new maxima clam

kyle10

kyle10

Member
got a maxima clam last night had a few ?
feeding: spot feed dt's once a week is this o.k
placement: on the sand is this o.k
dosing iodine once a week
also he's pretty big about 5 inches long how much bigger will he get ?and how fast does he grow?
plus anything else you could tell me about keeping him wouuld be great..
thanks
 
007

007

Active Member
since the damage is already been done . . . . next time, do your homework before you buy.
Now . . . for one thing, stop dosing iodine. Its a waste of money and can cause more harm than good. To the best of my knowledge iodine has no proven benefit.
Second . . . clams should never be spot fed. Ever. You need feed the water column, but with a 5" maxima, it does not need to be fed. It gets all its nutrients from photosynthesis.
Which brings me to my next point . . . you have metal halides correct? If not you were better off flushing your money down the toilet.
 
kyle10

kyle10

Member
thanks for the reply 007
first on this site it says to add iodine and the guy at the lfs said to also.thats why i have been ..even before the clam.
why do you say it is a waste of money..what are the facts about it.
second i have not spot fed him yet i just got him last night.
but today i did feed dt's to the tank...for my other corals.
that will be enough for the clam?
third i have metal halides and vho light ing...that should be enough right?
do you keep any clams? if so what things do you do with yours?
thanks
 
007

007

Active Member
I am glad to hear that you have MH. Your clam should do well assuming that your Ca and Alk levels are in line. You have the lighting down for sure though. What are your water parameters like re: ca, alk, pH
I forgot to mention that the placement on the sand bed will be ok, but these clams would prefer a solid structure to attach to such as somewhere in your rockwork. This will also bring them closer to the light.
Adding DT's to the tank to feed your corals will be just fine for your clam. You may want to increase the amount a little though.
As for the Iodine . . . do a search in the reef forum for a thread by Kip about "melting xenia". It has a lot of information on iodine that you will find to be of use. It is one of those things that are very easy to over do and since the benefits are so unfounded, why bother. Most LFS will recommend iodine to get you to buy it, afterall they are out to make money.
Clams are basically maintenance free IMO . . . as long as you have:
a.) Strong Lighting
b.) Stable water chemistry
you've got part A, now about part B.
Have you checked it for parasitic snails?
 
kyle10

kyle10

Member
alk is at 200ppm
ph is 8.3
cal is at 440
how often would you say the dt's should be fed to the tank?
i have the clam and about 7 filter feeding corals..
thanks
 
skirrby

skirrby

Active Member
you just look into the tank and see if you can find any lol.. i pulled 2 bad welks out of my tank tonight.. hope there isnt any more
 
007

007

Active Member
Actually, there is a species of snail called a pyramellid (or pyramidal, I can't remember which) snail that infests clams and snails. It pierces the shell and eats the clam/snail from the inside out.
To check for them, take the clam out of the tank and place it into a bowl of tank water. Look very closely around the entire shell, especially near the foot on the bottom, for things that look like grains of rice. They are literally that small or smaller. Pick them off and remove them. Check around the enitre shell.
Do a search on here for them and in the reef forum. There have been some pictures posted before.
Also, your Ca seems fine along with your pH, but I am unfamiliar with your alk measure. I know dkH and meq/L but I don't know how these convert to ppm.
 
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