Questions about Blue Maxima Clams

[HotRocks]

Hey guys, I'm venturing outside of the fish disease forum for once.

I purchased (3) 6" Maxima clams. Never owned a clam. Looking for advice regarding the care for them. I keep pristine water, I do not have a dosing system, I do manually dose kalk when needed.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

They will be kept in a fallow coral QT (RSR 170) at @4FordFamily's for the next 76 days to make sure I don't transfer any disease/parasites to my DT.

I keep a variety of Wrasse, tangs, and dwarf angels. I also have a couple Cardinals and clowns.

Thanks!

 

[DSC reef]

Lots of light, rock to bore in and some dissolved nutrients in the water. Mid to high placement, low to medium indirect flow. Also, they have a better survival rate if you post pics;)

 

[HotRocks]

Lots of light, rock to bore in and some dissolved nutrients in the water. Mid to high placement, low to medium indirect flow. Also, they have a better survival rate if you post pics;)

Haha they will be here tomorrow, will definately post up some pics! Thanks for the info!

 

[DSC reef]

Haha they will be here tomorrow, will definately post up some pics! Thanks for the info!

Your very welcome.

 

[Joel B.]

IME Maximas die to starvation, or succumbing to parasites due to stress/starvation. You can't over-light a maxima, provided you acclimate them to it. Light them like a high-demand SPS, they will love it.

You're also going to want to very strictly monitor your CAL/ALK, because they are going to suck it down like you wouldn't believe. I would be very, very surprised if you can maintain levels with kalk with 4 6". I have a single ~5" that is responsible for about 20ml 2-part/day dosing by itself in my 120G. I find it better to be dosing for clams, because they have issues with swings and it's better to just overdose to get back up over several days than to do a big dose every few days/week to get back up.

Fish wise, you'll want to keep an eye when they go into DT, any of the potential LPS nippers are candidates to nip the clam, I'd keep an eye on the dwarf angels in particular.

 

[HotRocks]

IME Maximas die to starvation, or succumbing to parasites due to stress/starvation. You can't over-light a maxima, provided you acclimate them to it. Light them like a high-demand SPS, they will love it.

You're also going to want to very strictly monitor your CAL/ALK, because they are going to suck it down like you wouldn't believe. I would be very, very surprised if you can maintain levels with kalk with 4 6". I have a single ~5" that is responsible for about 20ml 2-part/day dosing by itself in my 120G. I find it better to be dosing for clams, because they have issues with swings and it's better to just overdose to get back up over several days than to do a big dose every few days/week to get back up.

Fish wise, you'll want to keep an eye when they go into DT, any of the potential LPS nippers are candidates to nip the clam, I'd keep an eye on the dwarf angels in particular.

Thanks for the heads up. If they all survive QT I only plan on putting two of them in my RSR750XXL

Others will go in @4FordFamily 180g

 

[rkpetersen]

Lots of light, rock to bore in and some dissolved nutrients in the water. Mid to high placement, low to medium indirect flow. Also, they have a better survival rate if you post pics;)

Only croceas bore into rock, but the point about giving them someplace stable is a good one. In addition to these tips, adding some phytoplankton to the water at weekly or more frequent intervals will probably help. Don't try to target feed them, though, they won't like it. Getting enough phyto to actually help the clam without polluting your entire tank is hard, and most clams eventually wither away, dying of slow starvation. Some people actually take their clams out of the tank and put them in a concentrated phytoplankton bath to feed them, but I haven't tried that. Also, about light - More is better for clams, sometimes a LOT more is needed to keep them healthy. However, they often do have to be acclimated to very bright light and if you put them in it right away when they're not used to it, it can kill them in days.

 

[DSC reef]

All our maximas have attached really well to live rock but yes, stability so they dont fall is necessity is what I meant. Only the squamosas and derasa were our sand dwellers. They do not need to be fed phyto but I'm sure it won't hurt but not necessary. I agree with the lighting though. Acclimation is a good idea and with maximas, they need a lot of light.

 

[rkpetersen]

All our maximas have attached really well to live rock

Right, they have a strong attachment with their byssal threads, as healthy tridacnas should (except derasas, they typically form no attachment to the substrate.) Croceas actually slowly dissolve/grind away the rock and sink lower and lower into it with time. Although I've never actually witnessed this myself. That's also at least part of the reason why croceas have such inconspicuous scutes compared to the other species.

 

[4FordFamily]

Horrible Bluewash I couldn’t get the AI app to connect so I could turn up whites for the pic

 

[HotRocks]

Horrible Bluewash I couldn’t get the AI app to connect so I could turn up whites for the pic

Lonely clams, my DT needs color!

Another painful 76 days!

 

[4FordFamily]

Lonely clams, my DT needs color!

Another painful 76 days!

Put some red food coloring in there.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Light. You need lots of light.

 

[DSC reef]

Lonely clams, my DT needs color!

Another painful 76 days!

I'd be happy to babysit if you need a clamsitter. Lol

 

[4FordFamily]

I'd be happy to babysit if you need a clamsitter. Lop

That’s what he’s using me for. I killed a couple of his fish I owe it to him...

Or coppersafe did. Maybe both.

 

[DSC reef]

There amazing looking maximas, they look happy @4FordFamily

 

[HotRocks]

There amazing looking maximas, they look happy @4FordFamily

Those pics under blues don't even do them justice!

 

[DSC reef]

Those pics under blues don't even do them justice!

I believe you. Nothing like white lighting and top down shots of maximas!

 

[DSC reef]

Me and my wife always wanted to do a shallow clam only tank. Built mid height to really see the clams in there true beauty from the top. Maybe one decade .......;Hilarious

 

[rkpetersen]

Me and my wife always wanted to do a shallow clam only tank. Built mid height to really see the clams in there true beauty from the top. Maybe one decade .......;Hilarious

That would be fantastic, and you are absolutely right. So many clams that just glow in the dealer's tank don't look that way in mine because I can't easily look straight down on them, parallel to the direction of incident light.