clams and heat

[Delphinus]

I'm still not entirely convinced that I didn't lose my clams last year from heat stress, but mine were considerably smaller than yours (and Brad's). So who knows there are just too many variables at play. Ultimately, I don't recommend that people go heating up their tanks -- just because one survives a thing doesn't necessarily mean all will. I think trying to keep things within the "normal reef range" is still best (i.e., it still behooves us to take corrective measures if a tank is getting too hot or too cold). I imagine also things like how fast the temperature goes up, and how fast it comes down again, may also play a significant role in determining how things will fare in the long run. Also compounding things are that a clam can seem perfectly fine one day and be completely gone the next, so without any lead up clues that something is amiss you end up guessing at what might have gone wrong and who knows how far back you have to look in such cases. Ultimately I am happy for you that your clam has survived the high heat (and you too Brad of course ) and I hope that they continue to do well over the long-term. My experience with clams in over 5 years now of reefkeeping has been these are the single most vexing creatures for me, the longest I had one was about 2.5 years. That one was a beauty of a derasa and it had lived through my little "float valve incident of infamy" but it didn't survive long after a crocea I had perished. It seems to me ... and this is just my theory now I have nothing but my own anecdotal evidence to back me up ... that one of the worst things to happen to a clam is to have a different clam in the same tank die. There must be some kind of toxic spew off or pathogen released that clams are particularly susceptible to, when that happens because I have had the phenomemon happen to me several times now. I don't trust clams .... I want to keep my reefs within tolerances but that's just me. I have no interest, for example, in trying to breed clams so I don't see any need to cook 'em just yet. I am glad, that my experiences don't really seem to be the norm (they are the norm for me, but not the norm for everyone else .... )

cheers