Quarantine question

[nkyreef]

I'm getting a maxima in a couple days. I understand floating the bag to acclimate temperature. However when one starts the slow drip isn't the container holding the clam going to drop in temperature? The sticky says to refloat but is the 1 hour or so drip going to drop the temperature too much? Ambient temp will be about 70F. Also if ones not supposed to expose the clam to open air how do I prevent the water from shipping going into my tank?

 

[Brien]

Its ok if they are exposed to air during your water changes, just don't take too long.

 

[nkyreef]

Any other tips or lessons learned from quarantining?

 

[Shigshwa]

You could slow drip from the DT into the sump, with the bag floating in the sump, this is what I do. If you don't have a sump, then a heater for your drip container would work.

Exposing a clam to air is no problem, just make sure you rotate the clam in the water to dislodge air bubbles trapped within. The clam will cough out the rest later. I also find that if you hold a closed clam's edge right up to a strong power head, flow moving across the edge and not into it, the flow will also help pull the bubbles out of the clam.

 

[nkyreef]

You could slow drip from the DT into the sump, with the bag floating in the sump, this is what I do.

Thanks, that's a great idea! I even keep a back up heater in the sump.

 

[Nart]

This is what I do with most of my more sensitive animals.
After about 15mins the temperature matches my tank. I will start scooping 1/4 cup of tank water and putting it into the tuppeware then set a timer for 5 minutes. I repeat this process anywhere from 4-8 times. So with the clams I did around 7 rounds of this.

 

[nkyreef]

Thanks for all the tips guys! Clam came this morning about 9:30. I started acclimating by placing the big bag it came in into the sump. Started a slow drip for a couple hours. Looked it over real well and brushed it's shell with a toothbrush looking for pests. This is how it looks 15 minutes after placing it in it's new home.

 

[Shigshwa]

Thanks for all the tips guys! Clam came this morning about 9:30. I started acclimating by placing the big bag it came in into the sump. Started a slow drip for a couple hours. Looked it over real well and brushed it's shell with a toothbrush looking for pests. This is how it looks 15 minutes after placing it in it's new home.

Good extension, and good mouth shape too. You are all set to let this thing grow and thrive!