Finally took the maxima clam plunge

[dakar]

Angel ordered a couple of new prizes, got a medium-large sized purple maxima clam and a baby 1.5" blue. I know we have more than sufficient lighting for them now. They are just gorgeous, can't wait till they've had a day ot two under full lighting to see them fully opened. We'll try to get some pictures tommorrow evening before the lights go down.

Advice that came with them was that the little guy will be more dependant on feeding than light as he grows up... they'll both be spoiled rotten as everything else is as Angel does the feedings :)

Anything other words of advice to pass along?

Speaking of spoiled rotten she also ordered my purple tipped monti and a green one as well... Purple colony arrived prefragged, rough trip I guess, but now I have half a dozen frags to watch grow. The acro's got put on hold for a few weeks.

[BUGZME]

I would really like to see pic's! I haven't made the plunge yet but I'd like to.

[dakar]

Here's a pic of each of them.... they are just cool.... They we're well worth the wait :) Think the first one is of the Deresa variety, not 100% certain yet.

[jerryc]

Looks grrrrate I'm thanking of taking the plunge myself :toothy2:

[Reptoreef]

I took the plunge some time ago and those babies grow pretty fast... talk about calcium demand!!!

[dakar]

Well I need something to start sucking some calcium out of water column for a change... still can't get it below 500ppm no matter how high I crank up the Alkalinity, actually cranked it up over 12dKH for a few days just to see, and calcium stayed at 500ppm.... I let it fall back down to 11 and trying to hold it there. Maybe these guys and the new monti's will help. Sure are purrrrrty, Angel buys me some of the coolest critters.

I wanted the baby just so I could watch it grow up. My only concern was something in the reef may have an appetite for clam, but so far nobody's bothering them :D

[Reptoreef]

Sometimes cleaner shrimp will get an appetite.

[jerryc]

whit salt or you using or you using a calcium reactor to have it that hi

[dakar]

No reactor, no kalk drip, no nothing... The only thing I add is baking soda at least every other day to keep the alk up, or if PH starts to climb above 8.2 I switch over to baked baking soda. The only saly mix we use is Oceanic.

[Whoyah]

What does your top off measure at for Calcium?

[dakar]

Now that is a good question..... I've tested everything else BUT Calcium of the water befoer and after the RO/DI... It's water change night, so I'll try to test my top off water tonight and post the results... I'd guess it should be zero or at least close.

[jerryc]

Using Oceanic if you mix to 25 or 26 your calcium will run around 500
I thought about it but heard about a lot of people having datum blooms
with it sooooooo i haven't.
But then their is some that sewers buy it[ So i don't no ]

[Reptoreef]

I also use Oceanic... to the mixed water ready for change, I add 1.2 tsp of PH buffer(1 part baking wash/4 parts baking soda) the night before I do the change and the levels are ideally balanced.

[Reptoreef]

... ooops, to every 5 gallons of mixed sea water.

[davejnz]

If you place you clam on a oyster shell half,it will attach to it so you'll be able to mount it later wherever you like without damaging its byssal threads(term?)Some people remove their baby clams to feed them in a bowl of tank water with phyto or you could just use a plastic soda bottle to enclose it then squirt phyto in the bottle.

[Reef_Angel]

I can see I need some more information on feeding my baby. I set him on a rock thinking he may attach, but it sounds like from what you're saying Dave that he shouldn't attach yet?? When I phyto feed my critters, I generally just mix the powder with the tank water as directed, and then I gently blow it over each animal with the baster. That isn't enough for the clams then is it? I can see I'm going to need some advice and get digging into the books. Davejnz...please explain expand more on what you were advising for feeding the clams. Does this include the big one. Ours is already attached.

[davejnz]

large clams will do fine without much broadcast feeding of phytoplankton,the baby maximas are dependent on it as there mantles aren't large ehough to sustain them from photosynthesis alone.Your baby clam will attach to your rockwork just fine but it you decide you want to move it later on,your stuck moving the rock as well.The reason the oystershell is suggested is it allows you to place the clam on the SB where it wont get knocked off the aquascape and gives it a small portable base to attach to.Baby maximas will need to be directly fed until they reach around 3".Just placing a 2-liter bottle cut in half over the clam will allow you to reach proper phyto density so the clam will get enough.Just squirt enough into the bottle to slightly tint the water green,then when the water clears,you will know the baby clam has filtered out the phyto and the bottle can be removed until the next feeding.

