No need to feed a baby clam that can't rely heavily on photosynthesis like an older one can in a tank with bare base rock that isn't established?...recipe for a dead clam.
Clams don't need feeding after day 3 in their lives when they acquired symbiotic zooxanthellae. This is a fact and I don't want to argue about fact. Do your own research. On the other hand, putting a clam in an unestablished tank is not going to work regardless. Dumping phyto/ other food in an unestablished tank could potentially crash it
Couldn’t agree more. The whole clams need phyto myth needs to go away, permanently. Btw, to those who are new to clams (and even veteran keepers) you can buy books by Daniel Knop and James Fatherree used on Amazon for next to nothing. Both hard cover books in excellent condition can be had for mere dollars. I lost both of these books in a move and I paid less than $40 for both. James’ book was from a library and I don’t think it was ever read by anyone.
Those are all excellent books !!
It’s funny how books are overlooked for today’s reefers, yet there’s so much good information in there. Granted, some things are outdated, but the fundamentals really haven’t changed, in fact, I think a lot has been lost to these “Internet reefers”. I’m sorry to say, but five years of reefing doesn’t qualify you as a veteran in this hobby, nor does give you enough time to give advice either. Sorry, not trying to be the “get off my lawn” guy, but I see so much bad advice given by people who barely have experience and are only regurgitating other reefers comments. Rant over.
For your information, I've been reefing for nearly 30 years, have owned numerous clams of several species and there's no doubt in my mind that young clams fare far better with supplemental feeding than on photosynthesis alone. I'm speaking from personal experience, not books and certainly not the internet. Many reefers who have had bad luck with young clams have seen a noticeable improvement in success rates with supplemental feeding. You'll find a number ot threads on here with their sucess stories. So take your 5 year "Internet reefer" comment and shove it.
This wasn’t meant for you, I was merely making an observation in general. And to the point with supplemental feeding, was it proven to actually help? They (clams) do filter feed, but that portion of their diet/intake doesn’t sustain them, nor provide enough energy to make them grow. Also, if I were to engage someone here directly, I would tag them or use a direct quote in my response. I’m here to help and to learn (sometimes a teacher, forever a student) and by no means am I here to insult fellow hobbyists, but I’m not going to help perpetuate myths or let misleading advice go without knowing the truth. Does phyto help? Yes, but it can’t sustain them, that’s the reality and here’s an article which helps to explain the process for those who are interested. Clam feeding
