Just bought a Squammy!

jerth6932

Active Member
After doing a cirtain ammount of research, and finally getting rid of my pistol shrimp (I miss the dude!), I decided to go with a blue spotted squamosa clam, that was tank raised from ORA 2 3/4 -3in big. My question then is how do you know when a clam is FULLY open? Also all, and I mean all (10 in all) of my hermits in my tank rushed him, and were picking at his shell, none were going after his mantle, but when he was introduced you would of thought they were in HEAT and I introduced a female... Odd to me. Just so I don't get the other norm questions, tank is 3 years old, 24 g jbj nano, with upgraded MH lighting with a 150W Phenix 20K bulb, peramiters are all good.
 

candycane

Active Member
The thing will probably outgrow that tank within 2-4 years depending on the metabolic conditions of the clam (environmental). Also the hermit crabs, for now anyways, are most likely just going after the new form of alga(e) that came in on the clam shell. But those are LARGE crabs that are smaller then the clam.
 

jerth6932

Active Member
Originally Posted by candycane
http:///forum/post/2899127
The thing will probably outgrow that tank within 2-4 years depending on the metabolic conditions of the clam (environmental). Also the hermit crabs, for now anyways, are most likely just going after the new form of alga(e) that came in on the clam shell. But those are LARGE crabs that are smaller then the clam.
I am aware that this clam will out grow my 24G tank quite quickly, but I am not going to have this small tank for that many more years. I am in the works for a 50G tank as we speak. I know still small....
.... Baby steps! I figured there was somthing there they were attracted to.
But how do I tell if the mantle is fully opened? Also after looking at this clam, and doing more research I believe this clam to be bleached. If it is actually showing signs of bleaching, will my MH's be the cure for it?
THX ahead of time
 

spanko

Active Member
A picture would help to diagnose if there are any concerns.
Here are a couple of healthy ones. (not mine pics from the net)



Also send out a PM to candycane here on the site. He is probably the clam go to guy.
 

jerth6932

Active Member
Can't upload pics... no clue why... and I am using 20k bulbs... and pix are comming out blue... but its not blue to the nakedeye.
Sent plenty of of pm's through dec... no response.. ohh well! BUt mine has a blue rim with light spots like the top pic, that seem to be coloring up to blue.... kinda. Also, it doesn't look like squammys open up really wide, from those pix, so I believe mine to be fully open.
Tried to upload pix again, still not letting me... I will have to try off another comp...
 

jerth6932

Active Member
Got one to upload...will keep trying... this is the one where it is no flash and it is with the 20k's on
 

jerth6932

Active Member
Every day the clam stays upright, but at night sometime it gets knocked over, kinda a nightly thing. What are the possible culprits? Stock list to help, 10 Nass snails, 1 quarter sized mex turbo (I see him on it during the day... not tiping it over), Hermits (very unlikley, all 10 attacked it day one at the same time... and didn't tip), 2 false perks, 1 randalli gobi, 1 cleaner shrimp. I don't believe I have any bristle worms in this tank, I had a coral banded that did a good job of that for me in the past... Hes not in there any more.
How do they move? Do they tip over in order to move? And if they tip over how do they re-right them selves? Should I leave it alone if it tips over?
THX ahead of time!
 

candycane

Active Member
You can email them to me at cfrecf @ yahoo . com without all the spaces if you want.
Clam's getting to much light is the most likely problem. It's knocking itself over to shield itself from the excess light. I use a piece of acrylic and spray it down with tank water then let it dry and place it over my clams that are having "light adjustment issues". The second guess would be that something is pushing it over to get to the byssal threads, which with a Squamosa that small, it probably isn't trying to drop many yet.
I was out in the "research field" for like 5 weeks.
 

jerth6932

Active Member
Originally Posted by candycane
http:///forum/post/2906088
You can email them to me at cfrecf @ yahoo . com without all the spaces if you want.
Clam's getting to much light is the most likely problem. It's knocking itself over to shield itself from the excess light. I use a piece of acrylic and spray it down with tank water then let it dry and place it over my clams that are having "light adjustment issues". The second guess would be that something is pushing it over to get to the byssal threads, which with a Squamosa that small, it probably isn't trying to drop many yet.
I was out in the "research field" for like 5 weeks.
Thats fine, I figured that you were out of town, because you had not gotten on the site in forever. Would it knock its self over during the day if that was the problem, or would it wait till total darkness?? Because it stays upright all day and is tiped over during middle of the night.
 

candycane

Active Member
It may be doing it within a couple of hours of the light going off - that is pretty common. You MIGHT want to stay up for a bit and see what it is doing after the lights go off. If there is something else bothering it and it isn't the light, it should show itself if that is the case.
 
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