Clam choice advice

[drexel]

I've talked with John from Clammania twice at CFM, and I always had to pry myself away from his booth because it's like a kid in a candy store. He's got nice clams. I'm not sure if he allows people to go to his facility and pick out the clams. I emailed him to see if that would be a possibility for a visit, and let's see if he responds.

I've had pretty good luck with clams. I did get a wild one from Ali at Amazing Reef, but I trust his judgement. The other one was a Biota derasa that was brought into CFM where I got it. Not too many locals places have a nice selection of ORA clams.

Ali usually has great clams. Those Aussie maximas are awesome, but a little pricey. He usually has ORA clams and they’re pretty nice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jimbo327]

Have not seen ORA clams at Ali's in awhile. Plus he likes to horde the good ones in his display.

 

[Tangwich]

Nice clams! I was just thinking about getting another clam for my tank too.

Since I've lost a few SPS frags, I've been bummed about corals. So I already have 2 clams (Derasa and Maxima), and both are doing well...I want to get one last one that is cool looking.

Where did you get your clams? I'm really liking the blue squamosa in Pacific East Aquaculture, but they all the way across the country. I'm a bit worried about shipping. Both my other 2 clams have been local LFS.

Hopefully my experience can help you make your decision on pulling the trigger. Approximately 6 months ago, I bought a blue squamosa from pacificeastaquaculture after finding out that they meticulously scrub each clam for pest snails. The clam arrived perfectly packaged and in great shape. It attached within 24 hours and it's been doing amazing in my tank at around 200 par. I would strongly recommend getting a squammy from them. And best part, they currently have them on their website with a 30% discount. Hope that helps 👍

 

[Jimbo327]

Yeah, I saw the 30% sale at PEA. I think Clammania also has 30% sale as well. It's so tempting. I get paid tomorrow. I need to find a side gig to fund this hobby. LOL.

You got photo of the blue squammie?

 

[drexel]

Yeah, PEA has a pretty good rep for clams. Regardless of who you pick the clam(s) up from, always inspect for pyramids and eggs. And, if you have established clams already, then QT the clam for a short period before introducing it to your tank. As a general rule, don't mix wild caught with cultured clams, too many issues and unknown pathogens to risk wiping out your collection. Biota had some pretty cool squamosinas recently, which are cultured from the Red Sea.

 

[Jimbo327]

Yes, that's a really cool species from Biota. It looks a little too similar to my Derasa though. I want something that is a bit different look like a blue squamosa or different color like a gold maxima or teardrop. Too bad no one has a noae clam, that's definitely a show stopper.

I need to search up these pyramid snails and what they look like. I would think these high end clam places like PEA and Clammania to be fairly diligent in their facility.

 

[Jimbo327]

Dr. Mac at PEA said he is getting some colored tear drop Noae clams in a few days, and it's rare to have these colored tear drops. Pricing is $900-$1500.

Yeah, that's a bit out of my price range, but those would be showcase clams for sure.

If anyone got the $$$ and interested, I would reach out to him now so you can get them.

 

[drexel]

Corals.com is another place for clams, but I’ve never ordered from them. Last year they had some amazing T. noae that were pretty inexpensive. Most, if not all were under $200 and some of them had really cool colors.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jimbo327]

I think John at Clammania would sell 10x more clams if his customer service would be better and respond to online/email inquiry. I see a lot of people interested in his clams, but never got a response and lost the sale. I'm almost in the same boat.

 

[drexel]

Yeah, he only does live sales and shows. I personally hate live sales, the whole auction style isn't for me at all.

 

[Jimbo327]

Tell me about it. Auction just makes you spend way more than you had anticipated. LOL. It's very addicting.

I always try to get corals locally and meet local reefers, but it is getting to the point where I just don't have as much time driving far and collecting SPS frags. I think I way overspent 2x-3x more than I had planned in recent Ebay auctions for nice SPS frags. Yikes.

 

[Jimbo327]

I decided to buy from Clammania and not risk shipping. I wanted to support John as he has been great to talk to at the CFM shows and was patient with my kids and their friends (who were running around CFM like it was a jungle gym). Of course, I pretended they were someone else's roudy kids. LOL.

Picked up my clam in front of their Newport location, and he mentioned he was thinking about allowing walk-in on weekend for a few hours. (I'll believe it when I see it) I was hoping to check out their clam studio and see what's going on. But he was super busy preparing a big shipment to Polo Reef before the end of day, so I wasn't able to check out their studio. Bummer. Darn you, Sandler!

My consolation prize is that I snagged a clam that was destined for Polo Reef. Haha.