Guide in Choosing clam

[nutx]

Hi all,

I would like to suggest all the clam experts to contribute and we will compile a guide in choosing clams....

what to look out for, as in parasite, etc..

and how to clean them or quarantine them

Since the recent clam disease outbreak among reefer, I believed mainly is bec we do not know how to choose a healthy clam from LFS.

Worst still will be if you buy a clam from another reefer, bec he is hiding the truth that a few clams had died recently.

[Dispar_Anthias]

I am no clam expert and have lots quite a few clam to the dreadful parasite(not the lfs fault but more due to my carelessness). Any some contribution here....

A healthy clam should respond to shadow by retracting its mantle slightly when you wave above it..... A healthy clam should also have no byssal damage, this is very important as a clam with byssal damage would not live long..... next while choosing clam, if the clam have pinch mantle eventhough its very nice, try not to buy it(Also dun buy any other clam from the same tub as the infected clam).... Pinch mantle can be caused by quite a few reason and the most common one i think is the pyramid snails.... This snail are asexual thus it only need one to bloom into a plague populationand by the time that happens, you clams would be better off dead.... Pyramid are able to bloom to plague population is mainly due to carelessness of the reefers(the snails are very small and look like your gravel thus easily overlook).... Biological control are employing snail eating fish like coris or certain wrasse.... And also snail that are seen must be remove manually.... lastly pls do not buy any gapping clam

hope this helps

[tineng]

Personnally, i find chossing a clam very diffcult. For me, i'll try to choose clams that reacts to shadows and is firmly fixed to the rocks. You will also need to QT the clams for 2 weeks (unless you get it from fellow reefer that you trust) before putting it into your main tank.

Once, i keep going back to the LFS very 3 days to observe a maxi (very day prey hard nobody brought it)....after 2 weeks, confirm that the maxi is still alive and 'kicking' then make the purchase.....it is now my second fav clams in my collection.....

[ashidiq]

why is there a need to QT the clam ?

[AlfaRomeo]

To see if got pest or disease that might affect the other clams already in your main tank. esp the tiny white snails that seems to do a lot of damage to clams

[surfedelic]

Read somewhere in the internet from the expert in a Clam farm that when choosing a clam, it is very very important to buy a clam with a rock attached to it. It was observed in the farm that clams which doesn't attached to any hard surface will not survive for very long.

My 2 cents ..

Happy reefing.

[Dispar_Anthias]

Read somewhere in the internet from the expert in a Clam farm that when choosing a clam, it is very very important to buy a clam with a rock attached to it. It was observed in the farm that clams which doesn't attached to any hard surface will not survive for very long.

My 2 cents ..

Happy reefing.

not really... not attach does not mean byssal is damage although its better to get a clam with something attach to its base...... However you can't possibly find a clam which lives in sand bed to have something attach to its base for example gigas or squamosa.... So its all depends on what you are looking for and luck counts too

[19percula]

it is true that when a clam is firmly attached to a rock it will live longer

i had a clam which is attached to a rock firmly which outlive the one which is not

[Dispar_Anthias]

it is true that when a clam is firmly attached to a rock it will live longer

i had a clam which is attached to a rock firmly which outlive the one which is not

No its not true... having a rock attach to its base means that the clam may have more chance that its byssal is not damage compared to a one with no rocks attach

[RAV-65]

Does that mean if we got snails, den cannot keep clams? I juz bought a new clam that seems pretty stressed although its opening is "mouth" pretty wide, but everytime it senses something, it convulses, the mouth jerks close a little and it opens up almost immediate again.... is that normal?

Also, can someone advise on any ideas to make the clam stand upright? so easier for viewing? And when standing upright, does th clam rests on the byssal or the side without the meat?

Vincent Ho

[RAV-65]

Oh ya, another stupid question, wat happens when sand drops into the clam? does it have something like a expulsion system? I place my clam on the sanbed and sometimes the goby stirs the sand up, casuing sand particles to fly all over...

