scallop?

[Lugmos12]

This thing came  attached to a piece of rock with a zoa colony. I notice that throughout the day it opens and closes 

 

[RayWhisperer]

Clam, scallop, some kind of bivalve. By the shell color, I have a guess, but I'm not too comfortable throwing out an ID on it without some more.

 Is there any way you can get a shot of the shape of the shell? It's prolly covered in zoas, but if it's just the animal and no rock attached the colony may be the shape of the shell it's growing on. Or, maybe the colony thins out at another area of the shell. Maybe on the underside?

 

BTW, fantastic picture. 

[GregEmmitte]

It's a scallop. They hitchhike on zoanthids. It'll wind up dying unless there's a lot of phytoplankton, bacterial plankton etc in your tank.

[Lugmos12]

3 minutes ago, GregEmmitte said:

It's a scallop. They hitchhike on zoanthids. It'll wind up dying unless there's a lot of phytoplankton, bacterial plankton etc in your tank.

if i feed it phytoplankton will it spread? i think it's cool 

[GregEmmitte]

Not sure, doubt it though. I have a few various species that I keep.. but that's an entirely different subject. Never seen them spread

[Lugmos12]

Just now, GregEmmitte said:

Not sure, doubt it though. I have a few various species that I keep.. but that's an entirely different subject. Never seen them spread

pics! 

[Lugmos12]

On 8/13/2017 at 9:34 AM, RayWhisperer said:

Clam, scallop, some kind of bivalve. By the shell color, I have a guess, but I'm not too comfortable throwing out an ID on it without some more.

 Is there any way you can get a shot of the shape of the shell? It's prolly covered in zoas, but if it's just the animal and no rock attached the colony may be the shape of the shell it's growing on. Or, maybe the colony thins out at another area of the shell. Maybe on the underside?

 

BTW, fantastic picture. 

ill try to get a better pic during my next water change

[GregEmmitte]

The green bivalve I've had a year. That's what you have. The large bivalve covered in cup coral I just got recently. The flame scallop I've had 6 months.

 

i feed live phyto 12 hours a day. For other reasons.

 

 

[Lugmos12]

@GregEmmitte what and how do you feed it?

[GregEmmitte]

I buy live phytoplankton from Algaebarn.com and I made a large Fiji bottle with an air tube that forces a drip and keeps the phyto churning. Takes about 10 hours to empty into my tank. 

[Lugmos12]

1 minute ago, GregEmmitte said:

I buy live phytoplankton from Algaebarn.com and I made a large Fiji bottle with an air tube that forces a drip and keeps the phyto churning. Takes about 10 hours to empty into my tank. 

 

They eat that much? seems like a lot lol

[Friendly]

how often do you put a bottle into the water? 

 

what do you have to do so it doesn't affect other water parameters?

[GregEmmitte]

I have a non photosynthetic tank. The phyto is for my scleronephthya, copepods, and sponges. The fact that the bivalves survive is just happenstance.

Scleronephthya 

 

[Friendly]

okay then. in a tank with photosynthesis, such as the OP's...what can they do to feed it phyto while avoiding other issues? 

 

is there a balance that can be reached easily, or are the needs so opposite that it's not realistic to try? 

 

edit - you don't happen to have a video of yours coming out to feed, do you?

[GregEmmitte]

6 minutes ago, Friendly said:

how often do you put a bottle into the water? 

 

what do you have to do so it doesn't affect other water parameters?

It's 60 gallons, my skimmer is rated for 180. I change 15 gallons a week. I tolerate low phosphates, 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia and nitrates at 40ppm. I use media to reduce phosphates 

[Friendly]

that doesn't tell me how often you feed the tank with a bottle.  lol! 

 

very cool, none-the-less.

 

where did you get them from? something like that would be so cool in a tank as a show piece.  

[GregEmmitte]

1 minute ago, Friendly said:

okay then. in a tank with photosynthesis, such as the OP's...what can they do to feed it phyto while avoiding other issues? 

 

is there a balance that can be reached easily, or are the needs so opposite that it's not realistic to try? 

 

edit - you don't happen to have a video of yours coming out to feed, do you?

No. Most reef tanks are too clean to actively keep muscles etc. maybe you can keep them in an all LPS/soft as those tanks can handle a bit more of a bioload. But if you're keeping SPS I'd only  recommend maxima clams and other photosynthetic clams.

no videos, but if they open they're feeding. When I turn off the power head to feed I can see water movement from the bivalves and sponges.

1 minute ago, Friendly said:

that doesn't tell me how often you feed the tank with a bottle.  lol! 

 

very cool, none-the-less.

 

where did you get them from? something like that would be so cool in a tank as a show piece.  

It's fed continuously for 10 hours. I don't feed at night because.. its phytoplankton. Lol

[WV Reefer]

I have a clam and hitchhiker bivalves....... I feed them nothing.  

[MockandRoll]

2 hours ago, GregEmmitte said:

It's fed continuously for 10 hours. I don't feed at night because.. its phytoplankton. Lol

 

Do you feed a bottle everyday? Your tank looks sweet. I am going to checkout your thread. 

[Friendly]

hey Greg, yes, I get that you feed for 10 hours straight...and then? feed 10 hours the next day and then the next, and the next...or only once a week? twice a week? once a month?

 

and then?

 

 

[GregEmmitte]

Every day.

[Friendly]

hungry buggers!!!

 

does the phyto cause any issues...like encouraging algae blooms or anything? 

[GregEmmitte]

Well I have corals and sponges that eat it as well. I'm sure it would if I didn't do heavy skimming and water changes. It's not that they eat it all, it's that it's available to be eaten.

[WV Reefer]

1 hour ago, Friendly said:

hungry buggers!!!

 

does the phyto cause any issues...like encouraging algae blooms or anything? 

 

@GregEmmitte's tank is a NPS tank that needs to be heavily fed....... the average tank isn't going to need that much phyto action.