Clam in 55

[Joe Fish]

Would you guys recommend a clam in a 55? I have been thinking about one for a while.

 

[1979camaro]

Most clams will be fine in a 55 provided you have intense lighting. You need to get a larger one (I know they cost more) because at a small size they rely a great deal on filter feeding for food = death in a tank.

 

[Lorna]

I agree, a 55 is okay for a t. crocea as they only get to about 7inches but they are light hogs and demand high intensity mh lighting. On the other hand some of the not a demanding clams such as a t. derasa or t. squamosa get huge really fast and may not be suitable for a 55 as the derasa can get to 18 inches.......which is huge. I purchase a derasa last year in July and it was about 3 inches in size. It is now over 8 and growing steadily so much that it now dwarfs my crocea.......they are very cool though and worth upgrading your lighting for.

 

[shift_9k]

I want the peeaarrlllsss arrrgghhh. jk

Theres a deal going at one of the LFS. 3inch Maxima Clams for $55. I have 6watts per gallon, using MH with a 14k bulb, but only a 24g tank. Think it would be feasable in the future?

 

[Joe Fish]

I read that some of then can get extremely big. Since I meet the lighting requirements I might try for one of the smaller ones. Who knows.

 

[Lorna]

placement is important......t. crocea which are very very light hungry especially those electric ultra grades need to be placed high on the rockwork as they like to bury their byssal foot into rockwork whereas the derasa and squamosa can be put on a flat rock in the substrate......remember anything smaller than 3 inches will need to be supplementally fed with phyto etc until their mantle is large enough to support them

 

[Joe Fish]

Good to know, thanks.

 

[Lorna]

there is a fountain of info on clamsdirect.com