ATTN all current and future clam keepers!!

[skinz78]

ATTN all current and future clam keepers!!

Hello fellow reef enthusiasts. I check the clam forum "as many much more knowledgeable people than I do" almost dayly. When I can I throw in my $.02 and try to help others out.

I see alot of posts asking for help on sick and dieing clams that don't list all info that is needed. There is back and fourth communication problem asking for info and wasting time while clams suffer and die. People need to know how important it is to post all water paramaters, pic's of the problem clam, aquarium lighting, recent tank changes, and ALL tank inhabitants when asking for help.

Here is a good link to recomended water parameters:
water paramaters

And ten important tests:

#1 Calcium 380-450 ppm
#2 Salinity 1.024-1.026
#3 Alkalinity 2.5-4 meq/L
7-11 dKH
125-200 ppm CaCO3 equivalents
#4 Ph 8.1-8.4
#5 Magnesium 1250-1350 ppm
#6 Temp 78-82 deg F
#7 Nitrates 0
#8 Nitrites 0
#9 Phosphate < 0.03 ppm
#10 Ammonia <0.1 ppm

Pictures can sometime be worth a thousand words. So if you can please please post them.

Also I think all clam keepers old and new present and future should read about keeping clams from one or even both of these fine books:

Giant clams in the sea and the aquarium by
James Fatherree

Giant Clams: A Comprehensive Guide to the Identification and Care of Tridacnid Clams by
Daniel Knopp

Both books are about the same price of a small clam and I urge first time clam keepers to purchase one or the other and read it before buying thier first clam. In the long run people could possibly help thier clams thrive and save some money too.

More useful links:

clam pic's and Id
This site doesn't really tell you much about Id'ing clams but it has lots of pictures of different types of clams. Yow will have to scroll down and click the picture link on the left side to see the pic's
click on the clam type to see pic's
click on clam type on left side of page for pic's

Id page written by mbbuna
mbbuna's clam id

Reefkeeping magazine's clam Id page
clam id

clam care page

To be honest with everyone I find the search function on here is quite helpful to me. I usually find everything that I need just by using it. So many others have been down the road that I am going down and I try to learn from thier mistakes.