New maxima clam

[MapleLeafReefer]

Hello all...
I just picked up my first Maxima clam. It's currently drip acclimating while I clean the shell of unwanted "anything". Found this green hairy stuff. Any thoughts on what it is??

 

[Chrisv.]

Hello all...
I just picked up my first Maxima clam. It's currently drip acclimating while I clean the shell of unwanted "anything". Found this green hairy stuff. Any thoughts on what it is??

Hard to definitely say EXACTLY what it is other than "a filamentous algae of some sort." I'd scrape it off.

 

[Joe31415]

I don't have an answer for you, but it seems like those are suddenly *everywhere*. I see them at every LFS, they're in stock when I'm looking at online shops and I don't think this is the first "I just got a new clam..." post I've seen on R2R (or AskBRS on facebook).
I have to wonder if some large nation wide distributor picked up a few thousand of them recently. I don't recall seeing or hearing about them nearly as often as I have over the last 2 months or so...or I maybe I just wasn't paying attention, which is very possibly as well (except for my local places, I know all of them just got them in stock in the last month or so).

 

[Chrisv.]

Is that guy like 3-4"?

 

[MapleLeafReefer]

Is that guy like 3-4"?

4" at least from farthest end to end. I've heard they're easier to keep if they're older/larger. Do you have e any clams?

 

[Chrisv.]

4" at least from farthest end to end. I've heard they're easier to keep if they're older/larger. Do you have e any clams?

I have kept many clams over the years. I always had the best luck with maximas if they were medium sized.

I haven't heard much recently but here is the story from "back in the day":

1) Very small maxima clams (<2") frequently died within about 6 weeks. Back then everyone said that they needed to be target fed phyto. There has been conflicting discussion on this point and I don't know what the current consensus is.

2) Large maxima clams (>4.5") tended to last about 8 months and then die unexpectedly. People on the forums loved to cast blame on the tank owners and everyone tends to blame themselves anyway. But there was pretty convincing discussion that the large clams were malnourished in home aquaria and just took 8-12 months to starve. There was speculation that the clams that grew to near adulthood in the south Pacific aqua culture facilities were exposed to tropical sun all day and no amount of artificial light could keep up.

Personally, the only clam that ever died in me in the short term was a 1.5 inch maxima. I had great luck 3ish inch maximas, croceas, squamosa, and derasa. Those all lived at least three years in my care and many were eventually handed off to other reefers. It seems like at that middle size they are the most adaptable to aquarium life.

Your milage may vary! I'd love to hear from you in a year to know how it's going!