redparrotbubbles85 Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 I recently purchased a hippopus clam that is around 2" long. i have a 10 gallon with a 70w mh and i dose calcium and alkalinity so those levels are in check. now for the question. since it is a little small could i feed it come baby brine shrimp until i can get some phyto of something like that. i have some frozen cubes of it and was wondering if it would eat them.thanks a lot. Link to comment
FAC_WNY Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 It isn't going to accept baby-brine (for one, particle size is too large, for two, it's zooplankton not phytoplankton). Cheers, Fred Link to comment
Steve973 Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 Yep, they definitely won't accept the baby brine. They do eat phytoplankton, so stock up on DT's phyto, and you'll be all set. They may or may not eat zooplankton, but if they do, it has to be really small particle sizes. I have DT's oyster eggs, and this is an acceptable particle size for SPS. You'll have to see if clams will make use of this, because I'm not certain. Link to comment
redparrotbubbles85 Posted April 18, 2005 Author Share Posted April 18, 2005 thanks a lot guys Link to comment
NCNBilly Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 I'm sure Fred will agree with me - you really should have researched before buying this animal. Clams are HEAVY feeders and need almost continual feeding of phyto. A week without food while waiting for phyto is starving your new animal. Next time research, plan, then buy. Your animals will love you for it. Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 I disagree. I have gone, and plan on going several, (like 5-6) weeks at a time without feeding any specified phtyo, and I have two clams under 4" in my ten. Thats not saying they arent getting anything, though. Link to comment
FAC_WNY Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 Agreed with BK here....depending on light levels, clams can require MUCH less in the way of supplemental feeding. Cheers, Fred Link to comment
redneckreeftank Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 a reef tank, with no fish, proper water specs, will never need to be fed meaty food like than. dosing yes, meaty food, no. I've got a 90 gallon reef tank, with corals, and have never fed meaty foods to anything Link to comment
NCNBilly Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 Phytoplankton is not meaty - In any way, shape or form. There has been much research (I'll dig up the links when I have more time) that clams under 6" don't have mantles large enough to keep them totally by photosynthesis. He's talking about a baby 2". There is no way the mantle is going to have enough xooanthellae to survive without phytoplankton. At this size, with a very large refugium it might be possible to have enough in the water column at the moment, but we're talking a 10 gallon here. I'm not trying to be a jerk. Link to comment
FAC_WNY Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 You're right, Billy...I should have made my statements more to the point and on-topic. I go off on generalities (in general, for larger clams, they can go long periods without regular phyto feeding)sometimes..lol. For the clam in question (anything <3")..you are going to need to regularly feed with DT's. Cheers, Fred Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 While many say that... I've grown my 2" crocea to a little over 3" without any feeding of phytoplankton. Not saying he isnt getting anything... But generally its a good "buffer" if lighting or water parameters arent optimum. Link to comment
Cesar Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 Not trying to highjack here, but I had a clam in my tank under 250W of MH and it did fine for about 2 weeks. Then it just shut. All of a sudden after work it was inside out. All guted out. I had a very high level of CA, you think that could have caused it to die? My water params were good. Link to comment
748S911 Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 im w/bk to i got my clam around 1.5 and now he's 3.5inches, never feed it dt. not saying that it not beneficial just think that my light and my maturity of tank gives it plenty of food. it has two new ridges in the last month or so. i used to sup. w/dt until it started getting my water to green and stuff Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 But you said you used to supplement with DT's... there for you did feed, lol. Link to comment
FAC_WNY Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 People go WAY overboard on planktonic foods....1mL of DT's phyto or oyster eggs is MORE than enough to feed a nano. Cheers, Fred Link to comment
kimura Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 I had a 1.5" Gold Max in a 2.5g Pico under 18w PC 50/50. I feed Phyto daily and dosed ESV B-Ionic. I've only had it for several weeks till I purchsed a 150w HQI 20K for my new 12g setup. Till I set it up I have my MH over the 2.5g. My clam seems to like that more and I'm noticing a lot more openess as well as growth from this now 3.2" clam. All I know is that it seemed to grow ok with the phyto while is was small, now it seems to like the light more than anything. Currently I've seen him squirt and close up a little when I dose the phyto???? Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 The squirting and closing is just a respone to your movement, probably. DONT overdo the phyto or he will probably be overwhelmed, lol! You see... another voucher that clams really do prefer halides. Link to comment
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