quick clam question

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H

hydroponic

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 8, 2008
104
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Missouri
i am new to the clam world but found a nice one yesterday for a good price and put it on the sand in my reef and it seems to look fine, but my only concern is that its tube ( bivalve?) is kind of laying down instead of sticking up and out. the clam reacts great to movements and shadows im just not sure about its "lazy" tube. it also was a bright blue when i bought it now its bright purple. is this normal?

i am new to the clam world. but yesterday came across a great looking one and bought it. it seems fine besides the tube (bivalve?) is laying down instead of sticking up and also is was very bright blue when i bought it and today it is bright purple. are these reasons to be concerned or is this normal. im having a hard time finding good information about these things online

** Both posts merged together from two seperate threads...Reefscape **
 
im thinking the color is just a difference in lighting. Your lights and the LFS lights are probably a different type, and K color, so i would be horibly concerned. As long as the clam is stretched out receving adequte light, and is feeding from the water column you should be alright.

Another possibility is that its still a bit sressed. After time, with proper care and water quality, the blue should come back. Of course theres several other possibilities, these two are the most common ive come accross.

The tube, or (bivalve) is fine. My maxxima clam has the same thing, and ive owned him for almost 5 months. long enough to know if it was an issue. There may be something else behind why its doing what its doing, but i have yet to see or hear and of it.

good luck.

ps, out of curiosity, what type of lighting are you using, and whats the K ratings>??
 
i think he means "wouldn't be horribly concerned"

the tube (siphon ;)) is fine as well.. how large is the clam? smaller ones are more dependant on feedings that lighting..

i dont suppose you'd know what type of clam you bought? crocea, maxima, derasa, squamosa?
 
thanks, i was kind of thinking it may be needing a little time to adjust, but i worry alot especially about something im not familliar with. ive looked all over the web at different clam types and it looks like a maxima. my lights are t-5, 10,000 k's. i have 4 54 watts(2 are atinic not the 10,000) wish i had 6, but the tank is a 55 so i thought that would probably be sufficent. the tank the clam came out of had the same lights, but they were hanging much higher over the tank than mine, like 4 or 5 feet. my hood is just above my tank on those little legs. would this make a diff to the clam? the clam is probably about half the size of a baseball maybe a little bigger.
 
Difference in color is probably just different lighting. The tube (called the excurrent siphon) doesn't make a difference which way its pointing since its only used for moving already filtered water out of the clam. Bivalve are called bivalves not because of their siphons but because of their shells they unlike other mollusks have two shells so they are in a different category than the rest called bivalvia. If your clam is that small you definitely want to make sure you have a refugium of some sort to supply it plankton like organisms to filter out of the water since as a juvy its gonna rely more on filter feeding than the energy from the mutual symbiotic photosynthesis. Maximas grow to have a 12inch shell which will take up a lot of space in a 55 so you will probably need a larger tank eventually.
 
yeah last night after i posted my question i was doing more research and learned the diffence between bivalves and the siphons and felt like a moron, but couldnt edit the post, anyway i do have a little fuge and i do feed phyto. i check all my levels religously and keep my calcium up so i think he will do good. if he gets too big ill trade him or somethin, but i wonder where the best place to sit him in the tank is. ive put it at the bottom on the sand where the current isnt too strong, but would it be better to have him in a place where there is'nt hardly any current, if i can find a spot like that or make one
 
i think the 4 lights would be enough, but you must have individual reflectors. If you light is a "unit" lights within a houeing then you may only have a modular reflector, meaning one large piece of reflective material bent into individual sockets. These types of reflectors are efficient, but nearly as efficient as TEK, or ICECAP individual reflectors you would most commonly see on RETRO kits and what not.

Thanks G, i seem to make that mistake often, as read through my post the next day lol.
 
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