Par rating?

jda · Oct 31, 2017

You are saying that clams are the same as acropora and cannot close up to regulate feeding response?

Are you also saying that all clams have the same lighting requirements?

DSC reef · Oct 31, 2017

jda said:
All the evidence is to the contrary that there is more to a clam than light - that is all that they need and feeding them in a home aquarium is very much fruitless. Color does not seem to matter - the kind does... blue Squammy needs no more or less light than a green/gold one. This is dangerous advice. I did not just read this, but have some of those large clams in my tanks for decades.

Maximas are rockwork clams, like crocea, not sand dwellers. Keeping them for years and years requires as much light as they can get and they need to attach to something. 200 on the bottom is not going to work. Put them in the rocks up as high as you can get under the light, or get a different kind of clam.

This is a great book for a collection.
https://www.amazon.com/Giant-Clams-Aquarium-James-Fatherree/dp/0978619404

He has some other articles online about feeding clams.

Didn't fatheree write about feeding phyto to small Clams? And why can't you put a maxima on a rock in the sand?

DSC reef · Oct 31, 2017

jda said:
You are saying that clams are the same as acropora and cannot close up to regulate feeding response?

Are you also saying that all clams have the same lighting requirements?

Are you saying to throw a clam in highest part of the tank and since it opens and closes it will acclimate itself? That's a death sentence.

saltyfilmfolks · Oct 31, 2017

DSC reef said:
200 and above, place high in the tank slowly over time. I've kept plenty and there's more to a clam than light. You can be argumentative all you want but no one here is signing a death sentence to the clam. That's a ridiculous statement to make. Look up others tanks with large healthy maxima Clams on the bottom of tanks, you think there getting 500 par? I also read the color of a clam can require different levels of light, there's blue squamosa too just like there's gold crocea. There's a lot we don't know.

Agreed.

jda said:
All the evidence is to the contrary that there is more to a clam than light - that is all that they need and feeding them in a home aquarium is very much fruitless. Color does not seem to matter - the kind does... blue Squammy needs no more or less light than a green/gold one. This is dangerous advice. I did not just read this, but have some of those large clams in my tanks for decades.

Maximas are rockwork clams, like crocea, not sand dwellers. Keeping them for years and years requires as much light as they can get and they need to attach to something. 200 on the bottom is not going to work. Put them in the rocks up as high as you can get under the light, or get a different kind of clam.

This is a great book for a collection.
https://www.amazon.com/Giant-Clams-Aquarium-James-Fatherree/dp/0978619404

He has some other articles online about feeding clams.

No one else I have ever read or spoken to including James F in person has ever suggested this.
Sorry man.

I belive you also argued par meters aren't really good to measure light recently. I dunno bro.

DSC reef · Oct 31, 2017

@jda James fatheree also wrote that crocea were normally found at shallow depths of 10 feet while maxima and squamosa were found as far down as 50 feet. That says alot about light requirements.

jda · Oct 31, 2017

Are you guys making this stuff up? Christmas is coming up. Have a loved one buy you that book, or one by Knop. It is all in there.

When did I ever say to throw them right into the highest light possible? Ever? When did baby clams come into this?

Salty - these are direct quotes from a Fatheree Article, so he did indeed say that I said, so again I am asking if you just made this stuff up?

Maximas live at relatively shallow depths where they receive relatively intense light, so fluorescent lighting will only suffice in shallow tanks, or if a specimen is placed on the rockwork near the water's surface in a deeper tank. I would try fitting as many bulbs into the canopy/fixture as possible at that, and mount the bulbs close to the water, and then place any specimens within a foot of the surface, preferably less. Some specimens may be able to get by at times with less light, or further down in deeper tanks, but I implore you to not take chances. Metal halide or comparable L.E.D. lighting is your best option.

I know that some people have gotten by with less, but when it comes down to it insufficient lighting is certainly one of the most common causes of losses. The problem is that corals are very simple organisms that have no real "guts" to speak of, while tridacnids have all the organs you'd expect to find in a higher animal. They've got stomachs, kidneys, gonads, gills, and even a heart. Thus, they are far more complex than you might think, and they use a lot of calories to keep everything running. So, it's a mistake to think that just because your lighting is bright enough to keep corals healthy and growing that they're necessarily bright enough to keep a maxima alive long-term.

To make matters worse, it can take a tridacnid months to slowly starve to the point of no return. So, everything can look fine for weeks on end, then a specimen may seem to just up and die for no apparent reason when it was really starving the whole time. Every maxima is genetically different at that, and long-term experience has proven that some individuals can get by with less while others need much more, even though they may be the same species and even the same size and color. To add, you cannot give a tridacnid too much light as long as a specimen is given time to adapt to intense lighting, so it's better to err on the bright side than the dim side.

Rocks in the sandbed are fine and a good way to go if you can get them enough light.

Fatheree wrote about how feeing small clams phyto is not only not really necessary, that they get no value from it. N and P and some very fine detritus can help, but not phyto. I don't know why I am explaining this at all since you all know it all, but phyto will not help a small clam.

