Keeping a flame scallop

[sea_star]

We tried to keep a flame scallop in our 72 gal because the LFS said that all we needed to do was add phytoplankton. It sounded pretty easy right? But after a few weeks, it shriveled up and died. So we figured it was a fluke, and tried again. But that one died in a few days. The tank is 10 months old, and I do 10% water changes weekly. What did I do wrong?

 

[fedukeford]

flame scallops are REALLY hard to keep, they are one of those animals that should just be left in the ocean, so you really didnt do anything wrong besides not reaserching it first

 

[winstew]

yes many LFS sell them because they "look" like something you would want in your tank, but they aren't worth the aggrevation of doing everything right and it still ending up dead. Sorry for your loss though

 

[sea_star]

I know, I should have done some research first. I'm not gonna try them again.

 

[hot883]

I recieved my flame scallop on 9 May; freebie from my ordering place. I put him in the tank and he scooted to a spot within a minute or two. Next day he went to the back of the tank and stayed there for 1 week. I could not see him or feed him etc. One morning I came into my office and there he was in the front, wedged good into a rock crevice. He has been there ever since and looks good.
I feed him when I feed my corals. I spot feed "reef chili" along with tank feeding of cyclo peeze.

 

[pyro]

out of curiosity, do you run a skimmer on your tank?

 

[ophiura]

The single best article I have ever seen on these animals is by Rob Toonen. Do a google search with his name an "flame scallops"
Note that unfortunately they, like many other animals, can take months to starve.

 

[winstew]

Hey Hot I see you have a chilli coral in there too.... how long have you had that?

 

[agoutihead]

any pics of one with the electric going on?
im sure its a hard pic to take...
i seen these at a lfs recently and wated them for several minutes and did not see any electricity... how often do they do it?

 

[mudplayerx]

Flame scallops, like all filter-feeding bivalves, need a lot of microscopic food to meet their dietary needs. This entails spot feeding phyto/zooplankton around 2-3 times a day. The problem with flame scallops are is that they don't like light, and tend to wedge themselves in areas that make it difficult if not impossible to reach them.
Relocating them rarely works, and sometimes even injures or kills them.