how often do you feed your clams phyto?
- Thread starter bo0sted2g
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You do not have to feed them phyto imo.
I did try it years ago without notable benefits. Lighting, water chemistry and receiving a healthy specimen is far more important.
But go ahead and try it, less is more, it's not going to hurt anything if done in moderation, and your filter feeders and pods will love you for it.
I did try it years ago without notable benefits. Lighting, water chemistry and receiving a healthy specimen is far more important.
But go ahead and try it, less is more, it's not going to hurt anything if done in moderation, and your filter feeders and pods will love you for it.
VTBig053
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My understanding is that it depends on the size of the clam. Smaller clams need to be fed regularly since they aren’t as efficient at generating nutrition strictly from photosynthesis. Once they get above 3-3.5” supplemental feeding is not necessary if they have adequate lighting. Fairly new to keeping clams so someone more experienced feel free to correct me.
While it won't hurt it's not necessary. It's real easy to run your nutrients out of control with phyto. In small doses your ok. The consensus is mixed but even with clams we've had that were barley 2" I noticed no difference in growth or health. I found that nutrients and dissolved organics in the water column with adequate lighting were more than enough to keep a clam happy. It's truly a fascinating animal and one of my favorites.
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Got it. Amazing how many "urban legend" like bits of information there are in this hobby. Most of these are not necessarily harmful, but certainly not necessary either.
My Derasa is the center piece of my nano tank. I've had it in tank for about 2-months and it recently took off and has a ton of new shell growth over the past 3-4 weeks. The new growth is exciting but also a bit of bummer because it will likely outgrow my tank more quickly than I had anticipated. We have a very active reefing community here locally so finding it a new home in a year or so shouldn't be too much trouble. Just don't want to have to give it up for selfish reasons
In your opinion, what causes the higher mortality rate in clams <3"? Just not mature enough to handle the transition to a new tank?
I'd have to say protozoans, disease and poor shipping practices would be my guess for the high mortality. Congrats on the growth of the derasa. As long as you have enough space in the tank and can keep up with the clams consumption of calcium you should be good for a few years with that clam.
In addition, low light also starves even the healthy ones in captivity... starting at the wholesaler. I have seen 100+ aq maximas in a wholesaler 4x4' tank with a single black box about 4 feet over the tank to light them all. Sure, they move them out quick, but this starts them starving.
I never dose phyto for mine.
I never dose phyto for mine.
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bo0sted2g
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This is what I read multiple times in research before I bought a clam. That was where this question spawned from. Mine is probably only 2 inches so I figured it would need to be supplemented.
https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/7/inverts
Remember that you mostly feed the clam light, but they can also eat ammonia, nitrate, etc. People had better results with clams when they ran MH, lots of tubes, or both. The new breed of just-enough reefer using a small-wattage LED panel with the emphasis on just giving "enough" might struggle with clams. In my house, they grow fast and can fight off infestations of P. snails when blasted with massive amounts of light... they look good too. They have digestive systems and will eat/consume excess Zoox, so you cannot give them too much light as long as you take a week, or two, to acclimate them to it - they can self acclimate by not opening up all the way, but it is still better if you help them out some.
Remember that you mostly feed the clam light, but they can also eat ammonia, nitrate, etc. People had better results with clams when they ran MH, lots of tubes, or both. The new breed of just-enough reefer using a small-wattage LED panel with the emphasis on just giving "enough" might struggle with clams. In my house, they grow fast and can fight off infestations of P. snails when blasted with massive amounts of light... they look good too. They have digestive systems and will eat/consume excess Zoox, so you cannot give them too much light as long as you take a week, or two, to acclimate them to it - they can self acclimate by not opening up all the way, but it is still better if you help them out some.
