Electric Flame Scallops - Easy to keep?

[Anonymous]

I saw an Electric Flame Scallop at pet store the other day and it was very interesting. I believe it is technically a 'file clam' and not a scallop.

I was wondering who has one, for how long, and any helpful information on keeping them in a reef tank.

I have a 20 gallon with soft and hard corals.

Thanks.


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Xenia:
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[Anonymous]

Hello,

I've had one in my tank (60gal) for about 3 weeks now. Its doing great. I feed it phytoplankton every few days and also some brine or formula one. It really likes to move around a lot so I put it in a little 'cave' to prevent it from moving. I don't know if its affecting its health by restricting it but it seems fine. It likes to extend its foot(?) out all the time.

I had a friend who had one in his 20gal but he had an outbreak of ick and he treated with Marine Oomed(?) and it killed the scallop immediately, so don't dose anything with it in there, for that matter any invert really.

Hope this helps.

 

[Anonymous]

Scallops are notoriously difficult to keep... not impossible, but difficult. They are filter feeders and need special diets in order to survive for long periods of time. They really should be left in the ocean until we figure out a better way of keeping them.



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[Anonymous]

Wow,

I was unaware that this scallop (or clam) was difficult to keep. Come to think of it there isn't much in the published literature that I can find on it.

Exodus, do you know of any resources online for this creature? What are the difficulties with keeping it and how long does it usually last? I would think that the difficulties involve starvation, is this correct?

I fell kind of bad because I don't get 'doomed' specimens.

 

[Anonymous]

yes... chances are (and I'm not being a doomsayer here...just conventional wisdom) is that it will slowly shrink, starve, and die within a few months.

This critter (lima scabra, or something like that), usually shows up on the 'species to avoid' lists. They are so stunning however that LFS nearly always stock them...at least around here.

I dont know what the nutritional requirement s are for them... and I dont know what good it might do to feed DT's or cryopastes...but if I had one, that is what I would try.

Rob Toonen has a series of articles regarding invertibrate biology on aquarium.net which might mention something, and he visits aqualink.com periodically. Ron Shimek hangs out at Reefcentral.com, perhaps he might have some suggestions for you.

Unfortunately, I believe the specifics of keeping them happy for a long period just isnt currently known.

good luck, hth...

-Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry I didn't get back sooner.... I think Steve really said it all, especially "I dont know what the nutritional requirement s are for them." Nobody really knows what it is that will help keep these guys alive in our tanks. Too bad, too, very cool little organism.

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[Anonymous]

Rob Toonen writes...

I'm going to guess that you are talking about "flashing" scallops, Lima scabra. Although these animals are called "scallops" they are not related to scallops by anything other than appearance, and are really file clams{scallops swim "forwards" while clams swim "backwards"}. Their care is identical to that of the flame scallops. In laboratory experiments, researchers found that plastic beads of the size of phytoplankton{5-10 microns} were ingested at the same rate as the phytoplankton themselves, but beads the size of invertebrate larvae{100-200micron} were rejected by the clams. Unlike most studies of invertebrate filter-feeding, addition of phytoplankton to the medium did not affect bead ingestion rate, and in this case, the animals actually seem capable of selecting particles directly by their surface flavor {which is why pea flour and yeast-based aquarium products probably fail at keeping these animals alive}. The primary prey of the animals were invertebrate larvae, and ~75% of larvae were consumed in a given trial. A good diet of mixed phytoplankton and enriched rotifers ought to be appropriate for keeping these animals, but I would suggest staying away from the typical aquarium "invert foods"

best regards...Jim




[This message has been edited by jim (edited 14 December 1999).]

 

[Anonymous]

that (I might say cautiously) is promising, in that phytoplankton might be accepted, and beneficial.

adding 'enriched rotifers' might be more tricky.

-S

 

[Anonymous]

Yea, that's what I thought.

It would slowly starve, and shrink, and die. I was hopping some anic-dotal(SP?) evidence to the contrary, but no such luck.

Its too bad because they are really cool, but I don't want to be killing things, and I doubt I can get a 'captive raised' scallop. I prefer captive raised animals.

Thanks for writing. I stick to things I can frag.

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Xenia:
Buy! Sell! Trade! Collect 'em all!