Lion's paw Scallop

[floridaskunkape]

Nodipecten nodosus fragosus
Does anyone have experience with these? It came wild from the South Atlantic. So far (3months), it's been lovely, but i hear other scallops die 3-9 months in captivity. It is about 6 inches. It opens up and breathes, stretches out tentacles, and sneezes snot every once in a while but looks happy to me. A hundred unblinking blue eyes. I target feed it phytoplankton, in a tank with reef lighting, and sandy substrate, 30 gal, protein skimmer, and a powerjet for added circulation.
Anybody have one? had one? stories, tips, ideas, anecdotes?

 

[floridaskunkape]

here's a picture

 

[Ace25]

They usually don't do well in general because they require A LOT of nutrients to survive. Feeding it phyto daily is the best thing you can do. Most tanks by todays standards are just "too clean" for most scallops to survive long term.

 

[Phatboydime]

Do you have a sump with a refugeum? His best chance is in there, unless you plan to spot feed every day.

 

[Fishfriend1]

They usually don't do well in general because they require A LOT of nutrients to survive. Feeding it phyto daily is the best thing you can do. Most tanks by todays standards are just "too clean" for most scallops to survive long term.

Cool then my tank would be perfect for one. :hitting: :thumbsup:

 

[Amphiprion]

Do you have a sump with a refugeum? His best chance is in there, unless you plan to spot feed every day.

Unless it is very large and extremely productive, I don't even see that dong much good. They need very heavy amounts of phytoplankton daily, something that most people can't provide. A slow drip of it continually would be best.

 

[Phatboydime]

So in theory if you had your own phyto culture station you could use a dosing pump to dose the tank everyday with plankton and even then it would be hard to say if they will live?

 

[Ace25]

If you did that, you could probably keep scallops alive, but nothing else in the tank would be able to live because it would be to "dirty" for most other corals and fish.

 

[Fishfriend1]

Why do people buy these things if they are just going to die? Why do people take these things from the wild for that matter?

 

[Amphiprion]

Why do people buy these things if they are just going to die? Why do people take these things from the wild for that matter?

People buy them because they are beautiful, fascinating animals. But because people buy them, they are continually collected from the wild and sold. It's a vicious, but real cycle.