the flow is not too much.. I just came back from the great B reef in Australia and witness some very strong currents where there clams lived so it's possible.. But the flow was certainly not pointed at the clam.

 

[Clammania]

Very cool, can you post a pic of them?

I know a fellow reef enthusiast in Australia who got a 3/8" long blue Squamosa clam in on some live rock once. He raised it up to about 8" before he took his tank down and donated it to a local public aquarium.

I wish this site was able upload pictures from my iPad all my pictures are on my iPad.

 

[skinz78]

I wish this site was able upload pictures from my iPad all my pictures are on my iPad.

You can post them as attachments if I'm not mistaken?

 

[Clammania]

You can post them as attachments if I'm not mistaken?

I tried, but I think you have to buy the ap. let me check again

 

[skinz78]

Are you using TapaTalk or just using the browser? I am unfamiliar with the Iphones.

 

[Mike J.]

Thanks for the thread guys... Exactly what I was looking for. Have been reefing for 5 years, and just brought home my first clam.

It's a Derasa, so I'll keep it in the sand. But do all of them have byssal thread? Which species do you place on the live rock?

Also, what type of hitchhikers have you seen come off your clams?

I bought a Crocea and quarentined it for two weeks, checking every day for parasites. Never found anything. Put it in my DT (which I treat like an operating room) and the next day there was a tiny 3/8" gorilla crab shed in the tank. So now I have to catch that rotten little ...Obviously, there was a crab larvae inside the clam!