Maxima clams

[praba775]

Hey guys, do you think it is fine to keep a maxima clam in a 2 feet tank. My water paramwters are stable and I do have phytoplankton. Should I get one?

 

[twentyleagues]

Hey guys, do you think it is fine to keep a maxima clam in a 2 feet tank. My water paramwters are stable and I do have phytoplankton. Should I get one?

The tank size doesnt really matter. Phyto is good but the clam doesnt need or really use much. What the clam needs is good water chemistry, consistent parameters, and a lot of light. Maxima clams grow to about 12-14" but its not very fast. They will start to consume large amounts of calcium and alk as they grow make sure you keep up on dosing. Again a good quality strong light source of 300+ par is needed.

 

[praba775]

The tank size doesnt really matter. Phyto is good but the clam doesnt need or really use much. What the clam needs is good water chemistry, consistent parameters, and a lot of light. Maxima clams grow to about 12-14" but its not very fast. They will start to consume large amounts of calcium and alk as they grow make sure you keep up on dosing. Again a good quality strong light source of 300+ par is needed.

Hi, my par is maximum of 150 if I am not mistaken

 

[twentyleagues]

Hi, my par is maximum of 150 if I am not mistaken

Not enough. Most, not all of the giant clams need min of 300. Maybe a derasa but thats even a bit low for them.

 

[SaltyWalty]

Clams are an amazing addition to a reef. And can be very hardy animals if taken care of properly
I would suggest getting a larger clam 3” or above, the mortality rate is just so much higher in smaller clams.
I would be worried about low par in your case, 150 max is pretty low but I feel clams would be able to survive might have a really slow growth rate. With that I’m not too worried about size it takes maximas a long time to reach 12” especially at lower par levels
I might consider a derasa they should be more tolerant of lower par, however, they do not like a hard rock substrate they prefer to be sitting on sand or lose gravel. And I’m assuming your peak par wasn’t on the bottom of your tank.
given a good few years a derasa will out grow this tank. They can reach +24”

 

[praba775]

Clams are an amazing addition to a reef. And can be very hardy animals if taken care of properly
I would suggest getting a larger clam 3” or above, the mortality rate is just so much higher in smaller clams.
I would be worried about low par in your case, 150 max is pretty low but I feel clams would be able to survive might have a really slow growth rate. With that I’m not too worried about size it takes maximas a long time to reach 12” especially at lower par levels
I might consider a derasa they should be more tolerant of lower par, however, they do not like a hard rock substrate they prefer to be sitting on sand or lose gravel. And I’m assuming your peak par wasn’t on the bottom of your tank.
given a good few years a derasa will out grow this tank. They can reach +24”

Hi, I dont have a PAR meter. My LFS say the light I use only reaches a little over 150PAR. And I saw the Maxima clam online so I think I must do more communication with the seller on the size of the clam.

 

[SaltyWalty]

Hi, I dont have a PAR meter. My LFS say the light I use only reaches a little over 150PAR. And I saw the Maxima clam online so I think I must do more communication with the seller on the size of the clam.

What light are you using? Also might be worth renting a par meter it’s definitely something worth knowing in the long run.
Yeah getting a larger clam is definitely a good idea, it’s just so much more likely to survive than the tiny ones people sell now.
Best of luck! If you do end up getting one you should definitely post pictures! Top down under whites for best clam photos!

 

[praba775]

Hi. When I asked my LFS about the maxima clam, they said it can be in my tank but it will get too big. They asked me to get a crocea clam.

 

[praba775]

Anyone here selling crocea clam for reasonable price? I live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

 

[JoJosReef]

Anyone here selling crocea clam for reasonable price? I live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

What is the light you are using? If anything, croceas need even more light than Maximas. Consider the shallow depths they are found. 150 PAR is likely just going to result in the slow starvation of your clam. Will look fine one day and then gaping and half torn from it's shell next day, empty by the following, and you'll be wondering what happened to your clam that was doing so well.

Someone asked previously what light you are using. Do tell.

 

[SaltyWalty]

Crocea clams are one of the highest light demanding clams. They also tend to be more finicky and can be a bit harder to keep.
They do stay small and have a slower growth rate so because of that they are often sold at a very small size.
If you are shopping for clams I like biota, ORA, and clam mania.

 

[praba775]

I am using a Spectra Aqua Knight M029

 

[Vteclover]

Sorry screenshot picture from video.
Ik have mine in december for 4 years.
210 par(when the extra T5 is on)
Lightning is old hydra 52 with 2x80w T5
Clam is right under the led fixture.
Make sure you get a healthy one that reacts fast on shadow
I dont use phyto

 

[praba775]

My LFS say that as long as my corals are fine wirh the lighting the clam should be fine.

 

[twentyleagues]

My LFS say that as long as my corals are fine wirh the lighting the clam should be fine.

Do you have acros in the tank growing and coloring well?

 

[goosemans]

unless if you’re able to provide a stronger light, I’d strongly advise to not get a clam.

 

[praba775]

Do you have acros in the tank growing and coloring well?

I dont have acros. My LFS say my light is not strong enough for acros

 

[twentyleagues]

I am using a Spectra Aqua Knight M029

That is a 30w light.

I watched a review with par readings unfortunately it was on a 6g tank so 200 par at the bottom. I dont know your tank dimensions you said it was a 2 foot tank which isn't much to go off of. A 2 foot cube would be 40g and a lot deeper than the 6g review I saw. How deep is the tank? Do you have full dimensions? If your tank is only 8-10" deep you might be ok but, 30w is just not enough power to provide much par. Your lfs is not being truthful with you, or they know information about your tank we do not. My point above with the question do you have acros growing and happy is if you can keep and grow acros you can probably keep a crocea or maxima. That is not always the case but usually is true.

Years ago I had a tank that was euphyllia dom with zoas and 4 clams 2 croceas and 2 maximas. I became friends with a guy that only kept sps. He asked me one day why I didnt have sps. My reasons were multi but main reasons were I liked the movement from the euphyllia and had heard how intense sps keeping was. He laughed and said if you can keep those clams happy you can keep any sps you want. He was right, In the next year I set up an sps tank with the exact lights and it was tied into my existing system. I was fragging the sps he had given me on a monthly basis a little over a year after I had set that tank up. These were pretty high end acros too for the time not just quick growing weeds. The point is clams need a lot of light it is pretty much their only food source and a lot of calcium and alk.

 

[twentyleagues]

I dont have acros. My LFS say my light is not strong enough for acros

Then the light is not strong enough for clams. Sorry.

 

[praba775]

Hi. Here are the dimensions of my tank in inches.
Lenght:24
Width: 12
Depth: 14