Tridacna Clam

[1234-fishy-freind]

Hi guys.

Im thinking about getting some sort of tridacna clam.
I know what water conditions they need and I can pretty much suply them with it, especially since im getting my own RO unit which means I will be able to do more frequent water changes.

Anyway, I have 3 150 watt metal halides so I dont think lighting will be a problem either.

Has anyone on here kept these?
Were you successful?
Do you have any hints for me about them?

thanks

 

[Colin_T]

keep the water clean and the salinity stabile
give it lots of light and a bit of space because many grow big
keep the calcium levels high, about 450-470ppm.

try to get one that is at least 4 inches long, preferably 5-6inches. The small ones (2-3inch) are cheaper but don't do as well. When they are a bit bigger, 5-6inches, they usually have a higher survival rate.

 

[SkiFletch]

Agree with Colin. Try and place it high up in your rock work centered under one of your halides. Biggest challenge with them is light. Tridacnid clams live in very shallow water in the wild where the sun BLASTS them. In many locales they even spend time out of water when the tides come in/out. As Colin mentioned, they do MUCH better in captivity when they're at least 4" long. At around that length their vascular systems which carry symbiotic zooxanthellae (which provide the clam with energy) is developed enough to carry enough algae to deal with our comparitively low lighting (compared to the sun...). Smaller clams less than 4" will require 250watt or more desireably 400watt halides or straight up sunlight to keep them healthy.