Baby Cultured Squamosa Question

[HudsonReefer2.0]

I could not behave with those options!

I did get a nice Fromia star and snails. Lol on the glass

 

[DHill6]

My friend had a nice shipment and they were in his holding system last week. I was so tempted but behaved.

This is what happens when you don’t behave. When Mimosa was talked about years ago I thought…cool. Of course I wanted one. It may become the main part of the 170. Keeps adding weight and size. Cool to watch the progression though. I caught it closing quickly 3 times as it did it jumped to one side to turn , just a little.

 

[DHill6]

I did get a nice Fromia star and snails. Lol on the glass

Have you had luck with the fromias before?

 

[Acroporaguy]

As you probably know, Tridacnids have a lot less in terms of surface area on their mantle to photosynthesize. It's probably just trying to angle itself for optimal light exposure. As it gets bigger it shouldn't need to do so.

That being said, clams that small practically need extra feedings to survive long term, as their mantle being that small sometimes isn't enough surface area for photosynthesis to sustain them alone. Only species I noticed this isn't much of an issue with are the croceas, maybe because of their smaller overall size.

That's completely a myth. Small clams do not need supplemental feedings, even James Fatheree says so. For your knowledge https://reefs.com/magazine/aquarium-invertebrates-tridacnid-clams-usually-don-t-need-to-be-fed-in-aquaria/#:~:text=The idea that giant clams,for about six years now.

No shortage of light here, I have a g5 xr30 and t5s from wall to wall on my tank.

I appreciate that you are trying to help though.

 

[hart24601]

That's completely a myth. Small clams do not need supplemental feedings, even James Fatheree says so. For your knowledge https://reefs.com/magazine/aquarium-invertebrates-tridacnid-clams-usually-don-t-need-to-be-fed-in-aquaria/#:~:text=The idea that giant clams,for about six years now.

No shortage of light here, I have a g5 xr30 and t5s from wall to wall on my tank.

I appreciate that you are trying to help though.

Having raised several clams from 3/4” and up I agree although the *usually* is important as some people don’t keep many or any fish.

I actually had a harder time feeding my adult clams, had ammonia on a doser with phosphate along with feeding fish 6x a day and still couldn’t keep phosphates up and corals bleached. Ended up donating most of them to the local zoo.

 

[Steve and his Animals]

That's completely a myth. Small clams do not need supplemental feedings, even James Fatheree says so. For your knowledge https://reefs.com/magazine/aquarium-invertebrates-tridacnid-clams-usually-don-t-need-to-be-fed-in-aquaria/#:~:text=The idea that giant clams,for about six years now.

No shortage of light here, I have a g5 xr30 and t5s from wall to wall on my tank.

I appreciate that you are trying to help though.

Interesting. I wonder where the myth came from. Maybe when everyone was trying to keep ultra-low nutrient tanks, the clams suffered. Or maybe tiny clams are just delicate and people chalked up their deaths to something that they can't be blamed for.

Having raised several clams from 3/4” and up I agree although the *usually* is important as some people don’t keep many or any fish.

I actually had a harder time feeding my adult clams, had ammonia on a doser with phosphate along with feeding fish 6x a day and still couldn’t keep phosphates up and corals bleached. Ended up donating most of them to the local zoo.

Or maybe it's like this guy says, most people don't keep enough fish to keep the clam fed through the water alone/feed too sparsely. Although, that sounds more like a problem for bigger clams, not babies. Either way, good to know.

 

[Steve and his Animals]

That's completely a myth. Small clams do not need supplemental feedings, even James Fatheree says so. For your knowledge https://reefs.com/magazine/aquarium-invertebrates-tridacnid-clams-usually-don-t-need-to-be-fed-in-aquaria/#:~:text=The idea that giant clams,for about six years now.

No shortage of light here, I have a g5 xr30 and t5s from wall to wall on my tank.

I appreciate that you are trying to help though.

I will stand by my initial claim that the clam was probably just angling itself for optimal light exposure. Soft corals and other fleshy species do it all the time.

