Dos Ocho
Community Member
Looking for an ID on this guy in my tank. My only guess is a flame scallop, but considering his history and what i know of their delicate nature, I am not sure.
He had to have come in on rock i got from KP Aquatics a year and a half ago. I had the rock in a Biocube for 6 months or so and never saw him. The rock then was kept in a heated 5 gallon bucket for a month and a half as i tore down the biocube and waited for a bigger tank to be ready for the live rock.
Never saw him for about 2 months and then he appeared underneath a rock i leaned against a bigger rock structure to form a small overhang, far away from the original live rock. He moved to the middle of the rock a few weeks after appearing and has stayed in that spot or almost 7 months now. I have never spot fed him, but the tank itself is fed heavily and i use live phytoplankton and powders regularly.
My clowns are occasionally enamored with him and will swim thru his "whiskers" and does not seem to bother him. They also have made a burrow underneath him and when they wiggle around to move sand it kicks up a bunch of debris that goes right up to him, so that may be a source of food as well. He has increased in size a bit and always has his whiskers extended. I've never seen him retracted into his shell.
So, he's relatively old and very tough which conflicts with info i have read about flame scallops. Plus his whiskers are white and all the pix i have seen of flame scallops have red whiskers. Any input is appreciated.
BTW, his name is Gene because it reminds me of Gene Simmons' tongue!
He had to have come in on rock i got from KP Aquatics a year and a half ago. I had the rock in a Biocube for 6 months or so and never saw him. The rock then was kept in a heated 5 gallon bucket for a month and a half as i tore down the biocube and waited for a bigger tank to be ready for the live rock.
Never saw him for about 2 months and then he appeared underneath a rock i leaned against a bigger rock structure to form a small overhang, far away from the original live rock. He moved to the middle of the rock a few weeks after appearing and has stayed in that spot or almost 7 months now. I have never spot fed him, but the tank itself is fed heavily and i use live phytoplankton and powders regularly.
My clowns are occasionally enamored with him and will swim thru his "whiskers" and does not seem to bother him. They also have made a burrow underneath him and when they wiggle around to move sand it kicks up a bunch of debris that goes right up to him, so that may be a source of food as well. He has increased in size a bit and always has his whiskers extended. I've never seen him retracted into his shell.
So, he's relatively old and very tough which conflicts with info i have read about flame scallops. Plus his whiskers are white and all the pix i have seen of flame scallops have red whiskers. Any input is appreciated.
BTW, his name is Gene because it reminds me of Gene Simmons' tongue!
