Clam won't stay put!

[banditpowdercoat]

Where is a good place for my Crocea clam? I have him in the sand, in middle of tank, but he keeps migrating towards teh front glass, and falling on his side. Where do they like to normally be?? he never moved in my old tank.

[pelle31]

My Clams used to move around as well. Had them on the sand,on Rocks,both sides of the tank and the middle. I have now put them on the right side of the tank and they pretty much stay put. I have 2 larger ones and one little guy,the 2 larger ones stay put and the little one moves back and forth between the two,its actually kinda comical. The thing that kinda sucked was when he attached to the side of one,good thing he let go and went looking for the second one. I just moved them around untill they stopped moving,dunno if that helps you or not but thats what I did.

[Delphinus]

I find they really need to be fenced in. I think it's best if they go on the rockwork, there's some debate over this point, but without getting into it too much I still think it's better if they are on the rock ... but they need to be a bowl/depression in the rock so that they can't roll out of there (ie., they won't roll uphill). I usually end up epoxying rubble and small rocks around them. Once they're secure they usually end up attaching on their own. They won't attach if there is too much movement possible (ie., they still need to open and close obviously) but too much rocking motion from the the current is enough to prevent them from laying down those byssal glands and then they'll be constantly on the move.

[pelle31]

I agree but.......I tried the same with mine and the larger of the two still managed to move.
It did attach itself to the rock and the whole bit I was happy. Then after a couple weeks he let go and started moving again. I moved all the rubble and he went back down to the sand and has been pretty much in the same place since. Maybe my clams are different

[Delphinus]

Hmm no pretty normal I think. That's why I say there's some debate over this - you HAVE to go to silly lengths to ensure the bowl/depression is deep enough otherwise they will eventually fall off - most people don't go that far, and thus you end up with the school of thought that "it's fine on the sand" because it's just easier than rearranging your whole aquascape. And yeah, it's sort of fine .. but it sort of isn't, either. It's better in that they can't fall off and get injured, but if you ever see tridacnids in the wild - with the exception of maybe gigas, squamosa and derasa, who are sand dwellers - they are always embedded in rock. IMO this is where they belong, because that byssal opening is pretty big and it's an area that pests and predators can get into if it's not attached to rock. It's not a guarantee that there will be problems if not on the rock but it IMO it does help a little.

Part of the problem is they shoot water out with such force that it moves them. So if the attachment point isn't 100% secure, they'll move. I don't think they really intend to move this way or that, I think it's more of a random result of their water "surges".

Another thing to keep in mind if on the sand is that they might still attach to the first hard thing they find - the bottom glass - and it can be very difficult to remove them in that case. You can remove clams after they are attached but it takes a lot of practise and it's a risky move, there is potential for injuring them this way.

I realize I'm firmly in the minority in this recommendation, but, it IS my recommendation and I'm sticking with it. Since adopting this approach myself I've had way better clam longevity than I ever did when I just let them sit in the sand. My oldest clam is a crocea around 7 years old right now.

[pelle31]

Tony

I'll try it again with the little one and post here again and update. Better sticking the little bugger on a Rock then having him attach to another clam.