Clam questions

[G13]

I purchased a maxima clam yesterday about 2" in length. I was told it can be left in the sand or placed on a rock. My tank is a 45 gallon with 250W DE HQI Phoenix14K bulb that is placed 6" above the water line. I've placed the clam on the sand bed and is about 25" from the Mh's. I knew I had enough lighting to keep one but I have a couple questions.

-Will it be fine in the sand or should I move it up on the rocks?

-What should I feed it? Can I just feed the tank phytoplankton?

-Will phosphates and nitrates harm the clam? Tank parameters...Phosphates 0, nitrates?

My tank consists of a pair of black/white ocellarius, flameback angel (so far reef safe), exquisite wrasse and green goby. Corals consist of red and blue mushrooms and various different colored zoo's. Everything seems to grow at a good rate. 60 lbs of LR and 60 lbs of LS. Oh, and I also have a purple tube anemone.

-Where should I try and keep my calcium level at? Since I think it'll be the only inhabitant soaking it in.

[mbbuna]

i would place the clam about half way up in the rocks.

until it is about 3" i would just add a small amount of phyto every day.

clams will use PO4 and NO3, the only time they would hurt them is if they were very high

keep a close eye on the Angel, just 1 or 2 nips a day will cause the clam to remain closed and then to starve to death.

you will want to keep Ca @ 400ppm or above, Alk 2.5 or above and Mg 1250

[G13]

Clam seems to be doing fine but then again I'm no expert. It's opened up but closes when anything gets near it. Glad to hear that it'll use up some phos and nitrates. I'm going to give the glass a good cleaning tomorrow so that it'll get some phytoplankton.

Is there any signs to look for if it seems stressed?

[Murph72]

mbbuna,
I too just picked up my first crocea. You said to use phyto up to 3"....mine is larger than that...what would you suggest I feed it and how do I go about it? I also picked up a derasa that is around 3"....should I feed that as well? To be honest, I once owned a derasa and never fed it (maybe that was wrong, but my LFS told me it wasn't necessary.) The clam lived until a worm attacked it one night. I caught the worm, but the clam didn't live through it.
Thanks
Clam newbie :)

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7000334#post7000334 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Murph72
mbbuna,
I too just picked up my first crocea. You said to use phyto up to 3"....mine is larger than that...what would you suggest I feed it and how do I go about it? I also picked up a derasa that is around 3"....should I feed that as well? To be honest, I once owned a derasa and never fed it (maybe that was wrong, but my LFS told me it wasn't necessary.) The clam lived until a worm attacked it one night. I caught the worm, but the clam didn't live through it.
Thanks
Clam newbie :)

if the clams are over 3" they depend more on light. if you have strong lighting in the right spectrum you shouldn't need to feed them