Electric flame scallop info

[featherblue]

I saw an amazng critter while gretting a fish today....an ekectric flame scallop. You could see the little charge running along its mantle! I'm looking for any info ir experiances with these guys, or simm cousins.
ive seen its actually a file clam, and a filter feeder dependent on tiny phytoplankton, rotifers.
Anyone actually have luck keeping one of these?

 

[monkeypie102]

I actually looked them up when I saw one at my lfs... Wicked looking indeed... But don't buy it... Some expert feeders have issues feeding them as they only eat specific sized things and being filter feeders makes it much harder... I seen someone say you'd have to keep a dirty tank to keep one alive for very long...

 

[featherblue]

From what I'm reading they do ok in the same conditions my candy cane thrives in, which its doing. It also eats the same things I feed my candy cane, and the Duncan I'm considering, phytoplankton and rotifers (which I'm already feeding)

My idea was to get my fuge going and seed it with phytoplankton, as well as the phytoplankton rotifers I'm already feeding

 

[Malcolm]

HI there

They are beautiful creatures for sure but very hard to keep long term, Their exact needs are not really known and unfortunately they will starve to death.

They are large filter feeders and more than likely will need a large volume of plankton to feed on which in a home aquarium would be hard to provide without fouling the water.

edit.

Remember that you cannot compare them to a coral as a coral has the distinct advantage that it is photosynthetic and as such can derive all of it's food from the symbiotic algae if need be.

You may have seen this already but here is a good link about them.

 

[featherblue]

awesome article malcolm, great information!
I def was considering a lot of the points it brought up, including the lack of info on some of the newer tiny foods now readily avail (live phyto and tigger pods, rotifers and oyster eggs in liquid prep.) I also noticed that most clams sold are much further into their 3-5 year life span than we could hope at usual purchase size.