[surfedelic]

I too wonder when sands flew into the clam - if you notice there is a gap at the bottom of the clam and that's why the sands got removed.... I hope this is right becasue I can't find any explanation how the sands got removed

[DeepBlue]

clams do 'sneeze' to blow away things they find disagreeable maybe that's the way

it is true that when a clam is firmly attached to a rock it will live longer

i had a clam which is attached to a rock firmly which outlive the one which is not

actually...fr exp..not true, I have lost a fair amount of clams with or without attached rock base. I find lighting most crucial..

I have a baby maxima I placed very near the surface...been there for ages...the rest of them ... I placed them on the sandbed....didnt make it. (though I am running 2x250W MH)

speaking of lights...I find 10000K better than 14000K for clams. Higher PAR

[Dispar_Anthias]

Does that mean if we got snails, den cannot keep clams? I juz bought a new clam that seems pretty stressed although its opening is "mouth" pretty wide, but everytime it senses something, it convulses, the mouth jerks close a little and it opens up almost immediate again.... is that normal?

Also, can someone advise on any ideas to make the clam stand upright? so easier for viewing? And when standing upright, does th clam rests on the byssal or the side without the meat?

Vincent Ho

NO.... even you have the pesky snail that feeds on clam you can still have clams... after all its still your money... who can stop you from buying

[roidan]

hmm....

why no one mentions about the freshwater dip that some *clamsters* in the states does...

match declorinated tap water to the ph of the tank water ...dip the clams in the water for a few minutes, some prefer 20minutes that long...so far i have not breached 10minutes as i feel probably long enough to killl watever parasitic snails or bacteria/virus ...but if KS, then go for the full 20mins

it is preferable to choose a clam that is still stuck rigidly on a rock because one factor of damage will be eliminated....because for a clam that is not on a rock...it may or may not have byssal gland damage while harvesting....byssal thread damage is not too serious...

even if there is byssal gland damage, normally the clam is able to recover on its own, the damage itself is not a major point of concern...it's the tendency for a clam to contract primary and secondary infections to the wound site that is more worrying...

but nonetheless, taking your clams out to scrub their shells of algae can be part of maintenance to see if any parasitic snails are around or other worms which may sometimes grow on the clam shells by building hard shells...these worms may or may not be harmful.

www.clamsdirect.com may have more info for clam lovers

[roidan]

And when standing upright, does th clam rests on the byssal or the side without the meat?

If i am not wrong, some gurus suggests resting the clam on the byssal gland side, because when it gets bigger, the other posture will actually add more strain to the internal glands/organs of the clam....

read it sometime back, forgot the source though

[Dispar_Anthias]

hmm....

why no one mentions about the freshwater dip that some *clamsters* in the states does...

match declorinated tap water to the ph of the tank water ...dip the clams in the water for a few minutes, some prefer 20minutes that long...so far i have not breached 10minutes as i feel probably long enough to killl watever parasitic snails or bacteria/virus ...but if KS, then go for the full 20mins

it is preferable to choose a clam that is still stuck rigidly on a rock because one factor of damage will be eliminated....because for a clam that is not on a rock...it may or may not have byssal gland damage while harvesting....byssal thread damage is not too serious...

even if there is byssal gland damage, normally the clam is able to recover on its own, the damage itself is not a major point of concern...it's the tendency for a clam to contract primary and secondary infections to the wound site that is more worrying...

but nonetheless, taking your clams out to scrub their shells of algae can be part of maintenance to see if any parasitic snails are around or other worms which may sometimes grow on the clam shells by building hard shells...these worms may or may not be harmful.

www.clamsdirect.com may have more info for clam lovers

Actually freshwater dip may kill clams especially those sick or very stressed up.... Thus not really recommended when your clam is dying unless you want ti to go heaven faster

[Achilles Tang]

I only choose clams which are reactive and responsive to any movement above them and showing strength to close their shells immediately.

Having them attached to a piece of rock is also important as it reduces their vulnerability and also reduces stress.