!? I don’t know what lighting has to do w water quality. Just speaking from experience. Nice system volume. Should help keep things stable. I have some exp w clams. Just sayin.
Those lights will b plenty. Good luck
I agree that size really doesn't matter much when it comes to clams, they all come with everything they need when we're able to buy them. The bigger issue is placement and getting it right from the start. Larger species are more "flexible" when it comes to placement, sand, flat rocks, lower in tank, etc...but the species that are only found in shallow water really need to be placed high in the tank and on a solid surface, like live rock or similar (not a clam cradle). Croceas and maximas (and noae) bore into the rock or coral skeleton, which is the most important thing, especially with croceas, hence the common name, the boring clam. Maximas and noaes are also found in similar positions in nature, but not to the degree as croceas. When you see a crocea in nature, most of the time you're only seeing the mantle and the upper margins of the shell, the rest of the shell (body) is bored into the rock or coral. This is the key to their success in our tanks. They need a solid surface that they can bore into and secure themselves. This ensures that the vulnerable parts (byssal opening) is completely secured, same goes for maximas and noae to some degree. Both maxima and noae get much larger than croceas, much larger. So you have to take their adult size into consideration when placing them. I've seen crocea and maximas in nature and they're right next to (and sometimes inside of) massive colonies of acropora that are being blasted by flow. It's true that you don't want too much direct flow that prevents the mantle from opening completely, but in nature they settle wherever they can, which can be in less than ideal positions. Back to my point about placement. If the clam doesn't have sufficient time to bore into a surface, it's left vulnerable and somewhat stressed and we all know what happens when animals are stressed. Place these clams in an area where they can feel secure and start to bore themselves into place. I have a 2" blue maxima on a piece of rock and you can see the newly "chewed up" rock below the clam where the acid is dissolving away the rock. It's vital that this can take place, especially with the clams I mentioned here.I've been looking to add a Maxima (captive bred) in the next few months hopefully, but as an apartment dweller there is always a chance that I might need to move sometime, and/or break down the tank. Is there a good way to keep maxima clams happy (ie giving them a place to bore into the rock) but also have a safe way to remove them when it (potentially) comes time? I've use man-made rock for my scape, and it doesn't break easily- when it does it'll break in half, so nicking the part of the rock the clam is attached to doesn't seem realistic. And you said you're not a fan of the clam cradles?Somehow I missed this thread?
The only clam species that requires feeding when it first settles out is gigas, but we're talking about a clam that's just millimeters long, not inches. Once it attains all of the zooxanthellae it needs, it's just like all the other clams that we keep. Again, we'll never have a clam in our tanks that requires feeding in order to stay alive. Yes, clams do filter feed and do acquire nitrogen this way, but that's only a small portion of it's nutritional requirements. The zooxanthellae within their mantle produces over %100 of the clams nutritional needs alone.
Just use a small piece of live (or dry) rock that you can easily move. Crocea and maximas don’t grow super fast, so you’ll have plenty of time to move it.
Makes sense, I'll see about finding a nicely shaped small rock piece to rest it on when/if I do take the jump. Are clam cradles frowned upon?Just use a small piece of live (or dry) rock that you can easily move. Crocea and maximas don’t grow super fast, so you’ll have plenty of time to move it.
Here’s a pic of mine on a smaller piece of rock. I can move this piece whenever I want and really not stress the clam too much.
I don’t think they’re frowned upon, but I think there are better options that are more suited to clams. Also, some of them may be made from material that can leach aluminum or other unwanted metals/contaminants. Live rock or dry rock is pretty straight forward, plus they have the benefit of matching your rock with a natural appearance.
