Maxima Clam Care

[MaxTremors]

Hmm. I see lol. Beautiful pictures by the way.
so when I get the clam where should I put him?
whether he’s attached or not? How should I acclimate him? I’ve heard temp acclimate is the best way rather than drip for clams. I have an AI Prime 16 HD. What spectrum should I be running?

Clams are the one thing I would ABSOLUTELY recommend you drip acclimate. And slowly, like over several hours (especially if the ph is significantly different, don’t change the PH faster and 0.1 per 20 minutes, and even slower if possible - a so if the PH of the water it’s in is 8.3 and your water is 8.1, you’d want to drip acclimate it at the very fastest for 40 minutes). Clams and inverts I always recommend to drip acclimate (especially clams), fish only if the water they’re in is significantly different than yours, and corals don’t need to be acclimated at all (if the temp is way off, you could temp acclimate it, but otherwise you can just dip and put them in your tank).

 

[vetteguy53081]

My temperature is at 76
Alkalinity is 7.5 at low and seems to be 7.7-8 high times. I use the salifert test kit and sometimes seems to be hard to read. Everything else is smooth though. How come PH shouldn’t exceed 7.3?

My bad- ph not to exceed 8.3
78 deg is happy medium temperature

I was at work. To add, maximas are the second smallest of the four groupings, only reaching sizes of up to 12". Their shells are less symmetrical than the other three groups, and grow small, close together scutes on the outside of their shell. Maximas are slightly pickier than Squamosa and derasa family of clams in which they require a hard, rocky surface to attach to and will move around until they find a spot they approve of. They are the most widespread of all tridacnid clams. And, because they often live in shallower waters, they can be pickier about water flow. maxima clams typically will not do well with simple linear water flow. Gyre effect is best.
Additionally, clams require nitrates of at least 2 ppm, or they will starve. Clams under 4 " still require supplemental feeding of zooplankton, phytoplankton and bacterio plankton about twice a week. At smaller size, they require feedings daily for healthy growth and survival. While getting a baby clam can be much cheaper, and you get to watch it grow, remember you will need to dedicate time every day to feed it. Over 4", you can relax on feeding. Many reefers don’t feed their clams at all as the tanks waste and the clams zooxanthellae are plenty to keep it happy. But, because they do require some nitrates and dissolved wastes in the water column to consume, fish keepers with low bio-load tanks should expect to still feed once or twice a week to make up for having fewer fish. This is one area where having a heavily stocked tank is actually extremely beneficial and directly benefits your inhabitants. Clams filter tons and tons of water daily, so they will act as a nutrient sink in even the most overcrowded tank.
As for lighting, this is a place where most owners fail. Clams need intense lights, and typically high quality, powerful LEDs or halides are recommended. But, young clams under 2 inches are easily damaged by light. All sized clams need to be properly acclimated to intense lighting. Starting your Tridacnid low in the tank and lowering the intensity of your lights is a good way to start. You can ramp your lights up and move the clam higher little by little every week until it is fully acclimated.

 

[minus9]

Read this

 

[LexMueller]

Read this

That helped so much. Thank you

 

[LexMueller]

Clam is coming today guys! Wish me luck and I’ll keep you posted

 

[LexMueller]

Hey everybody!!!!! Just got the clam. Did a 25 minute temp acclimate. Was planning to do a drip acclimation however, I never orders the drip starter kit… I thought I did. But I didn’t…
Aside of the failure of a DYI drip acclimation the clam is BEAUTIFUL! and has already warmed up to tank. It’s open and doing swell! I put it mid way of the rock structure and have turned on Acclamation mode on the AI prime 16 HD.
There were no pests on it and it is super healthy.
it dropped the rubble it came with on its abyssal which made it easier for me to put it on the rock structure.
I glued it to the mountain hoping it’ll stay. I heard they can move around like nems. I’ll keep you guys posted!

