Clams and BB?? (1 Viewer)

[Style23]

i was wondering if any of you bare bottom people have clams in your tanks, and if so how do you have them in there???

i know some clams prefer sand, and i also know that alot of people suggest putting a rock under them in the sand so they dont ancor to the bottom of the tank...

i was kind of planning on going BB in my next tank but i want clams eventualy and i dont know how im going to do it...

 

[crvz]

I've got 2, a derasa and crocea. They are both just on the bottom of the tank, nothing under then. The derasa, as they age, don't anchor too much, as they are more sand dwelling. They're pretty easy to get up. The crocea is another story, but it's doing well right now. No complaints.

 

[AquaNerd]

i've seen people doing it and they don't seem to have any problems. but one thing interesting i read. clams will attach to whatever hard substrate they find. they lay down a byssus thread from their byssus organ located on the bottom of the clam, at the foot. this is why it's preferred to have a piece of rock under them. but i also read that a clam will secrete a small amount of acid from the foot area in order to shape the rock/substrate for a better fit. it may not be a big deal, and may not even remotely affect the glass, but it's certainly something to consider.

i would suggest putting the clam up on some sort of rock, or in sand. but that is based on my personal opinion. if the clam is in the sand or in a nice little rock crevice it won't be able to fall over as easily, unless stressed out or dying.

and as crvz said, some are better adapted to the sand, like the deresa. those clams are typically found in the bottom of most tanks anyways. as they increase in size, and therefore weight, they depend less on their byssus threads. the crocea, only attaining a max. size of about 6", will depend more heavily on the byssus thread to attach to the rocks. so keep that in mind too.

just my thoughts on the topic.

 

[Style23]

im looking to have crocea and/or maxima's btw, forgot to mension

 

[AquaNerd]

the crocea is the smallest, 6". the maxima will get ~18". all the others will get bigger than that.

 

[jdeveaux]

If anybody has a tank big enough for a full grown Maxima or Dersa I want to see it ... wow that would be a massive tank.



I have a Gorgeous Crocea in a 34 Gallon tank and he is very happy.

I've got a dead tongue coral buried upside down in the sand under him but he has never attached.

What size is your tank?

One of our sponsors makes clam cradles that you may want to consider for bare bottom.

http://www.nicksacrylicreef.com/

 

[AquaNerd]

here's my crocea. loving his home and growing like crazy. i plan on getting another one pretty soon. just cleared off another spot on the rocks that a new clam can fit on. it's too bad i don't have enough room for a deresa or maxima. but the tank i'm planning will have plenty of room for a fully grown deresa/maxima. just need a house first.

 

[Style23]

well honestly i didnt know maximas got 18", LOL i thought they maxed out at like 8-10", so we will probably have to skip on that since it is only going to be a 40 gallon display

 

[AquaNerd]

the only drawback about the crocea is that it needs the highest amount of lighting among all the clams. it will thrive under metal halides, t5ho, and even vhos. but you have to put it up in the water as close to the lights as possible unless you are running metal halides.

some have had success putting them in the sand and using less light, but i wouldn't recommend it. but for a 40 gallon, you could probably put it anywhere and under more subdued lighting.

 

[Style23]

yea the lighting isnt going to be a problem, the minimum lighting i am going to be using is 2 DE 150w MH bulbs, and 2 36" t5 bulbs for actinics, i would like to use 250w MH bulbs but i think they are going to give me to much heat, although i should have aprox a 40 gal sump to give the water some cool down time...any opinions?

 

[jdeveaux]

Even 1 150 DE should be enought for a 40... How deep is the tank?

250 would probably be over kill.

Regards,

 

[AquaNerd]

yeah, more than enough light. you could probably do all t5 if you wanted. is the tank a breeder or a regular 40 gallon?

 

[Style23]

breeder...16" deep

yes i kind of figured 150's but i dont want to be restricted w/ what i can have, i want the possibility of doing acro's, etc down the road when i have the system stablized

 

[AquaNerd]

i have acros under t5, doing well.

 

[Scott]

you might check these out too

- - - Nick's Acrylic - - -

 

[Guest]

Excuse me for an totally unrelated question for this thread but,

jdeveaux, what substrate is that you are using for the shot with your crosea?

 

[Style23]

your excused i guess.... ....yea i saw thoes clam craddles, but i would prefer to only use something that belongs or you would see on a reef in real life...although u could probably find plastic and stuff on a reef pretty easily now...

 

[Scott]

yup, there are projects out there now where entire reefs are molded from plastic or concrete

 

[jdeveaux]

Excuse me for an totally unrelated question for this thread but,

jdeveaux, what substrate is that you are using for the shot with your crosea?

It is a mix.

20lbs Red Sea Argonite which is a really round light weight material about 1.5mm
25lbs of Arga-live from Carbi-sea sugar-size stuff
10lbs from tank donations - various sizes
5lbs from LFS Fish Gallery and Fish Ranch - various sizes

 

[Guest]

Excuse me for an totally unrelated question for this thread but,

jdeveaux, what substrate is that you are using for the shot with your crosea?

It is a mix.

20lbs Red Sea Argonite which is a really round light weight material about 1.5mm
25lbs of Arga-live from Carbi-sea sugar-size stuff
10lbs from tank donations - various sizes
5lbs from LFS Fish Gallery and Fish Ranch - various sizes

I see, i saw the round stuff in T&T's nano tank and was wondering what they are. I think they had the whole tank with that stuff which looks pretty neat. Thanks for the info!