Just wondering what people's experience with scallops. I read that they need daily hand feeding. 
mg: Wondering if it is too much work for me. Thanks.
mg: Wondering if it is too much work for me. Thanks.Flame Scallops
- Thread starter superlynx
- Start date
They pretty much do. They are super particular of the particle size of food that they ingest and rely intensely on marine zooplankton larva. Pretty much all tanks don't have enough to allow them to survive. Some people have kept them in huge refugiums with LOTS of miracle-mud, but besides that, they really do need to be fed.
Read this article if you are planning on getting one. It'll probably scare you away from getting one, but if you do, it'll at least prepare you for what you would need to do.
Good luck
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2002/toonen.htm
Read this article if you are planning on getting one. It'll probably scare you away from getting one, but if you do, it'll at least prepare you for what you would need to do.
Good luck
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2002/toonen.htm
I am about to read that article as I've wanted one too. I have a sunburst coral that requires pretty heavy hand feeding so I'm just wondering if the flame scallop would really be THAT much more work. Thanks for the article.
Good article, thanks. I new they were difficult, but wow! I think that would change just about anyone's mind.
IME they're one of the things best left in the wild. And yes, that was another newbie mistake of mine:mad2:
:headbang2:mistakes..wow who hasnt... i hate it when i hurt something, i hope being a part of this AC helps.
As a store owner in the 90's, lots of marine life was available... so we brought the Flame Scallop in and tried it. I can tell you from personal experience that they are extremely difficult to keep. They were soon added to our list of "marine life we DO NOT bring in for resale - (only through special requests from experienced dedicated hobbyists)".
And I now gather... that experience has not changed!
And I now gather... that experience has not changed!
While they aren't beginner organisms, success (and reproduction in one anecdotal case) have been documented in systems that dose phyto regularly in their tanks.
If you are interested, there are many commercial algae blends that are quite feasible for dosing, even in larger tanks. Also, though it may seem that you are feeding more material (and causing pollution), the overall mass of the algae is not a problem, and the commercial blends remove the growth medium prior to packaging. This doesn't mean the load isn't there, and a skimmer will help in these cases.
Also, be aware that flame scallops are very likely to move, like anemones, until finding an ideal location.
They are filter feeding critters, so food availibility is key, but it can be done.
For further reading, I would suggest you look in ReefCentral's Nonphotosynthetic forums found here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=555
Though it's for corals, the feeding techniques may be applicable to the scallop.
Enjoy!
If you are interested, there are many commercial algae blends that are quite feasible for dosing, even in larger tanks. Also, though it may seem that you are feeding more material (and causing pollution), the overall mass of the algae is not a problem, and the commercial blends remove the growth medium prior to packaging. This doesn't mean the load isn't there, and a skimmer will help in these cases.
Also, be aware that flame scallops are very likely to move, like anemones, until finding an ideal location.
They are filter feeding critters, so food availibility is key, but it can be done.
For further reading, I would suggest you look in ReefCentral's Nonphotosynthetic forums found here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=555
Though it's for corals, the feeding techniques may be applicable to the scallop.
Enjoy!
phyto is too small for the most part. something like oyster eggs is a better bet
