Oysters?

[SGT Henry]

Is it a good idea to keep oysters?...I think they are called fire oysters..their "hair-like tentacles" may be red or white...anyone had success with these?...what do they eat?..could they eat or attack any fish or other inverts like shrimp and soft corals?

[BillyZ]

Are you refering to flame scallops? I've seen them in the LFS a few times but have never kept one myself. They are filter feeders.

[tripper]

I believe flame scallops have a very poor survival rate in the home aquarium because we can not recreate their feeding requirements. They are indeed interesting animals and are completely reef safe, but I'm not sure how long it would live in a tank.

tripper

[faerykisses]

I have one electrice flame scallop and did not know about its dismal survival rate until I got home and did some research. Now that I have him, I try to take very good care of him.

Flame scallops are filter feeders. I haven't seen mine approach anything (fish, inverts etc.) He mostly just hides in the rocks or in a corner. They are gorgeous, but I do worry about his dying of starvation, which I hear is likely to happen.

Most people would say not to buy them. The more people that buy them, the more the LFS will sell them. I read somewhere that they don't survive in captivity for more than a year.

I've had mine for 4 months almost. He likes to click his shells together. I really like him and hope he survives.

Thats my input.

[melosu58]

I had two and did not have good results. Like tripper said it`s just too hard to recreate feeding conditions for them.

[DragonForce]

I had one that lasted about 3 months and lived with not so optimal water conditions for about 3 weeks. I think with proper skimming and enough feeding they can do really well, I'm going to experiment with these guys in the future.