Looking to get a clam..

[Zach W]

Hi all, I am looking to get my last tank inhabitant for my IM20, a clam. I am strongly considering ordering on pacific East aquaculture and am thinking a small 2-2.5” maxima with a clam cradle and placing it in the sand bed. My question is if you think I will be delivering enough light or ever too much if that is a thing? I am running a Radion XR30 G4 Pro with a diffuser (AB+ 90% brightness, 63% intensity) but don’t have a par meter. I am successfully growing SPS (acro’s) at a similar depth the clam will be. My tank is fairly shallow at 13”. Does this sound like it would be ok? Plan is for the clam to go here:

 

[DSC reef]

Sounds like a good plan. Being a shallow tank I believe a maxima would work.

 

[Zach W]

Sounds like a good plan. Being a shallow tank I believe a maxima would work.

I know maximas like to be on rock, would a clam cradle in the sand be ok? I really don’t have rock space as it is all filled and it’s small to begin with

 

[OrionN]

You don’t have to put it on something. In the sand would be fine but it may attached to the bottom of the tank. I used DSB do I just put all my clams on the sand.
The pro of having Crocea and Maxima attached to something is easy placement of the clam on the sand.
The pro for not having the attached to anything is easy removal from the tank and wash a half check for parasitic snails.
I QT my clams always on the sand bed, watch for disease and parasite prior to put them into DT.

 

[Aswswild]

Mine is on sand bed to

 

[Zach W]

You don’t have to put it on something. In the sand would be fine but it may attached to the bottom of the tank. I used DSB do I just put all my clams on the sand.
The pro of having Crocea and Maxima attached to something is easy placement of the clam on the sand.
The pro for not having the attached to anything is easy removal from the tank and wash a half check for parasitic snails.
I QT my clams always on the sand bed, watch for disease and parasite prior to put them into DT.

Mine is on sand bed to

How deep is your send bed? That would be the ideal scenario, although a small clam cradle doesn’t seem to be a bad option. I’m sure I could hide the cradle in the sand and then be able to easily move the clam if need be

 

[Aswswild]

My sand bed is @ 2 in but very now he is on a small peace of sand area

 

[mochajungle]

Maximas don’t live long at all and in a lot of cases the small ones die within a week
Take my advise and just don’t

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

I say go for it. The cradle works well. So does larger ruble.

 

[OrionN]

Maximas don’t live long at all and in a lot of cases the small ones die within a week
Take my advise and just don’t

Why doesn’t Maxima live long. My Maxima routinely live long time. You need to take good care of them I order for them to live.

 

[OrionN]

How deep is your send bed? That would be the ideal scenario, although a small clam cradle doesn’t seem to be a bad option. I’m sure I could hide the cradle in the sand and then be able to easily move the clam if need be

Parasitic snails are responsible for a large number of clam deaths. I am not willing to defer the job of making sure these parasites, and other diseases, not getting to my DT to some clam sellers. I always quarantine my clams to ensure they don’t get into my tank. I always keep clams attach free and breaks all the scutes of my clams so that I can clean them well.
Because of this reason I don’t recommend letting your clam attach to anything initially until you finish the QT process. 2 inches of sand will prevent the clam from attach to the bottom of the tank for clams that are 2 inches or so. Larger clams will have longer reach.

 

[Zach W]

Parasitic snails are responsible for a large number of clam deaths. I am not willing to defer the job of making sure these parasites, and other diseases, not getting to my DT to some clam sellers. I always quarantine my clams to ensure they don’t get into my tank. I always keep clams attach free and breaks all the scutes of my clams so that I can clean them well.
Because of this reason I don’t recommend letting your clam attach to anything initially until you finish the QT process. 2 inches of sand will prevent the clam from attach to the bottom of the tank for clams that are 2 inches or so. Larger clams will have longer reach.

Thank you for the information! I just reached out to Pacific East with some questions but ideally I will be getting a 2” maxima from them. From everything I have read and researched they claim the clams will come pyramid snail free and parasite free but I agree this is a good option for safe practice. It does seem as though they are highly regarded on this forum which makes me feel better about potential pests/hitchhikers

 

[Uncle99]

Maximas don’t live long at all and in a lot of cases the small ones die within a week
Take my advise and just don’t

This one 3 years in the DT.....

 

[mochajungle]

I said “in a lot of cases” ,there are some people who can keep them happy and healthy but it’s rare

 

[mochajungle]

they have a rep like flowerpot corals

 

[OrionN]

I said “in a lot of cases” ,there are some people who can keep them happy and healthy but it’s rare

they have a rep like flowerpot corals

Mochajungle is a new Reefer and is wrong on both counts. Goniopora corals are fairy easy corals to keep. Of course this is a fairly heterogenous group of corals. Some species are easier than other. So are clams in term of hardiness. They are easy but one must pay attention to chemistry and adequate light, and make sure that the clams are healthy and free of pests to start with.

 

[wjgeese]

bad idea to put a maxima directly on sand bed without anything underneath to protect its byssal gland. Maximas have a very large opening underneath, where their byssal gland is....leaving it exposed is asking for trouble from hermits, fire worms and other creepy crawlies. if you must put it in the sand place it on a small rock or empty clam shell and bury that in the sand

 

[Zach W]

bad idea to put a maxima directly on sand bed without anything underneath to protect its byssal gland. Maximas have a very large opening underneath, where their byssal gland is....leaving it exposed is asking for trouble from hermits, fire worms and other creepy crawlies. if you must put it in the sand place it on a small rock or empty clam shell and bury that in the sand

That is the plan, I am going to get a clam cradle to allow it to secure itself

 

[DSC reef]

That is the plan, I am going to get a clam cradle to allow it to secure itself

It will not hurt the clam to be placed in the sand without a cradle. A cradle does not protect the byssal gland and a clam cradle will not protect it from a fire worm. The cradle will just make it easier to move if needing more light and help a small clam from falling over. Squamosa and derasa have a byssal gland too and I've kept them on the sand just fine.

 

[DSC reef]

bad idea to put a maxima directly on sand bed without anything underneath to protect its byssal gland. Maximas have a very large opening underneath, where their byssal gland is....leaving it exposed is asking for trouble from hermits, fire worms and other creepy crawlies. if you must put it in the sand place it on a small rock or empty clam shell and bury that in the sand

Can you explain how tridacna maxima's byssal gland is more susceptible than say derasa or squamosa?