C for clam; c for confusion
 

Clams have always confused me BIG TIME! Some say they are easy to keep, some say they are hard to keep, some say they need pristine water while I found that clams sucks up nitrate. Few days ago, I came to know that they can move :S

Now I have a very tight spot in my tank for a clam since I have always wanted one. But this movement can be a big issue!

So can anyone illuminate on this clam moving around issue? Is there any clam that has the reputation of moving lesser than others? Lighting shouldn't be any issue since I will be getting a quad T5HO fixture soon (on its way from USA).

Any clam will move to try and get a spot that most suits it. Not a lot you can do about it. Forcing it to be somewhere it doesn't want to be probably isn't good for it long term. Mine picked a nice shaded spot, go figure :)

I am guessing my hope for clam is destroyed :(

Do they move a lot like anemone or just few inches to find the sweet spot?

I have a little Crocea clam (note* supposedly rock dwelling) continued to move itself onto the sandbed no matter what I tried! (I even built a little rock fence to prop him up!) The clam ended up taking in huge amounts of water and propelled itself back down to the sandbed.

It has however stayed put once it finished moving...kinda reminds me of an unhappy anemone really. Very beautiful to have!

Clams also get food from filtering water, so I personally believe they need to have some food in the water, but nitrates and phosphates are not the only thing that feeds clams IMO.I figure that's where the confusion from dirty or clean water comes from. I put a little bit of Reef Roids and Marine Snow in my tank immediately after a water change (note I do weekly water changes with RO/DI Type 1 water), and all my params are 0.0ppm NH3,PO4,NO3 ect.

My clam seems to be happy with moderate flow and only gets pestered by the odd hermit crab climbing on top of it.

I unfortunately do not know too much about Maximas, Derasas, and Squamosas, other than that they prefer sand bottoms and can get very large.

Well, they won't float around into your pumps like anemones, but I guess they could go quite a ways if they wanted to. Mine only moved a few inches though.

I have tried 4 clams and now refuse to kill another one. Not to mention I fear what my Picasso trigger may do to it. They seem to do well at first then they close up and die or I drop a rock on them (only happened once I was very perplexed)

Mine have probably only move a total of about 4 inches combined for the two of them.

I have a crocea and it adjusted itself a few degrees on the rock that I placed it on. If I adjust it, the next day it has twisted back to the angle it wants...other than that, it has not moved at all. It is about mid tank under T5s and has been in the tank now for roughly 6 months...

Jason

i gave my copperband a squamosa for food.....it hasnt touched it and the clam looks great......im looking for an ultra maxima next to see if he would rather that instead.....my cbb is a good fish and deserves the best;)

My Maximas move in circles throughout the day. Like a disco ball

But yet my crocea stays put

mine move as well, but only a couple inches here or there, except one that decided to land on the carpet anemone... all I got was the shell back :(

Thanks everyone :)

So the thing is, they move around the spot they are placed to find a comfy spot right? Nothing more than couple of inches..

A day sure. If they moved a half inch a day in a couple days it settles in. I have a clam that launched off the rocks.

I am planning to get something that stays on sand. Can't risk on rocks :P

I have a crocea and a maxima... neither have moved aside from adjusting their angle.
I've kept the crocea on sand and rock. seemed to like both, however I did notice that on the sand, small bristle worms would take shelter under it and probably annoyed it to a degree.

I picked up a maxima from the big Cook Island order from Blue World last year. Being an ultra grade, I figured it would want extremely intense light, so up high on the rocks it went. Came back the next day to find it laying face down on the sand. Tried a little lower down and the same thing happened. It has been on the sand ever since and it doing just fine.

I have 4 clams, a large maxima ultra, a large croccea and 2 smaller croccea. They are all together right underneat my MH and they love it there, so none as moved.

Your light is probably not good enough for a clam and it's looking for a better spot. It will move until it find a proper spot, if there is one.

How big is the clam? smaller clam need regular feeding or they will die and melt. Their mantle is not developped enough to sustain them. Clam of 4" or more are ok, but it is always good to give them a bit of live phytoplankton once in a while.

Not necessarily. My maxima was only 1.5" and did not need any supplemental feeding. I was a bit uneasy about buying one this small but was assured by Ken @ BW that he'd be just fine without feeding. He gave me some live rotifers but I didn't have to target feed at all. Just threw a capfull in the display every day.

Clams eat phytoplankton. YOu may have had enough phyto in your tank.

It is well known that most of the baby clams don't make it and need feeding. YOu were lucky.

Some stores here don't even accept clams under 3" because they melt a lot.