Care for baby maxima clam

[zman676]

So, I have a baby maxima clam. I hear there is some controversy on how to care for it, so if any of you out there think you know the truth, please enlighten me.

Its in a 20 gal with a 150W 14K Coralife metal halide and a 20 watt fluorescent actinic.

To add phytoplankton or not to add phytoplankton and let it rely on photosynthesis...

 

[donnyholland]

I was told that under 2" they need phyto to survive. If people just left em they prob had nutrient rich tank to begin with. I also read target feeding isn't necessary because they eat too slowly (through filter feeding) so its better just to dose the tank.

anywho my two..

/d

 

[flipturn88]

I definitely don't want to get into this debate again, as it went nowhere last time, but in my experience, I've raised a 1.5" clam to over 2.5" without any supplimental feeding in the least. Again, this is only my personal experience, and this is in a tank where I feed mysis shrimp on a frequent basis (although the nitrates check out as comparably low).

The best thing to do would be to read some recent articles that relate to this much-debated topic; recent studies have shown some interesting findings.

 

[zman676]

Ok, well I think I will try to keep the clam without supplemental feeding and I will let you guys know if he makes it.

 

[vettesarebest]

Why risk it? Might as well give him the best chance you can and feed him? Im not going to get into this but just a thought.

 

[zman676]

Bc I don't know where to get phyto in athens... lol

 

[mvm]

Athens Aquarium and fish store at hawthore and broad(aka atl hwy).

 

[zman676]

K thanks, didn't know they had it.

 

[flipturn88]

Zack, best of luck with the clam - it's a nice one! I'm sorry I can't offer you more "solid" advice, but let me know if there's anything else I can do to help.

 

[flipturn88]

Oops, that would be Zach, not Zack... my apologies!

 

[jmaneyapanda]

OK, I'm not afraid to speak my mind- clams DO NOT NEED supplemental feeding. At any size. This is scientifically proven fact. If anyone wants the refernces, I can provide the info. I'm not trying to contradict or hurt anyones feelings, but this is the fact of the matter.

Will it hurt to feed? Maybe or maybe not. Ther is no answer to that. Clams do filter feed, so feeding may be beneficial. But how much? This is the rub. Overdoing it will cause other problems in your tank. I have kept clams for years (including one from about 2.5" to about 8" now), and have never supplementally fed.

Again, I am not trying to contradict, or make anyone look bad, but I have researched the $hit out of clams, and this is the fact of the matter. I am just trying to help.

 

[zman676]

Jmaneypanda, THANK YOU!!!!

Thanks for not being afraid to help me out and provide the rest of the people viewing this thread with the useful information you have gathered!!

Thanks also to Kayla (flipturn88) and charlie (dawgdude) for their knowledge and expertise as well as other people who have written on this thread.

I'm just going to come out and say this-- People, please don't be afraid to post because some poeple might be offended and give you negative reputation. Any point, be it right or wrong, is valuable because it stirs up beneficial debate. This debate presents newbies like myself valuable information from many different viewpoints, and that is INVALUABLE!! And for those of you who are offended be this, please find another hobby that deals with <u>absolute facts</u> such as... stamp collecting...

Ok, I will get off of my soap-box now, just had to get that out because I have learned so much from these forums and I would hate to have valuable information withheld from me because of something silly like this.

Go dawgs
Snoochie Boochies

~Zach

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Thats what this forum is for, right? To help others out? Heres a link to some referneces of the clam feeding. Look them up.

 

[glxtrix]

marc over at melves reef feeds his clams with DT's or his own made green water in a seperate container till the green water isnt green anymore....feel free to look and read it:

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/baby_maxima.html">http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/baby_maxima.html</a>

I've personally used the same technique used by him tho i did it in my tank and I believe doing that caused some algea in the tank...so I stopped and have never feed the clams anything since, that was about a year ago. They filter what I scrape off my glass and what ever other particles they find (and not to mention a lot of light) I have three extremely healthy clams. Does it hurt to supp. feed? no. "Should" you do it? I think its up to you, but I'ld reccomend doing it outside your tank. Overall, just make sure there is light and youre good to go.

