Maxima Clam Shipment and Care Info

Common Names: Maxima Clam

Maxima clams exhibit a wide range of colors and patterns in their mantles. Main color is frequently shades of blue, green, gray, brown, purple or yellow with blue being the most common. The background color usually has blotches or stripped pattern in a contrasting color. The black and gold Maxima pictured above is one of the most sought after color combinations

Maximum size is approximately 14″ in the wild, though in captivity, 6-7″ is a large specimen


Native Habitat
Indo-Pacific in reef top, shallow water, high current areas where they embed themselves partially into the substrate (rock or coral) attached by their strong abyssus filaments. Typically only the very edge of the shell is visible with only minimal mantle expansion.

Most Maxima clams, especially the smaller specimens, are now aquacultured.


Identification
The shell is elongated with scutes. The scutes are frequently absent on the bottom part of the shell where they have been worn off where they have embedded themselves into the substrate. Captive raises specimens will not show this same wear.

The incurrent siphon has small tentacles. The mantle sometimes has protuberances, usually only along the edge.

T. maxima is easily confused with T. crocea when looking at the mantle. The shell is a better way of differentiating between the two types of clams. As you can see in the picture above, the Maxima shell has heavy fluting or waviness of the edge of shell and it has prominent scutes which are the ridges extending out from the shell along the sides. The Crocea clam by contrast has a much smoother shell.


Care Info
Maxima are 'moderately' hardy clams which usually do well in reef tanks with strong lighting. Of the Tridacna family, the Crocea clam is the most delicate followed by the Maxima. Derasa, Squamosa and other deeper water clams require less light and can be maintained in aquaria with more moderate lighting.

Maxima are light loving clams and require fairly intense lighting such as from metal halide or high powered LED. Strong T-5 lighting can also work if the clams are located fairly close to the light source. SPS tanks generally provide the lighting intensity required by these clams.

Tank positioning is usually on the sand bed, but they may also be put up on the rock work to position them closer to the lighting. They can reposition themselves by extending their foot and pushing with it if they are not happy with their location. If the clam is put up on the rock work, they should be positioned so that they cannot launch themselves off the rock and tumble down. This is one reason that they are typically placed on the sand bed which works fine as long as they are getting fairly strong lighting in that location. Some people like to place a small flat rock under the clam to give it something to attach to but it's not necessary. One advantage of placing on the sand is that the clam can be more easily moved or removed from the tank for inspection or treatment

Water flow should be low to moderate. For anyone that has observed Maxima clams in the wild, it is amazing how strong of water current they tend to be in, but in the wild the mantles are not extended very far as they have access to very strong lighting from the sun. In the reef tank, the lighting is not as intense and they extend their mantles farther to expose more surface area to the available light so low to moderate water flow is better in the reef tank.

Tank temperatures in the 76-82 degree range are recommended as with most reef tank dwellers While shipping, we prefer to keep the water temperatures lower such as the lower 70's, but even temperatures down to the mid 60's is generally not a problem during shipping.

Maxima clams are primarily photosynthetic. Proper lighting is the main key to their health. They also benefit from some level of nutrients in the water, so tanks well stocked with fish suit them well. They may benefit from feedings of phytoplankton, but it is not required. Very young clams under about 1" in size do depend more on actively feeding, so it is best to avoid the very small specimens which tend to have a poorer survival rate.

As with all stony corals; calcium, alkalinity and magnesium levels should be monitored and maintained at proper levels for the long-term health of the clam as it is essential for construction of their shells as they grow.

When getting a new clam, the main pest to look for are Pyramidellid snails which are shown in the photo below. These snails are extremely small usually no more than 5mm in length. During the day they hide in the scutes or folds of the shell or in the bottom indentation of the shell. At night they move to the edge of shell and suck the body fluid out of the clams mantle. They can reproduce quickly in the reef tank and eventually weaken and kill the clam.

Any new clams should be carefully inspected for the presence of any of these snails and remove them if found. If snails are found, it is a good idea to scrub the shell with a toothbush to dislodge any eggs or tiny snails that may go unnoticed being careful of not damaging the mantle. If snails were found, the clams should be inspected weekly for a while in case any were missed