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Unread 09/21/2006, 09:13 PM   #3
piercho
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Puget Sound
Posts: 2,194
Tridacna, "Giant" clams.

Tridacna clams.
Illumination: moderately high to very high.
Flow: low to moderate, some specie tolerant of high flow.
Buffering: total alkalinity and Ca++ buffered to near, or above, NSW levels.
pH stability: sensitive to rapid pH swings, but can recover. Generally, should be kept in aquaria with enough gas exchange to have stable pH levels.
Nutrients: Per D. Knopp, tolerate low levels of elevated nitrates, and may survive better with detectable nitrates (5 ppm or less) in the tank.
Feeding requirements: Newly introduced, small (<2.5”), or weakened clams may benefit from live phytoplankton or suspended yeast.
Tank benefits: Tridacna filter POM and absorb DOM, and generally improve water quality while placing very little bioload on the system – unless you feed your clam.
Tank considerations: clam spawning could cause a tank crash due to O2 depletion. Addition of phytoplankton or yeast can place a high nutrient load on the system.
Recommended resources: “Giant Clams” by Daniel Knopp.
Comments: Tridacna have a reputation for being hard to keep which is undeserved, IMO. IME, clams purchased from a quality vendor are durable, much more so than many fish and coral. There are various recommendations for keeping clams on sandbeds. My advice is to place a rubble pile of shell and coral fragments where you intend the clam to go when you construct the sandbed. The rubble pile gives the clam something to attach to, and is solid enough to help keep it from sinking into the bed as much as it would if placed on fine sand.
There is a lot more that you should know about Tridacna before trying them, with several hobby resources on line and in print. I recommend Knopp’s “Giant Clams” as a resource, and recommend you read it before getting a Tridacna clam. If I had to recommend any specific clam, I would recommend farmed Marshall island T. squamosa.
My 4-year-old Marshall Island T. squamosa
My 4-year old T. maxima. The maxima attached to a large horse clam shell, and then the horse clam shell was placed on the sandbed.


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Current Tank Info: 65G reef shut down 2007. 25G planted.
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