Some myths die hard, especially when they get spread all over the internet these days. The idea that giant clams (tridacnids) have to be fed plankton to prevent starvation is one such myth, and I've been telling hobbyists this for about six years now. In fact, I devoted an entire chapter to tridacnid nutrition in my book Giant Clams in the Sea and the Aquarium, have made countless online posts, and have spoken on the subject at many conferences and club meetings, etc. But, the myth still lingers. I'm quite tired of talking about it though, so I'm going to address tridacnid nutrition one last time. Please read on, and help spread the word to those that haven't heard.

...

The "Three Inch" Myth
I have read and been told at some time or another that all tridacnids must be fed phytoplankton for long-term survival. Obviously, this is utter nonsense. However, much more frequently, hobbyists bring up the "three inch" rule, which sounds much more reasonable, but is also nonsense. So, let me kill this one off, too.

OP, if you want to know about Maxima care, then read this as a primer, but there is way more out there:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/2/inverts

jda · Oct 31, 2017

DSC reef said:
@jda James fatheree also wrote that crocea were normally found at shallow depths of 10 feet while maxima and squamosa were found as far down as 50 feet. That says alot about light requirements.

Your statement is true (kind of... normally is not really true, and more outliers down to 50 feet), but also misleading.

Maximas can be found in high numbers around many reef areas where waters are relatively shallow and clear, with the majority living at depths less than about 25 feet. Some can be found living as deep as about 50 feet, but their abundance drops off dramatically below about 25 feet, with these deeper-living clams occurring mostly as solitary individuals (Jaubert 1977).

DSC reef · Oct 31, 2017

Sad you can't have a healthy debate without insults. If your gonna quote James fatheree at least get them right. So now I'm making up that maximas were found at 50 foot depths with squamosas? So now James fatheree is misleading with saying maxima were found at those depths. Ok man, you obviously like to just argue.

DSC reef · Oct 31, 2017

To the OP, your light will support a maxima, acclimate him slowly to higher light. Keep an eye on flow as well. There amazing animals and make a reef tank IMO. Post pics once you get him.

jda · Oct 31, 2017

If you do get one, get it attached to something, even if you bury the rock/whatever it in the sand. Making a disc out of putty works out pretty well. If the byssus is attached to some rubble, you will need to cut it away with a razor so that it can reattach to something more substantial - you will not hurt them if you do this carefully. If it comes attached to a sizable chunk or rock, then you are golden. I have never seen nor heard of one that lived that was just in the sand and not attached to something... but I have seen a few burrow through shallow sand and attach to the bottom of a tank.

Regardless of their depth of occurrence, essentially all of them are found living on limestone substrates, on top of living corals, or on coral rubble. Supposedly they're occasionally found on sandy bottoms (Pasaribu 1988), but after doing a lot of diving around Japan and Indonesia I have yet to see this.

DSC reef · Oct 31, 2017

If the clam comes attached to rubble it will release on its own. If you have no experience cutting byssal threads OP then don't do it, it's not necessary. It will reattach to something when it's happy.

saltyfilmfolks · Oct 31, 2017

jda said:
Are you guys making this stuff up? Christmas is coming up. Have a loved one buy you that book, or one by Knop. It is all in there.

When did I ever say to throw them right into the highest light possible? Ever? When did baby clams come into this?

Salty - these are direct quotes from a Fatheree Article, so he did indeed say that I said, so again I am asking if you just made this stuff up?

Rocks in the sandbed are fine and a good way to go if you can get them enough light.

Fatheree wrote about how feeing small clams phyto is not only not really necessary, that they get no value from it. N and P and some very fine detritus can help, but not phyto. I don't know why I am explaining this at all since you all know it all, but phyto will not help a small clam.

OP, if you want to know about Maxima care, then read this as a primer, but there is way more out there:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/2/inverts

You do know that may have been t12s

Newb73 · Oct 31, 2017

Mine did exceptionally well under moderately low light from Hydra 52s at 50%.

That is until getting new hardwoods out gassed some type of organics and inducing a massive bacterial bloom.

The clam was all I lost but it had done beautifully for 18 months prior to that

Jguido1987 · Nov 1, 2017

Thank you for the advice. It should be here shortly I’ll post pictures when it is acclimated and in place. If it’s attached to a rock I’m just going to leave it attached and place it with that, even if I have to epoxy rock to rock.

Yuki Rihwa · Nov 1, 2017

If it attached to a rock that big enough then it's good, but most of the time small clams attached to very small rock/rubble (these small rock/rubble can be annoy to keep the clam stay balance at the spot you wanted), if you leave them like that it will take longer to release and attach to new place, for me I just remove those small rocks or rubble then place it to the spot I wanted (only remove these rock if you know or how to deal with their abyssal thread). It will move out if it didn't like the spot, so you will have plan B...etc.

Jguido1987 · Nov 1, 2017

It got to my house about 1.5hrs ago. It’s not attached to anything. When I place him in the Tank. Does it take a long time for it to grab hold if it’s happy? I’m just worried that maybe a crab or a snail will knock him over. If that does happen and he lands in the sand is it problematic for sand to go inside or on the mantel?

DSC reef · Nov 1, 2017

I would place him on the sand bed for now until you can place him on a rock he can attach to so the clam doesn't fall. It could take a day or a month for the clam to attach, just depends on how he likes the spot. Placing him high and constantly falling can be bad for the clam.