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melev

Impulse buying when you have to fly home

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At the end of the recent Frag Swap I attended in Tennessee, I asked the seller how much he wanted for all the Maxima clams in his tank. "Seriously?" he asked, and I said yes. After a little deliberating, we agreed on a price and he bagged each one up for me. They were in small clam cradles he'd made with frag plugs and two-part putty. If the clam was attached, he bagged it that way. If they were loose, the clam was bagged by itself and the cradles were handed to me to avoid damage of the clams getting hit by the cradle during the trip home.

I was a guest of Jay (OneReef here on RA) and he had to set up his quarantine tank that night for his new acquisitions. It took a few hours to get everything set up including mixing up the saltwater and heating it up to 78F, but as soon as it was ready all my clams and a new Anacropora sp. were floating for the night.

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The next question was how I was to get them home in my little suitcase. If I have a feeling I'll bring home livestock, I have a collapsible cooler that can be squished into my luggage, but I was positive that wouldn't happen this time. So Jay checked his garage and found me a good one that would fit my little roll-behind bag.

The next morning, I took a quick shower and then moved each bagged item into the soft cooler. Then I filled it up with laundry to keep it from shifting during the trip. It was a nice snug fit. The soft cooler was placed in my suitcase, along with toiletries and a few more garments. The zipper held, and we headed to the airport.

At the curb, I checked my bag with the Sky Cab guy, telling him to be very careful with my bag since it held eight live clams for my reef tank. He tagged it Priority Class, which meant it would go in the plane last and be taken out first. The suitcase wouldn't be buried under heavy bags. I tipped him and thanked him for the assist.

I landed in DFW about three hours later, and my bag was one of the first to come off the conveyor belt.

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I didn't open it up until I got to my car.

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The bags were still full of water and even the frail anacroporas didn't get broken. Some of the clothes were wet, but I think it came from the bag of macro algae I brought home. I left it standing up on end, packing other stuff around it for the trip home from the airport, and zipped it up to maintain temperature.

As soon as I walked in the door, all the bags were floated in my sump. Next I drained about 10g of water out of my reef into the quarantine tank, and powered the Maxijet and heater. I added a tiny spoon of Interceptor to eliminate any red bugs. While waiting for the bags to match temperature, I fell asleep for three hours!!! I woke up in a panic... I didn't mean for that to happen.

At that point, the livestock had been bagged for 24 hours since the frag swap the day before. Each clam was in a bag holding half water and half air, but it wasn't oxygen like the professional shippers use. Each bag was opened up and the clam was pulled out and put in the QT on its little cradle. And I hoped for the best.

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I checked on them several times that evening and they looked fine. I added 10 drops of Oyster Feast to give them some food to filterfeed and then went to sleep, concerned about their lengthy wait in those bags. Monday, around noon I took each clam out and placed them in my reef. They look great.

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As you can see, these are quite small, maybe 1.5" long. I liked the diversity of their markings and hope all eight do well. I'm a little worried about any predators, like the bright Orange Worm I've found in my tanks in the past as well as the $80 starfish still in the refugium. Thinking positive thoughts that nothing bothers them.

Each clam is on its little cradle so it has something to hold onto and to prevent any types of worms from burrowing up from beneath.

Now you know how I'm able to bring home livestock on the plane.

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  1. Jnarowe's Avatar
    First of all, they look beautiful. Second, man what a risky deal. At least 3 acclimations on the way to your tank. But based on how they look, I might have done the same. In the end, that is much better than boxing them up for UPS or FedEx. (BTW, you need a smiley!)
  2. Hat39406's Avatar
    Very nice clams Marc! When ya bringing me mine? ;-p I'm glad they made it alright.
  3. yankieman's Avatar
    Ask and ye shall receive LOL thanks very much Marc that was very informative, now I may just fly down to DFWMACNA ,,dont be surprised if I ask you again since im getting old my memory isnt what it used to be LOL glad to see the little guys did ok,,and as Jnarowe said cant be no worce then FEDX or UPS,,
  4. chuck's Avatar
    Awesome acquisition! They look great! Will be glad when I get my setup built.
  5. Tomoko Schum's Avatar
    I am glad that you got the livestock home safely. I was wondering how you were going to take the frags home safety on a plane. Now I know.

    At the same swap I picked up a clam that looks just like your dark little one in addition to a frag of lemon yellow zoanthid. My clam and zoa are looking great, too. Harry, who sold you the frags of anacropora, took home and baby sat my livestock for me until I got home. Great to have a good reefer as a friend .
  6. debdp's Avatar
    This is great. Maybe there can be a "tips" section at DFWMACNA site for bringing home corals. Beautiful clams!
  7. steve8855's Avatar
    Wow your lucky to get all those clams they are 40$ + each here in mississauga and for the most part they are only brown
  8. melev's Avatar
    It sure is nice to see clams in my reef again. I had one in the 100g vat waiting for the new reef to be started up, and it died mere weeks before the 400g was running. I'd had it for about a year.
  9. Robb in Austin's Avatar
    Wow! 8 new clams! Nice write up too!
  10. bbandu's Avatar
    Very cool, they look great
  11. maroun.c's Avatar
    Wow very nice addidions.
    Always a nice feeling to pick up a dry bag, can't describe how it feels to pick up your bag and water is draining out of it !!! best receipe for an angry wife at least.
    How long do you keep the clams with interceptor and does it bother them? I'm adduming you keep them without any filtration for the treatment time?
  12. melev's Avatar
    Correct, Maroun. It's simply saltwater, circulation & heat plus the medication for 12 hours. I decided not to dip them in anything after the bath since they'd already been through an ordeal for 24 hours and didn't want to push them over the edge.

    I added some Oyster Feast from Reef Nutition to the quarantine system so they'd have the opportunity to ingest some food.

    So far, all eight look open and normal.
  13. OneReef's Avatar
    Wow, that guy in the purple shirt is a really handsome man!