ive had this guy for several months now.they arent actually scallops though, they belong to a group of clams known as Lima clams. these clams are non-phosynthetic unlike the more popular tridacna clams that are often kept in the reef aquarium. theyre only method of feeding is using their gills, both for filter feeding and for respiration. they like to live in caves that give them a good amount of room to open and close as they please. when threatened they will snap shut in the blink of an eye. if the threat persists they will swim away, yes they can swim. it is actually the method in which they use to swim that makes them clams and not scallops. it is strongly suggested you do not harass the clam in order to get it to swim, it will likely end up somewhere unreachable, making feeding difficult, plus i have heard strong arguments that the energy used by constantly having to swim away from predators is hard to compensate for with its method of feeding, i would have to agree. once settled they will not move from their cave, mine has been in the same spot since i brought him home and put him in the cave i made especially for it. most people say they starve in a bout 6 months in captivity. i find this hard to believe if you care for it correctly. first off im want to go over some key points for keeping this thing alive.
always feed the tank, doesn't need to be daily by any means but a variety of foods should be fed to the tank. personally i use home cultured nannochloropsis and reef pearls (mixture of things that are often consumed by filter feeders in the wild) . i feed 2 to 3 times a week
when fed, these things will constantly be excreting waste. you can see it as pencil eraser sized tufts of brown. mine is constantly doing this and it tells me he is staying fed.
if your clams tissue begins receding from the edges of its shell you know that it is beginning to starve to death, drastic changes in your feeding regiment are necessary at this point.
