Tridacna clams?

mfbs1998 · Mar 8, 2018

So I have been thinking about buying a tridacna clam for a couple of weeks. I'm not planning to buy it soon but around late spring/early summer. I was just wondering if anyone can give me any good tips on taking care of these guys, best places to get them, personal experiences, etc.

I have a 46 gallon mixed reef bowfront tank with a sump (20L??), reef octopus int110, and ocean revive t247 led full spectrum lights.

specific gravity- 1.025-1.026
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 5 ppm
pH: 8.2
calcium: 410 ppm
magnesium: 1200 ppm
alkalinity: 9 dKH

live rocker · Mar 8, 2018

Following

Supurderek · Mar 9, 2018

Everything seems to look good for clams. Just make sure you acclimate slowly. And if they are smaller than 3”, try dosing phytoplankton I recently bought a few more clams to add to collection from bluezooaquatics. Had luck with Diver’s Den and I see TLreefs keeping clams since last year healthy.

Read up on how to pick a healthy clam and you should be set!

Labridaedicted · Mar 9, 2018

Water quality looks good for a clam as stated above. Lighting should be suitable as well. Make sure to do a little reading on the different species as they require different placement in the tank. Care wise, they are all fairly straight forward and can be treated for the most part like a coral. As mentioned above, feeding a small clam (<2") phyto may be beneficial. Many people advocate it, but in my experience it is usually not necessary as long as the clam is recieving appropriate amounts of light and flow.

ORA has aquacultured clams that tend to be fairly hardy that you can get through most LFS and through live aquaria. I generally prefer to get my clams either from a local source where I can see them in person, or atleast through a WYSIWYG source as these clams (particularly T. maxima) can have HIGHLY variable patterning and color on the mantle.

savetheocean · Mar 9, 2018

If you do buy one. Make sure you brush anything alive off of it.

DSC reef · Mar 9, 2018

Keep the water parameters stable and a little nutrient's in the water. For your first clam I'd recommend a derasa clam or a squamosa. Try not to get a clam under 3" if possible. Also, look up James fatheree for some excellent info on clam husbandry.

ca1ore · Mar 9, 2018

Labridaedicted said:
Water quality looks good for a clam as stated above. Lighting should be suitable as well. Make sure to do a little reading on the different species as they require different placement in the tank. Care wise, they are all fairly straight forward and can be treated for the most part like a coral. As mentioned above, feeding a small clam (<2") phyto may be beneficial. Many people advocate it, but in my experience it is usually not necessary as long as the clam is recieving appropriate amounts of light and flow.

This is good advice. Placement is important. Some can go on the sand (squamosa, deresa); other need much higher light and must go up high (Maxima, Crocea). The higher light clams are generally harder to keep.

jda · Mar 9, 2018

If you are growing hard coral and/or coralline well, then your tank can handle just about anything that calcifies.

They can use up quite a bit of carbonate, calcium and magnesium as they grow, so have a good dosing plan/system.

You do not have to do anything fancy to get a Squamosa or Crocea - a good LFS should be able to handle this... just get them as soon as they arrive since you never know how long they have been neglected at the LFS. I always assume the worst.