Tridacna in the hobby

[bigsink]

Can anybody in the know explain where all the Tridacna clams have gone and why the ones i do see are insanely priced. A shop local to me got 300 cultured clams and a 2-3" crocea is around $100. A 2" Hippopus is $79. Just curious. I want to know what is going on. I do not want this to be a bashing thread.

I have not been the most successful clam keeper, but they are my favorite invert to have. I currently have a 7 year old ORA Squammie. However, I have owned every species and not had the best success past 3-4 years.

 

[miyags]

I think there are thousands of dead clamshells out there. I lost 2. And won't try again.

 

[ebushrow]

IMO, the clams are now solely maricultured and the growth rate is probably slow at these early phases...I do know a company that cultures them up from figer nail size clams and they are expensive too (once they reach 2")...I have found over the last couple of years the smaller clams have increased in price while the larger ones have decreased....I can usually get a 5-6" clam for 100.00 and the smaller ones are more expensive.....I wonder if the prices on the smaller ones are inflated due to them being used in nanos?

Also, if you try one DO NOT IMO get one from French polynesia as they never seem to survive from what I have seen and been told...I may be wrong though it is just an opinion