Clam?

[MzWeazelle]

Okay, who wants to tell me all the reasons why I shouldn't / can't have a clam in my tank?

Tank info - 140 gallon reef tank, about 140lb live rock w/ 2 - 250 watt MH lights. Blue tang, yellow tang, marine betta, foxface, pair of clowns, dragon gobi, watchman gobi, bi-color blenny, mandarin gobi, sand-sifting starfish and a bubbletip anemone, plus various snails, mushrooms, zooanthids and a few other corals.

Would like to have a flame angel, or something similar, and maybe a copperband butterfly, although it sounds like that may be dangerous for the clam?

Anyway, the clams I've seen at my LFS are so inviting, but I've gotten the idea that my tank might not be right for one. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated since I really don't want to sacrifice something so neat.

Thanks.

 

[jazznreef]

What has led you to believce you can't keep clams in your system? You provide limited info but I don't see a reason why you can't keep one or more. They really are a fairly easy reef pet to keep. I suppose you could have 3x250 with some actinics but if you kept the clams up top your lights would probably do. I have 5 in my 75 right now with 2x250+440w vho. Maybe you could give more tank info to help you with your decision.

 

[Witfull]

first thing,,,decide if you want the CBB or the angel over a clam. they are both know to nip at clams.

your lighting sounds good for clams, how tall is the tank? croceas like the most light, then Maximas. these guys like to be in rockwork and will eventually become part of the rock by secreting enzymes to disolve rock and burrow into it. derasa and squamosa like the sand bed and need less intense light.

the tank should be established, i hate to but a time frame on this but atleast 6 months or has finished all cycles of a new tank (bio cycle, algae blooms,,,etc)

then pic out a good clam. a healthy clam will be open and its mantle extended. it will also react for shadows quickly then open back up. look closely for pyrimidal snails on the underside of the clam, these are clam killers. and try to choose a clam that is atleast 2.5"-3".

 

[fishermann]

i would like to address your fish wants in the future, especially the cbb, in a tank that size you should have put the pbt inas one of the lasr fish, he is going to become very territiorial and well probably go after anything you add with a vengance. unless he is very very small and your cbb is a large one i wouldn't try it, even the flame is going to have a ruff time. dosal fish first , agressive last is a good rule.

 

[MzWeazelle]

Okay - answers first:

The tank is nearly a year old and I believe it has finished the usual cycles.

Tank height is 30", and I do have two actinics for spectrum and two standard fluorescents so we can see something other than blue when the MHs are off.

I think when we first asked our LFS about clams we were told that they don't always do well in a tank with a lot of fish because they close up when the fish swim over and may stop feeding.

Now more questions -

jazznreef - what other tank info would you like to help with this decision? Good info = good advice!

fishermann - what is a "pbt"? The only aggression problems we have seen so far is our 4-line wrasse nearly chewed our bi-color blenny to bits when the blenny was first put in (wrasse is now gone), and the foxface, which is the biggest fish in the tank right now, is a real bully at breakfast. We may eventually move the foxface to a FOWLR tank.

Thanks again for any and all responses.

 

[fishermann]

pbt = powder blue tang which i have in one of my tanks, i also had a copperband in my quarantine tank and tried to put him first into the tank with the pbt and he litterly got the you know what kicked out of him, he was towering up in the corner behind some pipeing and i have never seen a fish with a one track mine like my pbt. i left the cbb in for approx 1hr. and watched this pbt relentlasy go out of his way to attack this cbb. if the fish i was trying to put in was a purple tang {pt}, clown tang {ct}, i think you get the idea. this cbb i soon realized was getting torin apart and i wasn't willing to take the chance he would survive. i put a net in the tank near him and he litterly got in it, i think he was saying what took you so long? lol. I have had fish since the late 70's and this is the first pbt i have had and i have read they are territorial and also have read that tangs as a whole should be a fish that is last in the tank,man i am a beleiver. maybe in a 200 or something bigger you can get away with this but in a 75 i sure would be carefull with what i put in after the tangs you have. maybe i am being a little dramatic but i don't think my pbt well let anything of any size in his 75 gals of domain.

 

[fishermann]

repost what i met by pt or yt was fish that they themselves are agressive might have stood a chance, and a flame angel is alot more sturdy than a cbb but i don't know if he could have faced up to what the pbt was dishing out????

 

[MzWeazelle]

Oh. I don't know if all tangs are that aggressive, but my yellow tang certianly isn't, and my other tang isn't a pbt. It's just a regular blue tang - what I think they also call a hippo tang? Dark blue body with black on top and a bright yellow tail. Looked at the powder tangs but were warned that they are not as hardy so we decided to pass this time around. It's our first tank and we wanted to start with some things that would most likely survive.

