Suprise Clam

[zooomzoomguy]

well my wife suprised me with a clam in my tank when i walked in from work, i have absolutely no clue about anything clam related, so could anyone give me some pointers about the health/condition/placement of it?

my tank is a standard 120 with 6 t5 ho and 400 watt halide with a 20k bulb.
i currently have it on the sand bed, it seems to be open, i'm a bit worried about the white marks on it.

[demonclownfish]

the white marks are part of its desighn, that is a crocea clam(the most light need of any clam). id think your lights would be able to keep it. croceas are like maximas in the way they would much rather be on rock compared to sand. if possible find a flat spot on a rock higher up and place it there. it would be much happier. also you cna buy phytoplankton and add it too the water as food for it to filter out.

[zooomzoomguy]

how close to the lights do you think?

[demonclownfish]

as close as you want really. these things love light. but make sure you put it were it wont fall.

[demonclownfish]

how old is the tank?

[zooomzoomguy]

1.5 years old since reset up at this house.

[demonclownfish]

k good, just thought maybe newer since i saw some algae. but that tank is fine.

[zooomzoomguy]

what about flow? and do they attach themselfs to rock after a while? aquarium putty ok to use one side of the shell?

[zooomzoomguy]

moved it up on the rock work, will see how it does.

[iyachtuxivm]

Originally Posted by zooomzoomguy

what about flow? and do they attach themselfs to rock after a while? aquarium putty ok to use one side of the shell?

They will attach themselves if they like the spot you put them. They attach quite quickly when happy. You could put a flat rock under it where its at now and it will attach to it then you can put it where ever. You said 400w mh and 6 t5 I would becareful where you put it while croceas are one of the higher light loving clams you dont want to cook it. Or do you? lol Just like any coral it needs to acclimate.If its 3" or bigger light is all it will need. It will filter feed also but light is where most of its "food" comes from after the 3" mark. As for flow medium indirect is best. Good luck I love clams I have three crocea, squammy, maxima.

[zooomzoomguy]

the reason i put it there, it will be harder for my urchins and hermits to knock it over hehe

[andrew.jones50]

You don't really need to worry about anything knocking it over. Clams are kind of like anemones in that they will plant a "foot" where you put them and it wont be able to be moved. It's position should then be considered permanent because if you try to move it, then you'll probably kill it. As for flow, mediumish flow. You don't want it's mantle to sway around too much because if the flow is too high and it has to retract it's mantle too often it's bad for the clam and can lead to death. Once it's happy the mantle will extend out pretty far (therefore being affected by flow more).
I've had a Crocea for 2 years now. It's about 4 inches long and on a good day, it's mantle will extend out 2 inches on each side. It's in a lower flow area of my tank, which has strong flow (over 600 gph in a 30gal). It's on a flat rock at the bottom of my tank under a 150w metal halide. I feed it DT's Live Phyto every other day, but I've gone long periods of time where I didn't supplement it at all. It does fine without it, but I think shows a little more color with it.
That's all I've got. It sounds like a lot, but the clam is probably the easiest animal to maintain in my aquarium. Given your light output, I think it will be fine no matter where you put it. I hope this helps. Good luck.

[zooomzoomguy]

two day progress, found a spot for it where my fish seemed to leave it alone, been there for over 24 hours now, what do you guys think?

[slapshot]

Perfect! If it is not happy it will jump but that looks good.