 

[Ben Pedersen]

Hey everyone,

I got a baby blue cultured squamosa from Indonesia a couple of weeks ago. It has been scooting around the tile, and just recently, keeps tipping itself backwards. Ideally I'd have it in sand, but my tank is bare bottom. Should I leave it alone, or is it detrimental for a squamosa to be placed in this position? Every time I try and tip it back forward it pushes itself backwards again lol. I have 3 other clams in my tank (they have been with me for a long time), so the environment is more than suitable to house them. The squamosa is incredibly small, I shouldn't have purchased it at this size, but here we are

Thanks.

Where did you get this clam? I would like one

 

[Acroporaguy]

Where did you get this clam? I would like one

I purchased it from my LFS here in Canada

 

[Ben Pedersen]

I purchased it from my LFS here in Canada

Do they ship?

 

[Acroporaguy]

Do they ship?

No

 

[Ben Pedersen]

Where in Canada? I live in Michigan

 

[Macdaddynick1]

You can get an appropriately sized container and cut something out like this

this is how I support my large Derasa’s on a bare bottom tank. Squamosas when they get big usually don’t need that. I would also try to put your squamosa directly on a flat surface, instead of the rock. As long as it doesn’t tip itself over, I would let it move around.

 

[Acroporaguy]

Where in Canada? I live in Michigan

Ontario! They sold out of the squammies in a couple of days. The price of them was very good. Can you carry livestock from Canada into the US though? Or do you require permits?

 

[Acroporaguy]

You can get an appropriately sized container and cut something out like this

this is how I support my large Derasa’s on a bare bottom tank. Squamosas when they get big usually don’t need that. I would also try to put your squamosa directly on a flat surface, instead of the rock. As long as it doesn’t tip itself over, I would let it move around.

Great idea. It eventually attached to the frag tile fortunately. I'm sure others will find your tip quite useful though!

 

[Ben Pedersen]

Shells work great! I have been using them for years. I generally use medium sized scallop shells. I will often put my clams on encrusting corals... The shells protect the clams foot from the coral.. then the encrusting coral encrusts the shell. All of my small clams in the photo below are resting on scallop shells. There are 4 clams in the photo.

 

[DHill6]

Having raised several clams from 3/4” and up I agree although the *usually* is important as some people don’t keep many or any fish.

I actually had a harder time feeding my adult clams, had ammonia on a doser with phosphate along with feeding fish 6x a day and still couldn’t keep phosphates up and corals bleached. Ended up donating most of them to the local zoo.

Wow. Interesting read. I haven't come across this issue, my phos .19 using the low phos meter by hanna, not the handheld. Clam is doing well, not dosing any nitrates, phos. Tank gets frozen, a small amount of pellets, KZ food products, animal amount not what the bottles say. Clam, SPS and LPS are colorful. Of course I only have one clam in a smaller tank with three fish and numerous snails, one urchin.

 

[hart24601]

Wow. Interesting read. I haven't come across this issue, my phos .19 using the low phos meter by hanna, not the handheld. Clam is doing well, not dosing any nitrates, phos. Tank gets frozen, a small amount of pellets, KZ food products, animal amount not what the bottles say. Clam, SPS and LPS are colorful. Of course I only have one clam in a smaller tank with three fish and numerous snails, one urchin.

I think the difference is my system had 2 6” plus hippo, 2 6”+ derasa, 2 squammy, gigas, crocea, 2 maxima and a teardrop if I am not forgetting any…. I can’t remember all off hand. Most people that keep clams don’t go quite that extreme, lol

 

[DHill6]

Wow! An adventure for sure. I’ve read your clam stories previously and enjoyed them also the photos. Didn’t I see a large tub with the clams…that was amazing. They stripped you clean. Did you decide to put just one in your system ?

 

[hart24601]

Wow! An adventure for sure. I’ve read your clam stories previously and enjoyed them also the photos. Didn’t I see a large tub with the clams…that was amazing. They stripped you clean. Did you decide to put just one in your system ?

Yeah they were in my 150g downstairs Rubbermaid sump. I now just have two in the DT (maxima and teardrop) and none in sump. I originally wanted a DT full but disease killed them.