Clams in a Tank

[baldyguy]

I have noticed that a lot of people have a variant of Clam in their reef's......... are they a benefit? Do they have any 'special' requirements? Are there a species of fish/coral/invert they can not be mixed with.

Sorry for the questions but thinking of getting one but don't wish to cause harm or unbalance my current/future livestock.

 

[nanoluvr]

Depends on the clam. Cleaner clams can be under less intense lights. lol, they usually just dig down under the sand anyway. But Tridacnids need good lighting. Usually MH or HQI. Their benifit...they filter feed, so they help that way, but other thean that...they're just beautiful

 

[austinsdad]

Gotta determine if your lighting will support clam life - and what kind of clams. Some need more light than others.

 

[baldyguy]

I am currently running 3 x 150 Watt MH, 54 W T5 blue tubes for dusk/dawn transfer. MH are producing 10,000 Kelvin each. I am looking for something that looks nice, not one that will disappear under sand.............. so going by what has been said i could go with any as inverts leave them alone?

 

[austinsdad]

I don't know of any clams that bury themselves - then again I'm not a clam expert.

I think you can handle any clam you want with that light. How old is the tank BTW? Best to have it pretty stable IMO.

 

[baldyguy]

Please excuse my ignorance .........BTW?

 

[austinsdad]

By the way

 

[baldyguy]

Ah!

 

[baldyguy]

Tank 12 months old, all but 1 or 2 fish (Blonde Naso & Flame Angel) are in and starting to look at corals. Parameters are all spot on and to my knowledge stable. I have pics posted of the system, many thanks for the advice.

 

[austinsdad]

Deresa clam OK under moderate lighting. Crocea is my favorite. Doing fine under my 3x150s.

Also, I wouldn't worry about the naso and the coral. Now that angel...... never know. I wouldn't trust any angel in my reef. I''m chicken like that.

 

[baldyguy]

Mmmmmmmmm I have heard that mentioned already about Pygmy Angels, however, I do have a Bi-color in there at the moment that showed no interest in my Metallic Green Polyps I put in but never made it. That was just trying to much to fast learn't that one the hard way.

 

[melosu58]

I have a squamosa clam which do great under moderate lighting. Here is mine

 

[austinsdad]

I have heard directly from folk that had pygmies or regular angels for years w/no problems. Then..... all of a sudden one day they find out they like the stuff.

Good luck!

 

[lynxpilot]

I have a small crocea and small derasa under 2 x 150W MH in a 4' 120 gallon tank. I set them high on the rocks. They appear to be doing great. Flame angel hasn't touched them. The snails like to eat the algae off their shells and they clam up until the snail is off.

 

[nanoluvr]

just cheap cleaner clams disappear. Mine does anyways...pull him up, turn your head, then oops......he's gone! lol, I've never been able to actually catch him do it. I bet it's pretty cool to see. I think the lighting you have should support Tridacnids well if your water's good like you say. Some get bigger than others....so look at how big you want. I can't remember the ones that get absolutely huge....I'm thinking maybe Gigas and Squamosa.