themadride Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I've never had a clam, but I think I read somewhere that it is a bad sign if their mouth is open too wide. Might want to check with someone more knowledgeable than me. I don't know how wide is "too wide" but the mouth looks more open in your picture than in others I've seen. Nice color. nic pic. Link to comment
SulfurAcid Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I think his mouth is perfectly fine. Looks nice and healthy Link to comment
SmittyCoco Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Nice Disaster. I just recently bought one as well. They are beautiful aren't they? Link to comment
eddiecorrea Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Nice looking clam. Looks perfectly healthy. I have 5 of them so I have tons of experience with them. Just make sure you bury a piece of acrylic or rock underneath it in the sand so it can attach. Or it will attach to the bottom of your tank and you will never be able to move it. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 thanks guys. ive never really got into clams before, but once i decided to try it out, i was hooked. they are really cool looking and really colorful! they grow really fast too and sucks alot of calc outta my water. i need to buy another jug of calcium supplement. ive tried placing a piece of rock or something underneath the clams before with no success. they seem to just use it as a stepping stone and move itself somewhere else. Link to comment
skydive Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 If they are gaping the mouth will look more like a circle and be so stretched to where it looks as if it's about to tear. Yours is far from gaping and looks very healthy Link to comment
hppd432 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Looks awesome! I just got a crocea clam also and she never would put her foot down until I started reading that they really like being off the sand. I moved her up and within minutes foot locked down funny to watch now she is as happy as a clam. I know cheezy but true. My mother-in-law asked why I call my clam a girl. I said duh?????? Link to comment
themadride Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 My mother-in-law asked why I call my clam a girl. I said duh?????? lol Link to comment
Azfishguy Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 My mother-in-law asked why I call my clam a girl. I said duh?????? YES! Thats funny. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 new pics of the clam heres the maxima... Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Very nice clams. However both need to be out of the sandbed. They have very fine gills and can get sand like yours caught in them which will kill them. A piece of rock under them that keeps them off the sand bed will do the trick. Also both are high light animals so make sure they are getting enough light. Signs that they aren't will be that they loose their bright colors or stretch their mantles up towards the light and/or over extend them. Link to comment
vresor Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 How long will a Crocea take to attach to a rock beneath it when nestled in the sand? Mine's been there for two weeks or so. Is that enough time? I will be moving her up into the rock higher in the tank. Thanks. Link to comment
Nosey Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I tried putting rock under mine, and it put it’s foot down off the rock, I carefully pulled it off the bottom of the tank, and tried it again. For the second time the clam moved it’s self off the rock, and put her foot down on the bottom of the tank, through the sand bed. Since then I just left her there, and she seems happy, but maybe I should try again. I did have her on the rock face before, but she kept falling over. Can you remove them from the bottom of the tank once they put there foot down? Link to comment
disaster999 Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 the crocea is attached to a rock, i just have the rock buried in the sand so it looks like its sitting on top. the maxima havent attached itself to any rock, but it doesnt seem like he minds. hes been like that on the sand for 2 months with no problems Link to comment
vresor Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Those species' biology suggests that they never live on sand beds except in aquariums. There is equal speculation in this forum that 1) clams are harmed by entrained sand and 2) clams can easily "spit" the sand out and are not harmed by it. The latter is far more plausible evolutionarily; if clams died from sand, it is quite unlikely that they would have survived for millions of years in the ocean (or even years in our tanks). Their natural niche higher up in the reef is more likely a feeding and light adaptation than sand avoidance. So it really depends what you're going for, natural look or ease of viewing? Sitting in plain view in brightly lit sand certainly accentuates her lips and makes you glad you brought her home, but she may appear unrealistic to the experienced molluscan biologist (or many Clam Discussion forum posters). Which are you appealing to? Link to comment
Nosey Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Myself really, and the clam, but we can't make everyone happy, nor should I try. My question is, can you remove her from the bottom of the tank once she has set her foot? Link to comment
vresor Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Yes, that's what most I've read here do. Excavate a pit in the sand, put a flattish rock at the bottom of the pit, put the clam on the rock and push some sand back in to keep her upright on the rock. Once she's attached, you can move her rock and all to where ever you want. Use standard putty and Crazy Glue frag techniques to keep her (and the rock) in place. My question is how long does it take for the clam to put her threads down on the rock? A week? A month? Thanks. Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 The clam in my current pico put its foot down inside of about 30 minutes. Others I have had (pre tank crash) took days. It depends on if the clam is happy where it is or not. As to the evolutionary biology of clams spitting out sand... Possible but not likely. If its a species adapted to living in rocks then its not going to develop that. Look at where you find them in the wild as an indicator. Don't glue your clam. To remove it from the glass you will need to *GENTLY* pull it a bit up then cut the 'foot' as close to the glass as you can. Damaging the 'foot' can and will kill the clam. Do a search on my clam FAQ for more info. Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 My clam spits sand just fine, its a maxima. I also have attempted placing it on rocks of several shapes, but it insists on shoving itself off, back into the sand bed and attaching to the bottom of the tank. Its kind of shoved up against a rock too, but that is where it continues to go. I'm just letting it decide for itself at this point. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 my crocea is sitting happily where he is right now and not move an inch. the maxima is still moving around, not as much. it attached itself to a small piece of rock. im just going to let them be. they seem happy in the tank. Link to comment
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