View Full Version : dissappearing flame scallop
hey- i just got a flame scallop two days ago. he moved around a couple times, but now today, he's gone! there is a new pile of sand where he last was, and i was wondering if they bury themselves?
jayghmi
01-15-2008, 1:21 PM
I have read that they build small nests, but I have never had one. If it were me I would stick my finger in the sand and explore.
Squawkbert
01-15-2008, 1:25 PM
As far as I remember, they generally swim around, bury themselves, cause trouble, then waste away. They can be "a challenge".
Catpicklesdog
01-15-2008, 3:21 PM
They tend to hide in a cave and starve. Are you feeding it phytoplankton??
don't see him anywhere, gotta be in the new sand pile. was told that they don't need any special diet, that they were filter feeders. was i mis- led?
Pufferpunk
01-15-2008, 5:56 PM
FLAME SCALLOP (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2002/toonen.htm)
Please, please please do research on animals you aren't familiar with. The survival record of flame scallops in captivity has traditionally been extremely poor. The typical experience of people who buy them is that the animal tries its best at hiding (often with the aquarist having to pick it out of the rockwork numerous times so that it is visible in the aquarium) for a while before eventually giving up and slowly dying. Even when the rest of the reef tank is flourishing, people who add a flame scallop to their tank typically watch as it slowly wastes away over a period as short as a couple of months to a maximum of about six to ten months. I would guess that the single most common cause for the demise of flame scallops in any aquarium is quite simply starvation.
whoa! thanks for the info! i hadn't planned on getting this, but it was a steal. and i asked alot of questions, and the lfs assured me that it would be fine. i will research them now, i appreciate your reply, as i would never want to have something that i'd eventually just slowly kill! and, i did find it, hiding upside down under a rock cave.
I agree, I really recommend to others not to get them. Unfortunately the hardest to keep species are often the cheapest to buy at the pet store..they want to get rid of them before they die. Ever notice how cheap dragonettes are for instance?
Pufferpunk
01-16-2008, 8:30 PM
Please leave it where it is comfortable & use a turkey baster to squirt the recommended food at it, with the pumps off for a while. Kinda like feeding my goniopora.
PP, would you start a new thread about your gonipora? I'm trying to talk myself out/into buying a blueberry.