new squamosa clam question?

[aileena]

I bought a squamosa clam yesterday at the LFS...I am now a little concerned about it...I have icecap 430 with 3 lights...I first placed the clam on the c.c. bed and the peppermint shrimp was bothering it and it refused to open properly...thinking it wasn't getting enough light and that the bottom of the tank didn't have enough current I moved it in between two small rocks near the top so that it would not attach to the bigger rock...if it does attach it will be to a small rock, which is ok for me so long as it doesn't attach to the big rock I have...the big rock already has mushrooms and star polyps taking it over...
My question is whether it is ok to put this clam on the LR? I feed phytoplankton everyday...and the kh is about 10...I use Kent Tech A & B to keep the Kh up...and the lighting is 430 vho with 3 24" bulbs...I don't have a calcium test kit but I assume as long as I use the A & B and the Kh is about 10-12 the calcium will balance itself out between 400-450...is this sound correct...need I be concerned?????
I got the clam to try some of the more difficult corals, all the softies I have are growing like weeds under the vho, so I wanted to try something a little more difficult...figured that clam would be better than SPS...???

 

[bang guy]

You're doing everything right.
Squamosa in the wild attach to rocks for the first several years. Once they read some size they detach and tumble to the deeper waters where their weight keeps them in place. What you're doing is perfectly natural.

 

[aileena]

I just spent the last half hour looking at pics of clams on this board...they all look as though the insides stretch over the top of the shell...I think that my new clam is ill or something because it looks as though it is not as close to the top of the shell as it should be??? any advice???

 

[aileena]

i've got a KH test kit, but not a clacium test kit because it costs like 60 bucks...I test for kh, nitrate, and amonia regularly

 

[yosemite sam]

One thing that I noticed from your first post that may be relevant to your later question on it's not opening all the way is current. Generally, clams don't like a lot of current, so if it's getting blasted, you may need to move it. Also, are your lights stronger than those of the LFS where you got it? You don't have too much light for a squamosa, but if it's under stronger lighting now than it was at the LFS, it may take it a bit to get adjusted. How big is the tank? 24" bulbs, so like a 29 gallon? If there is a place with lower currents on the bottom, try it there and see if it opens up more. HTH

 

[searcher]

A calcium test kit from swf.com is $16.00

 

[goldrush]

By the way,your peppermint shrimp was probably not "bothering" your clam,rather he was checking out the new housemate. They will pick at the shell sometimes,until they get it clean,then they move on.