Maxima!!

[wade bronson]

Maxima!!
I got my very 1st clam ever yesterday! A Maxima! Its a little one only about 1 and a half inches. Like I said its my 1st one so I dont really know what to expect. How can I tell when its happy and doing good? any obvious signs to look for that its not happy? Ive got 1 175 watt halide with 2 65 watt actinics on a 46 bow its about 1/2 way up the rock work but in a well lit area right under the halide. will this do?

[lebowski]

The lighting will do for now...

But the clam won't..

The clam is 1 and a half inches you say? At this size, clams rely more on heavy feeding of phytoplankton (dt's phytoplankton) than lighting.. So you'll have to feed it everyday I would suggest... Until it get's around 3 inches, which should be possibly around half a year or more if fed well and you dose kalk, calcium reactore, bionoic to keep your ca levels at 450 ppm....

I used a cut up coke bottle to deliver the dt's... What I would do is cut the top of the coke bottle up, about half way down and cover the clam in the coke bottle and run an airline tubing from the top of the coke bottle (liter bottle) and have the dt's slowly drip in, and this would go on for about a half hour, everyday to other day to keep the clam nice and happy...

Next time for your reference, be sure to check with us... Keeping such a small clam will be very hard..... I'm betting 70% it will die, like most of people's small clams I know, have.

Good luck!

[Pfittttz]

I have had my small clam for somewhere around 8 weeks at the moment. As long as you take care to feed your new clam (I feed mine every other day) you can do it. My baby maxima was my very first clam also. I feed my clam DT's and he has grown ~1/4" to 1/8" (different spots on him have different growth measurements.) Just make sure when you feed him not to choke him. (by adding too much phyto to quickly to the container you are feeding him in and never squirt phyto or anything else directly into his incurrent syphen ((mouth))).

It is possible to keep such a small clam alive and doing well even as a first clam. It just takes a bit of work and lots of research. I would also sugest (sp?) getting daniel knopp's book Giant clams


Good luck

here are some links for you to check out. 1 (http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/oct/shell/default.asp) 2 (http://www.clamsdirect.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=3) 3 (http://www.reefcorner.com/introtoclams.htm) 4 (http://www.netpets.com/fish/reference/reefref/clamtips.html) 5 (http://www.exotictropicals.com/encyclo/fishnchips/aug99/fnc0899.htm) 6 (http://www.exotictropicals.com/encyclo/fishnchips/july99/fnc0799.htm) 7 (http://www.exotictropicals.com/encyclo/fishnchips/sept99/fnc0999.html)

[Fish-o-holic]

The ppl above give great advice. Do you have any pics of your new "baby".

[wade bronson]

I will get some soon.

[Bayliner]

Pfittttz,
Thanks for sharing all your reasearch.
That must have taken quite a bit of time to search for all that information.

Well looks like I have some reading to do....

Cam

[Pfittttz]

I love to do research. I am just glad I could be of some help. :)