 

[fishermann]

all tangs i have had over the years have been very territorial if they are of any size, do what you want, it may work out, i'm just saying it is not the advised progession of putting these fish in a tank

 

[Minh Nguyen]

250 W light in a 30 inches tank is a little weak for Crocea and Maxima on the bottom of the tank. You should keep them higher up on the tank, mid way up under the light or higher.
I ahv ea CBB in my reef with lots of clams. I trained the CBB to eat frozen steamer clams. He does not bother the Giant Calms in my tank.
Minh

 

[kevinpo]

You have a good combination of fish. The hepatus (blue) tang will ignore the Copperband. Zebrasoma (Yellow, Sailfin, Purple, Scopas) family of tangs seldom like members of the Butterfly family. The best way to introduce one is to keep it in a separate tank until it becomes an aggressive eater and is acclimated to tank life. They can outswim the larger Zebrasoma tangs (especially if they are fat ones).
Acanthurus tangs (Powder Blue, Powder Brown, Clown, Sohal, Achilles) are more agile swimmers and very aggressive towards butterflyfish.

I have a Copperband in with my clams. As stated by others T. maxima and T. crocea need to be placed midway up or higher in your tank. I would also recommend clams 3" or larger as they are easier to take care of without supplemental feeding. T. derasa and T. squamosa can go anywhere. It is untrue that calms do not do well in a tank with a large fish load. They will use nitrates for energy and growth. They soon learn to quit flinching every time a fish swims overhead if they are not attacked.

HTH,
Kevin

 

[fishermann]

mzweazlle sorry i read one thing and my brain registered something else. i thought inyour original post you had said pwdr blue. i would be a little careful of the yellow if he is of any size like kevin says, the blue shouldn;t be a problem.

 

[MzWeazelle]

Started out with a fairly small yellow tang and his body (not fins) is still probably only about dollar coin size. The foxface still has him buffaloed.

Many thanks for all the input everybody. I think we will probably start looking for "just the right clam" as soon as finances permit. I think I might have to put a little more rock in first, though. We probably have about 120 or so pounds in there and very little is above half way up the tank, so there probably isn't a good place to put a clam that needs a lot of light.

 

[SueT]

I have 8 clams in my 180g sps/clam tank and my copperband has not looked sideways at a single one. As for the flame angel that may be an invitation to clam chowder but not all centropyges are coral nippers. My Potters angel also has been in this 180g and not bothered a clam or sps coral.

Given good calcium levels and steady water levels a clam of any of the Tridacna species should do well for you. Keeping in mind that the T. crocea is the most lighting needy and the T. maxima next. These would need to be kept after acclimation, high in the tank and T. derasa and squamosa would do fine on the sand bed. Another tip is you might place a flat piece of live rock or a clam half shell underneath any sand bed clams you get.

This just gives you something to move them with to say check for pyramid snails or bristleworms.

 

[Witfull]

Hi Sue...always glad to confer on clams with ya!

 

[wanareef]

MzWeazelle

Off the subj - you have a marine betta in a 75? I have been thinking of getting one for the next tank and have been told that they hide most of the time except come out at nite to feed. Is this what your's does? Is he reef safe? :eek2:

 

[Minh Nguyen]

I have a Marine Betta in a 100 g tank, and a pair in my 450 g tnak now. MB are reefsafe. They often shy at first but ater some time (1-2 year) are much less shy and come out often. They are beautiful, but do not patrol the tank like tangs.
Minh

 

[wanareef]

Thanks Minh - that's good to know. They are just nice looking fish.

 

[MzWeazelle]

Wanareef

No, I have a Marine Betta in a 140 - don't know where the 75 came from.

He is reef-safe in my tank so far anyway, but I don't have any shrimp. I believe my LFS said he would probably eat smaller shrimp but larger ones should be safe. I was a little concerned about my bi-colored blenny when he first went in because he was quite small, but the betta didn't do much more than look him over good.

He is still pretty shy, but I also have been told he will probably be much more people-friendly when he reaches something closer to full grown. One guy at my LFS told me his was very friendly, but it did take quite some time.

I can't say I think he is a beautiful fish, but he sure does have some striking features, and I seem to find more colors on him as time goes on. Maybe they develop more color as they mature. We like him, and that's the most important thing.

 

[Barry N.]

250 W light in a 30 inches tank is a little weak for Crocea and Maxima on the bottom of the tank. You should keep them higher up on the tank, mid way up under the light or higher.

Right on the money

Even if you get a clam that is a little bit smaller than 3" your bio-load should have sufficient nutrients so the smaller clams can filter feed. They will filter off the fish waste as well.