 

[kalkbreath]

I'll offer my two cents.
I talk with three major Tridacna clam farmers weekly.
None of them feed their farm clams with any form of supplemental plankton.
They all do however, feed with nitrogen/ammonia fertilizer pellets.
They also don't suggest hobbyists feed clams anything other then ammonia in the form of fish waste.
There are many studies comparing clam growth with and without fish in the system. Fishless systems always yield slower growth.
I have studied clams for a few years now; under the microscope, one can clearly witness the zooxanthella inside a clam's blood stream and in the clams stomach along with amoebsites which farm the zooxanthella, a little bacteria and not much else.....
But oddly enough , I have never found plankton?[neither zoo plankton or phytoplankton] EVEN after days of target feeding.
It seems that when fed, clams do filter out plankton from the water.
It can be found concentrated on their gills. But with filter feeders, they filter every thing in the water, so the plankton gets stuck to their gills just like everything else floating in the aquarium water will stick to the clams gills..
[ Just like filter floss would strain out indiscriminately ]
Clam owners all know the reaction of a clam when you stir up gravel and the tank becomes cloudy, The clam will cough up the dust as it cant help but breath the cloudy water.
Just because the calm filters the water , does not mean the calm is eating the plankton.
In order to be eaten , the clam must ingest the plankton.
Ingesting food is carried out when the clams gills allow only certain substances to pass through their membranes. Kinda like a reverse osmosis filter.
Most of what a tridacna clam filters with its gills is ultimately pooped out or coughed up before it ever gets into the clams digestive system.
Furthermore, There are reports of clams choking on too much plankton and it clogging their gills.
I at times wonder if the bad rap small calms get for being difficult to raise, comes more from hobbyists killing small clams by feeding them........then these young clams would do if just treated like any other coral or anemone, with proper water conditions and a well cycled tank?

 

[flipturn88]

Here's my attempt at an analogy: You can water a plant with carrot juice, but just because the plant grows doesn't mean that it's benefitting from or even utilizing that juice. The plant probably would do just as well (if not better) without the juice present.

Dawgdude, I don't think people are attacking you, but rather trying to give the correct answer? Our reasons for responding to peoples' posts is not so that we can cut others down, but rather so that they may come to the right answer.

Cap Bay did advise people to feed phyto to smaller clams in the past (as that was the general consensus by most reef keepers), but with the new information we have, this belief has changed. That's what makes this hobby so interesting; there is still so much we don't know about the animals we house in these glass boxes.

Dawg, I hope you realize that jmaneypanda and others are not out here to knock you down (at least that's what I've observed). Also, you are certainly entitled to your opinion - who knows, you may be right; this is not "solid science." But keep in mind that people are not always going to agree with you on a controversial topic.

 

[vettesarebest]

Anyone want to buy a big bottle of DT's? It's taking up room in my moms refrigerator and she hates having fish/coral food in the fridge.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

dawgdude wrote: Since I got personally attacked multiple times Ill share my input. zman is my friend and lives 5 minutes from me. I told him what I knew and he was able to make a decision based on that. If you refer to these threads:

http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3224">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3224</a>

[IMG]http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?p=20560#post20560">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?p=20560#post20560</a>

Then you will see why I did not say anything since BOTH times jmaney was kind enough to immediatly say that they disagreed with me and claim it was basically a rare fluke. If someone really wants to know what I have to say then simply PM and I will be glad to tell you. The things that I said were coming STRAIGHT from 3 workers (not Kayla) from Capp Bay. Since they have many baby clams I kinda figured they knew how to take care of them. It is just not worth it on this topic. Like I said if you want to know, PM me and I will be glad to share. But its like jmaney is sitting there waiting to contradict me and Im feed up with it. And leveldrummer feel free to PM me. If I know the answer on other topics I will be glad to share it but I wont put my neck out on the line and get neg feedback like in the other thread.[/QUOTE]

Dawg- I am sorry if you feel my purpose here is to attack you. I assure you it is not. I simply dont agree with the statemnets you are making- due to the research Ive found in the scientific community. If you disagree with me, that fine- it's totally your right! If you feel you can disporve my claims- I invite them! I am certainly not saying I knnow everything. How do you think I leanred all this information? From boards just like this.

However, If you do feel I am specifically and personally attacking you, I apologize. I wont continue post.

 

[zman676]

day 3 - "Sparky" is still alive and kicking! Thanks to all for the good advice and I will keep updating as to our little friend's adventures.

 

[maveri9720]

Yea, I think it's pretty bad that people are so worried about their rep points, that they would withhold info, b/c their scared of getting neg points.

This isn't a game. We are all here to help each other and learn the correct ways of doing things and also to disspell myths and legends that have been going on and being passed around by other unknowing people.

This is an extremely friendly and flame-free environment. No one should be scared to voice their opinion here, no matter what their stance is.

If you disagree with someone, that's fine, but you should, more than likely, back up why you disagree, whether it be previous experience or citing articles or books to where it is proven.

We are all here to learn, share and succeed in this hobby, not to make fun of or put down anyone who might know less or might have a different opinion than our own.

Zach, please keep us informed of how your babies are doing.

P.S. Kayla, when I bought my clams last week, before I even got to check out, I was asked if I was feeding DT's for the clams and informed them I was not and would not be feeding them anything. So, some people might still live under that assumption there. Just thought you might wanna know.