Reef nutrition

Luck w/Flame Scallop?

Gonzo

Gonzo

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I've done some reading on the Flame Scallop and hard/impossible they are to keep in the home aquarium. SO my question is, has anyone ever had one or know of anyone whose had success?
 
I kept an electric flame scallop in my tank in NC for over a year. They guy was always traveling around the tank trying to find a cave to hide in. They don't live very long compared to many things we stock in our tanks but I wouldn't say they're "hard/impossible" to keep.
 
FS have a short lifecycle, so when they are collected they are already most of the way through their lives and have less than a year left to live, it's not that they are very difficult to keep alive.
 
Interesting about their life cycle.

Jeff: Did you add anything in particular to the tank to feed your scallop? I've read they like phyto-X stuff...
 
YEs they feed on phytoplankton and even small zooplankton. Phyto is best for them though IME.
 
+1 to what Gresham said. Though when I kept them I was out east and DT's was the brand we had access to in the LFS's there. No worries Gresham... your stuff is better. :) I'll also say that the ones I kept were a bit different from the ones here on the west coast. Forgive any ignorance here but the ones I've seen here on the west coast are different from the ones commonly seen in the LFS on the east coast. The ones we get on the east coast are the electric ones where you can see the little electric current running side to side while they are opened up. They're really cool... miss seeing them. If they have them here on the west coast I've not seen them.
 
Jeff: I remember that exact "Electrical" current in the scallops when I would see them in the LFS. I think you can still order them from Petsolutions online - but i'd prefer to get them local of course.
 
zambavi said:
+1 to what Gresham said. Though when I kept them I was out east and DT's was the brand we had access to in the LFS's there. No worries Gresham... your stuff is better. :) I'll also say that the ones I kept were a bit different from the ones here on the west coast. Forgive any ignorance here but the ones I've seen here on the west coast are different from the ones commonly seen in the LFS on the east coast. The ones we get on the east coast are the electric ones where you can see the little electric current running side to side while they are opened up. They're really cool... miss seeing them. If they have them here on the west coast I've not seen them.
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Electric Flame Scallops. We get them as well. They are sold all over the world :D
 
Here's the ones I'm use to seeing out East...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cJsY65R5-k&feature=related

The ones I've seen here on the west coast just don't have that spark ;)
 
Trust me, we get them out here. There is very little the east gets that we don't.
 
GreshamH said:
Electric Flame Scallops. We get them as well. They are sold all over the world :D
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Hmm... I must have the worst timing ever then because I've never seen them in a LFS in this area. There was a LFS (won't say the name) that I visited shortly after I moved here that I asked about them and he told me they don't get those here on the west coast. /bad LFS owner... :bigsmile:
 
houser said:
GreshamH said:
Trust me, we get them out here. There is very little the east gets that we don't.
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West coast bias? About time.
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Worked in wholesale and sold hundreds of them. I know we get them. Most of what I got was sold locally.
 
I had success with them a few years ago by ordering them from one of the florida collectors. I specifically asked them to get the small little ones and not the large pretty ones that are close to the end of their life cycle. They lived in my refugium for well over a year. Close to two. I believe that close to there total life cycle. I didn't feed them but the tank they were in produced food itself. Happens when you refugium is 8 times the size of your display.

PS: The electric ones don't produce electricity in any way. They have a small thin strip of white reflective skin they flash to reflect light back at you. Turn the lights off and the flash goes away. Use to see them a lot more. I am sure this is due to collection reasons.

I would not recommend them for most reef tanks as 9 times out of 10 they are going to move to a part of your tank where you can't enjoy them. They loke a nice current with food passing by them like the back of your rock work. They are also tough to feed in a reef tank because they need a high food density but don't seem to like the turbulent flow in most peoples tanks. They did well in a refugium with mostly laminar flow.
 
zambavi said:
+1 to what Gresham said. Though when I kept them I was out east and DT's was the brand we had access to in the LFS's there. No worries Gresham... your stuff is better. :) I'll also say that the ones I kept were a bit different from the ones here on the west coast. Forgive any ignorance here but the ones I've seen here on the west coast are different from the ones commonly seen in the LFS on the east coast. The ones we get on the east coast are the electric ones where you can see the little electric current running side to side while they are opened up. They're really cool... miss seeing them. If they have them here on the west coast I've not seen them.
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Caeser's Tropical Fish Factory got at least 10+ of them for a pretty low cost only about half a year ago; if you ask them they could probably get more
 
Thanks Nudi... I don't think I'd order one in but if I happened across one in a LFS I'd certainly grab him up.

Qwiv... not sure exactly what the little lightning looking thing is that jumps around inside of them but I'd be really surprised if it was just a reflecting of light. My guess is that's it's Bio-luminescence. We regularly would turn out the tank and room lights when people came over just so you could see it better. Turn out all the lights and you can see the little lighting thing really well. They also tend to find themselves a dark little cave or hole to settle in that doesn't have light directly hitting it which also makes it much more visible.

IME... They will move around a lot in your tank until they find themselves a place where they are happy. Sometimes they remain visible so that you can still view them... sometimes they don't. For me that just puts them right there with the pop pom crabs, porcelain crabs and other similar critters we put in our tanks and are lucky to see once or twice a year.
 
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