Flame scallop!

Lexii denton · May 27, 2018

The newest edition to my tank is my flame scallop!

I’m feeding phytoplankton with a pipette and I’m so excited! Who else has one? Give me experiances!

Billdogg · May 28, 2018

Sadly, it is almost certainly doomed. They have an absolutely dismal record in home aquariums and are one of the creatures that should probably be left in the ocean.

garethwood · May 28, 2018

I Made the same early mistake, buying a flame scallop from a reputable lfs, only to get blasted by the forums!
"It wont last a month."
" Your tanks not 10yrs established."
My tank was 3 mths old and yes mistakes were made...
That said my little flame scallop survived 6 months and only died out due to a salinity swing after a disasterous holiday sitter.
Good luck to you.. i hope you prove the experts wrong : )

AcroNem · May 28, 2018

Just feeding green phytoplankton won't sustain it. I had a group of 6 for almost a year before breaking my NPS system down. The system was fed hourly by automatic dosing and was cloudy with food all the time ( kept around 1-5,000 cells per cubic centimeter). Shellfish diet (Diatoms T. weissflogii and T. pseudonana) is a must, other small particle foods less than 50 microns are accepted, golden pearls work well. Try to feed as often as you can with those appropriate sized foods. If you need any more assistance with diet or feeding please ask I'm happy to help.

ca1ore · May 28, 2018

Billdogg said:
Sadly, it is almost certainly doomed. They have an absolutely dismal record in home aquariums and are one of the creatures that should probably be left in the ocean.

The LFS around me won't even bring them in - at least none of those I deem credible. They simply don't survive.

davocean · May 28, 2018

On top of poor survival rate, they also don't like bright light, so they often hide in or behind rock work.

hdsoftail1065 · May 28, 2018

Wish you luck as well, hopefully you have a better experience with them than we did.

Although the do look cool we experienced the same short life span others have mentioned. This will be one tank mate will will never purchase again. Ours lasted about 2 months before it died off.

Lexii denton · May 28, 2018

I read all of the same things you guys did, so I tried to prepare for it, and as it turns out there isn’t too much info on them online, thanks for everyone’s feedback!

User1 · May 28, 2018

If you are not doing so already you are going to have to turn off skimmers and return pumps when feeding. Then add some form of liquid based food and let the circulating pumps take it from there and hope for the best. While I don't personally keep these things for many of the reasons already noted I somehow have several biovalves that came in some of my older rock and lived. No idea but they are getting big when I see them in the creases of the rocks and multiplying (probably due to me being lazy and having higher nutrients). So now I limit what fish I introduce (wanted copperband butterfly) because I don't want them taken out. I also feed some coral food from IPSF and a liquid base plankton. I can't say what is keeping them alive but that is my story anyway.

puffy127 · May 28, 2018

Live aquaria sent me one by mistake around 6 months ago. I threw it in my coral qt knowing that it wouldn't survive long. I haven't feed it a thing and surprisingly it is still alive. It does hide most of the time so I wouldn't ever get one of these for my DT.

John3 · May 28, 2018

Pretty sure I had a couple very small ones that hitchhiked in with my live rock. I split the rock with a friend and I never noticed them until 8 months after giving the rock away. They are still alive now over a year later.