Help Needed

[Holesinme]

I am new to your forum. I presently use Red Sea Coral Gro daily and Marine Snow occationally to feed the corals, anenomes and other filter feeders in my tank.

I have a 120 gal reef tank (48x24x27 with 170 lbs live rock, 2 - 48" coralife lunar light fixtures giving off approx 520 watts total) Tonight I purchased my first Crocea Clam. I dripped it for approx 1 hours and then introduced it into my tank, not allowing it to ever be out of the water. I positioned it on a piece of live rock about 8" up from the bottom of my tank. It opened almost immediately and looks good. I fed the invertibrates and corals in my tank Red Sea Coral food and once a week give Coralife trace elements (4 capfulls) and Red Sea calcium (10 ml). I have never owned any clams before and I am in need of help in what and how to feed it. My PH is 8.2, ammonia and nitrites are 0.0, salinity is .022 and water temp is 76.5 deg. I have a long tentacled disc coral, a green goniopora ball coral, a long tentacled anenome, a rose bubble tip anenome in the tank.

I have read about DT's Live Marine Phytoplankton. Is it better than what I am feeding? Should I use it also? What is your advice about feeding and how do I feed the Crocea Clam?

I appreciate any and all advice you can give me.
_________________
Stu

[Reefland]

Hi Holesinme, Welcome to Reefland!

I am new to your forum. I presently use Red Sea Coral Gro daily and Marine Snow occationally to feed the corals, anenomes and other filter feeders in my tank.

Neither of these are really beneficial to the corals in your tank. I would suggest you look for frozen Cyclop-Eeze and/or DT's Phytoplankton for supplemental feeding.

I have a 120 gal reef tank (48x24x27 with 170 lbs live rock, 2 - 48" coralife lunar light fixtures giving off approx 520 watts total) Tonight I purchased my first Crocea Clam. I dripped it for approx 1 hours and then introduced it into my tank, not allowing it to ever be out of the water. I positioned it on a piece of live rock about 8" up from the bottom of my tank. It opened almost immediately and looks good. I fed the invertibrates and corals in my tank Red Sea Coral food and once a week give Coralife trace elements (4 capfulls) and Red Sea calcium (10 ml).

Again, these additions wouldn't be my suggestion. The so called "trace elements" in a bottle are pretty much not needed and could in fact be harmful if your not sure what and how much your adding. The only thing you need to add to your tank is something that will maintain calcium and alkalinity at appropriate levels. The calcium you are adding is probably needed if your only adding it once per week, probably a whole lot more. However if your not adding anything that also helps alkalinity your not doing much good. I would suggest researching a 2-part supplement to be added daily (B-Ionic, Ocean Blend, Kent A & B, etc.) or kalkwasser. You need to work your calcium up to 400-450ppm and your alkalinity to 10-12dkh. These 2 part supplements work together to achieve the balance needed for both.

I have never owned any clams before and I am in need of help in what and how to feed it. My PH is 8.2, ammonia and nitrites are 0.0, salinity is .022 and water temp is 76.5 deg. I have a long tentacled disc coral, a green goniopora ball coral, a long tentacled anenome, a rose bubble tip anenome in the tank.

Most reef tanks are maintained at 1.025 or 1.026 which are natural levels for salinity. Temperature is also maintained higher at approx. 80F although some people do maintain 78F and others 82F. I think the medium is the best option.

As far as feeding your clam, if it is 3" or larger, supplemental feeding is really not needed. If it is a baby clam, DT's Phytoplankton or other planktonic food will be needed for health. Baby clams should be removed from the tank and placed in a bowl full of tank water with some food added for feeding. Again if it is 3" or larger, really I think 2.5" or larger, this method is not needed.

[ricksreef]

here's a couple of links to get you started

T crocea:
http://web.archive.org/web/200104050...ll/default.asp

Parasites & Predators:
http://web.archive.org/web/200102111...ll/default.asp

HTH

[Holesinme]

Hi and thanks for the great information. Tonight I ordered DT's and KoralVit F. I had the DT's shipped to me overnight and I expect it Tuesday. I will start using DT's and stop the Red Sea Coral Gro and Marine Snow. I will raise the tank temperature to 80F. I guess I should do this slowly, maybe a degree per day?

Which do you recommend B-Ionic, Ocean Blend, Kent A & B or kalkwasser?
I have never used any of them and I welcome any and all advise and instructions you can provide for me. I really want to do the right thing for my corals and clam.

Thanks again

Stuart

Hi Holesinme, Welcome to Reefland!

Neither of these are really beneficial to the corals in your tank. I would suggest you look for frozen Cyclop-Eeze and/or DT's Phytoplankton for supplemental feeding.

Again, these additions wouldn't be my suggestion. The so called "trace elements" in a bottle are pretty much not needed and could in fact be harmful if your not sure what and how much your adding. The only thing you need to add to your tank is something that will maintain calcium and alkalinity at appropriate levels. The calcium you are adding is probably needed if your only adding it once per week, probably a whole lot more. However if your not adding anything that also helps alkalinity your not doing much good. I would suggest researching a 2-part supplement to be added daily (B-Ionic, Ocean Blend, Kent A & B, etc.) or kalkwasser. You need to work your calcium up to 400-450ppm and your alkalinity to 10-12dkh. These 2 part supplements work together to achieve the balance needed for both.

Most reef tanks are maintained at 1.025 or 1.026 which are natural levels for salinity. Temperature is also maintained higher at approx. 80F although some people do maintain 78F and others 82F. I think the medium is the best option.

As far as feeding your clam, if it is 3" or larger, supplemental feeding is really not needed. If it is a baby clam, DT's Phytoplankton or other planktonic food will be needed for health. Baby clams should be removed from the tank and placed in a bowl full of tank water with some food added for feeding. Again if it is 3" or larger, really I think 2.5" or larger, this method is not needed.

[Reefland]

Stuart,

I think it would be wise to raise both your temperature and your specific gravity; but I would do it very slowly over the course of several weeks. This will give plenty of time in between changes for the animals to adjust.

I use Ocean Blend personally but they are all basically the same. Follow the instructions and dose daily (or nightly) for best results. Kalkwasser is a bit more labor intensive but has the additional benefit of precipitating phosphate, do a quick search here for dosing kalkwasser.

[Holesinme]

I will do that. I will start to raise the salinity and temperature slowly over a few weeks.

I will also start to use either the Ocean Blend or Kalkwasser. Must I use a dosing pump for Kalkwasser? I currently have a fluval 404, 3 emperor 280 and a magnum 350 utilizing the micron filter and a prysim protein skimmer on my 120 gal tank. I do have alot of room on the back of the tank to hang anything. The Ocean blend is that added directly to the tank?

Thanks for all of your help.

Stuart

Stuart,

I think it would be wise to raise both your temperature and your specific gravity; but I would do it very slowly over the course of several weeks. This will give plenty of time in between changes for the animals to adjust.

I use Ocean Blend personally but they are all basically the same. Follow the instructions and dose daily (or nightly) for best results. Kalkwasser is a bit more labor intensive but has the additional benefit of precipitating phosphate, do a quick search here for dosing kalkwasser.

[Barry N.]

We have been working with temperature with our clams and they seem to respond the best in the range of 77-80. IME.