derasa clam care

JReefaddict · Mar 22, 2015

hey guys, im fairly new to clams, i got a clam awhile back when i was getting my reef legs and it didnt last very long, and ive heard that derasa are good beginner clams, they arent the most colorful, but ive found a couple at my lfs that have some pretty nice coloring. it was kinda strange, they looked bland looking through the glass but when you look from the top down they had nice coloring, it wasnt just the derasas, there were a couple maximas that looked better top down as well. one of the derasa's had colorations very similar to cornbreds rainbow infusion paly. with that being said, from my understanding these are a lower light clam, and being that the coloring looks a lot better looking through the top, i think it will be a good clam to have in my shallow acan tank i just setup. im a beginner clam owner, but from what i understand care is similar to having an sps tank

kacrocorals581 · Mar 22, 2015

Giant Clams for Beginners: Beautiful, Hardy & Beneficial here's some info for you

JReefaddict · Mar 22, 2015

thanks, i read through that, im going to wait and make sure i have the tank i want to put one in stable and on a doser for 2 part to keep cal/alk up. im definitely going to start with a derasa

Sangheili · Mar 22, 2015

1) Keep alk/calc/mag stable and at normal levels.

2) Keep them happy with DOC/Ammonia from feeding your fish. They get 90% of their food from the zoox but still need some ammonia/nitrogen in the water. Don't bother trying to "feed" the clam - just feed the tank and don't run UNLS.

3) Lots of light. Derasas are relatively easy but still need 150+ PAR.

4) Learn about the pests, how to spot them, remove them, and prevent them.

5) Profit.

JReefaddict · Mar 22, 2015

Seems pretty straight forward. I'm not sure what my par readings are, but I want to make sure I do my research first and decide which tank is going to be best for it

d2mini · Mar 22, 2015

Derasa are easy. I've had one for years. On the sand bed, on the rock, half under my coast to coast overflow, has made it through tree tank moves and one was pretty gnarly, even made it through a few power outages that killed a lot of other stuff.
And I do absolutely nothing for him, no specific care.