How do clams reproduce

RogerWilco357 · Feb 21, 2011

I see alot of clam questions but none on how they reproduce must have missed that one anyone ? do you have to keep them close together or can they be like at opposite ends of the tank?

Sasquatch · Feb 21, 2011

commercially they are done in a race way anyone I know that had a spawning event in tank has nearly lost the tank, the years of pent up frustration really makes a mess lol

RogerWilco357 · Feb 21, 2011

so they spawn from clam to clam and if you have alot of clams like 5 could that be an issue ? wow how and where do the baby clams end up? think I will google this might be to hard to explain.

tangboy · Feb 21, 2011

Well you see... when a daddy clam likes a mommy clam... .... ... ... and then you have baby clams!

MimicOcto8 · Feb 21, 2011

tangboy said:
Well you see... when a daddy clam likes a mommy clam... .... ... ... and then you have baby clams!

hahaha my thoughts exactly.

serious note though. on my crocea clam there is what appears to be a baby clam growing on it or a scallop of some type...any ideas?

Captain Nemo · Feb 21, 2011

a pic would be nice to help let you know what happened/ is happening.

VegasRick · Feb 21, 2011

check out YouTube - Clams Spawning in Reef Tank
I don't remember it causing tanks to crash though, guess it depends on size of tank and filtration

Alpha Aquaculture · Feb 21, 2011

I don't think anyone is successfully breeding clams in a normal style tank. If they did eject sperm and eggs into your tank I don't think the eggs would survive. You need special setups for this. The clam facilities take a mature live clam and sacrifice and cut it up. The gonads release a hormone when wafted in the water near another mature clams siphon tube. First they release the sperm, then the eggs. They are removed from that holding vessel before the eggs are ejected so they can be collected in a smaller vessel. Then the eggs go in a very low flow tank to morph into baby clams. After that initial period they go into larger grow out tanks. Later they are harvested for food or sale or are put in a holding vessel in the ocean to grow out even larger.

Troylee · Feb 21, 2011

VegasRick said:
check out YouTube - Clams Spawning in Reef Tank
I don't remember it causing tanks to crash though, guess it depends on size of tank and filtration

wow crazy video!!!!!

skinz78 · Feb 22, 2011

AlphaCorals said:
I don't think anyone is successfully breeding clams in a normal style tank. If they did eject sperm and eggs into your tank I don't think the eggs would survive. You need special setups for this. The clam facilities take a mature live clam and sacrifice and cut it up. The gonads release a hormone when wafted in the water near another mature clams siphon tube. First they release the sperm, then the eggs. They are removed from that holding vessel before the eggs are ejected so they can be collected in a smaller vessel. Then the eggs go in a very low flow tank to morph into baby clams. After that initial period they go into larger grow out tanks. Later they are harvested for food or sale or are put in a holding vessel in the ocean to grow out even larger.

Kris hit the nail on the head here, and from what I have heard a clam spawning in the home aquaria is a very bad thing and usually ends up very poorly for the tank. When they do spawn in captivity it is because of stress.

jiffy · Mar 15, 2011

AlphaCorals said:
I don't think anyone is successfully breeding clams in a normal style tank. If they did eject sperm and eggs into your tank I don't think the eggs would survive. You need special setups for this. The clam facilities take a mature live clam and sacrifice and cut it up. The gonads release a hormone when wafted in the water near another mature clams siphon tube. First they release the sperm, then the eggs. They are removed from that holding vessel before the eggs are ejected so they can be collected in a smaller vessel. Then the eggs go in a very low flow tank to morph into baby clams. After that initial period they go into larger grow out tanks. Later they are harvested for food or sale or are put in a holding vessel in the ocean to grow out even larger.

i saw a show on either discovery or national geographic, where they were placing all the clams in a container and placing it in the ocean in special locations and coming back in a couple years to harvest them... definitely very kool