 

[LexMueller]

Hey everybody!!!!! Just got the clam. Did a 25 minute temp acclimate. Was planning to do a drip acclimation however, I never orders the drip starter kit… I thought I did. But I didn’t…
Aside of the failure of a DYI drip acclimation the clam is BEAUTIFUL! and has already warmed up to tank. It’s open and doing swell! I put it mid way of the rock structure and have turned on Acclamation mode on the AI prime 16 HD.
There were no pests on it and it is super healthy.
it dropped the rubble it came with on its abyssal which made it easier for me to put it on the rock structure.
I glued it to the mountain hoping it’ll stay. I heard they can move around like nems. I’ll keep you guys posted!

IM KIDDING!!! I didn’t glue it hahaha. I just put some rubble so it keeps it’s place on the crevice. Ill Keep you guys posted!

 

[LexMueller]

 

[DeniseAndy]

Good luck!!! Pretty little guy!

 

[LexMueller]

Alright lol. Now that the clam is in and getting settled. I just fed some phyto and it seemed pretty scared when I put some in. He shut his clam 3 or 4 times before he started to suck in a little. Any reason why?

 

[DeniseAndy]

When first introduced, they will shut with any change in light or vibration. Instinctive response for survival. Just do not bother it too much. They hate that.

 

[LexMueller]

When first introduced, they will shut with any change in light or vibration. Instinctive response for survival. Just do not bother it too much. They hate that.

Good to know. It’s opening fully now and looks really happy. Of course, I don’t know that for sure. But it looks happy.
Is there any ways possible I can tell it’s happy?

 

[DeniseAndy]

Only real way is color and open, responding to changes (just do not force it to). However, you will need to pay attention to growth as it gets older. Look for growth plates every month. Whiter than the rest of the shell. Cannot find a picture of mine. swear I had one recently. I have got to organize my pictures.

 

[LexMueller]

Only real way is color and open, responding to changes (just do not force it to). However, you will need to pay attention to growth as it gets older. Look for growth plates every month. Whiter than the rest of the shell. Cannot find a picture of mine. swear I had one recently. I have got to organize my pictures.

Okay, that makes sense. Thank you. I’ve read about the growth of plates each month or so. I

 

[LexMueller]

Morning everybody! Clam is attaching nicely.
just tested my water as my lights JUST turned out roughly 30 minutes ago. Alkalinity is 7.7 and pH is 7.6-7.8
Is this low pH normal for the morning? Let me emphasize early morning.

 

[minus9]

That’s a little low. Are you using a protein skimmer?

 

[LexMueller]

That’s a little low. Are you using a protein skimmer?

No protein skimmer. It’s only 25g

 

[minus9]

Are you able to open the windows to allow fresh air in? Also, my old 22g ran about 2 1/2 years without a skimmer until the ph started to drop like yours. After adding a skimmer it helped a lot. Even if you only run the skimmer at night, it can help balance out the night time drop. You can also see the skimmer so it runs mostly dry if you’re afraid of pulling too much out, it’s the column of air that provides so much O2.

 

[LexMueller]

Are you able to open the windows to allow fresh air in? Also, my old 22g ran about 2 1/2 years without a skimmer until the ph started to drop like yours. After adding a skimmer it helped a lot. Even if you only run the skimmer at night, it can help balance out the night time drop. You can also see the skimmer so it runs mostly dry if you’re afraid of pulling too much out, it’s the column of air that provides so much O2.

its in my basement. So the windows can be opened but not for long due to heat. I’m in Canada.
I may get a slimmer in the near future but my budget is very low lately. This clan kinda pushed me over the edge haha. I tested my PH now again and it’s at 7.7. DKH is sitting at 7.7 which is good. This could ALSO be, because I greatly dimmed my lights for the clam to acclimate. My lights are naturally high so I want my clam to get used to it over 3-5 days. I set them to start at 30%
Usually my PH is like 7.9-8.2 range. Could this be why?

 

[LexMueller]

Just tested calc. Calcium is 450ppm