[Reptoreef]

Ditto... and well instructed.

[Reef_Angel]

hmmm....I think I use a different phytoplankon than ya'll are using. Mine is not green when it's mixed with tank water, it's more yellow to clear. I'm thinking this is not the best kind for the clams. This is a daily water treatment. What should I be using?
I use: Spray Dried Phytoplankton E.S.V. Company - Brooklyn, NY

[davejnz]

To start out with,I'd get some live phyto like DT's,the freeze dried stuff is almost worthless IMO.Once you get some live phyto,you can start to culture it so you'll always have some on hand.Check out this site as well.
http://www.florida-aqua-farms.com/

Do get some live phyto ASAP as i made the same mistake by using other products and my baby maxima croaked as a result.Cleaning your glass daily of diatoms will provide some food for the clam but that will be broadcast into the whole tank
and the baby's really need direct feeding.I know how much you love and all the care you give your animals so i think you'll do just fine with your new baby clam.

[Reef_Angel]

Very good point. We had a culture going, but it went bad after a while. We'll get another one started right away. The freeze dried stuff was what we've used since before we had clams, and I like to think it worked well for us. It was something I always made sure we had on hand and could tell it was missing if we ran out. I'll keep using it until I get the better stuff. I guess after doing some reading, I think that Kent PhytoPlex Phytoplankton might be what I should be using. I certainly don't want to hurt my little guy. He's adorable.

[davejnz]

As long as the product your purchasing is refrigerated then it is most likely live.If its sitting on the counter at your LFS,dont bother with it.Dosing dead phyto can quickly cause nutrient buildup in reef tanks and its negatives outway its positives IMO.I have never used it and still have tons of filter feeders(liverock oysters,feather dusters,etc..)growing and reproducing.

[Reef_Angel]

Ok....then help me out here Dave. What do I feed him for now? My freeze dried stuff has to be refridgerated. Are you saying the only thing that I should feed them is the phytoplankton that we make? I have no problem with that at all, but the little guy has to eat in the mean time. I appreciate your help! :)

[davejnz]

By all means,feed him what you've got,but do try to get some live stuff like DT's phytoplankton when you can.

[Reef_Angel]

Can you get the DT's at just about any LFS store? That would solve my whole problem.

[davejnz]

I only know of one store around here that carries it.It is expensive for LFS because it has to be shipped refrigerated thats why most carry those inferior products on the shelves.I'd call around or just ask ereefic where he gets his.

[dakar]

Picked up a big bottle of DT's today :) Thanks Dave, the LFS liberated some extra $$$ from the checkbook too hee hee.

[Reef_Angel]

All those questions going round and round when all I needed was the DT's? I thought it was something that I was going to have to order special. So I figured that would take at least 2 days to get here. Then you said I could make my own phytoplankton which would've taken 2 weeks to grow for my little clams dinner. I was really getting scared that I would lose him unless I found this DT stuff you were talking about! :lol: When it comes to clams, I'm a total newbie Davejnz!!! You had me all worried that I'd kill him if I used my spray dried phytoplankton last night. I'd been using it in my tank since we started it with no bad effects, and out tank is thriving...so I had no idea what I was going to do. I bet you were over there going....."Huh?, What's wrong with Angel tonight? Her head doesn't seem to be screwed on straight." Sorry if I sounded totally confused, but I really was. I had no idea what DT's were, and neither did Dakar, so we were both sitting her thinking how stupid we were buying this innocent little clam without really knowing exactly what was needed for his care. I thought we knew, and he's been doing just fine with the spray dried phytoplankton, or at least I thought he was. Gosh am I glad I verified how to care for the little fella. I would have felt awful if I found out that I starved him. But not to fear, we've got the DT's today! It's a good lesson for everyone though. Before you buy all these beautiful creatures, make sure you really know what they need to survive! Above all, ask others who have them! The experienced people out there will never steer you wrong! Confuse you a little, but that's to be expected if you don't know what you're doing!! :lol: Thanks for all your help Davejnz!!! ......Angel :)