Clams Progress

[henemly]

By runnin both installed and beta together in windowed mode and
then clickin on one then the other to see how the clams differed.

[Dale]

I just happened to be watching when a Lionfish "squatted" over the clams. [Almost looked like it was trying to scratch it's belly on the clams]

All three clams completely closed. Really cool effect.

[henemly]

Cool Dale. How log did ya have to watch to see it?
(was it running for a long time)

[Dale]

Originally posted by henemly:

Cool Dale. How log did ya have to watch to see it?
(was it running for a long time)  

(Shhhhh. It was running as a Screen Saver).

I have fish configured with 1 Volitans Lionfish (always) and 18 other fish (some random).

I'm rather sure that it had been running for only about a minute. I glanced up, saw that the clams were all closed, and then saw why. Watched the Lionfish move around for a bit over the clams, then swim away, and watched the clams re-open.

So, it was a fortuitous, accidental observation.

Perhaps could be easily duplicated if you were to populate the scene with 30 Lionfish?

[Bob]

Well, as Jim said:

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

The goal is to keep people interested, no matter how long they've had the Aquarium, "Hey...I never saw THAT before!"  

[loub516]

Great work on the clams Jim. When comparing the static clams with the ones that move the later have a much better look.

[ESHIREY]

Yes they do.

[jroseone]

Great job on the clams!

Any chance in the future the movement will be made to fully close when a fish comes close, and then fully open when the coast is clear?

I think that would look better and more realistic, then the partial open and close that happens now.

[Jim Sachs]

They do fully close if a fish gets near enough.

[Dale]

Originally posted by jroseone:

Great job on the clams!

Any chance in the future the movement will be made to fully close when a fish comes close, and then fully open when the coast is clear?

I think that would look better and more realistic, then the partial open and close that happens now.  

https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...d.php?p=112776

(six replies above your question in this thread)

[dondragon62]

The Lion fish is definitly the one to watch they swim so much slower, when they cross the clams they close all three of them up tight,I had all thirty fish on when I first installed the screensaver so I could watch the clams but it looked like a mob scene at the local mall so went back to twenty much better, also try as I might I have looked and looked but do not see any gravel showing through the clams.

[jroseone]

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

They do fully close if a fish gets near enough.  

I know they fully close if the fish stays long enough.

I was talking about when a fish swims by quickly and the clam starts to close a little and then opens back up immediately after they go by.

Some times all 3 can start to close and open back up very quickly and it looks kind of unnatural or just happens too fast.

If several fish go by during this, the clams almost do an accordion type act.

What I was suggesting is maybe having the clams fully close every time a fish gets close and then slowly open as the coast is clear.

Just a suggestion...

[cjmaddy]

Originally posted by jroseone:

.... I was talking about when a fish swims by quickly and the clam starts to close a little and then opens back up immediately after they go by.
Some times all 3 can start to close and open back up very quickly and it looks kind of unnatural or just happens too fast.
If several fish go by during this, the clams almost do an accordion type act.
What I was suggesting is maybe having the clams fully close every time a fish gets close and then slowly open as the coast is clear....  

Have you not considered that that may be the way that real clams behave?
There are lots of examples on the internet, check out some of the videos on these sites...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rulerofheck/3386724525/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOa3BMPMKBw&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuLdC...eature=related

Far from being unnatural, it's my understanding that Jim has gone out of his way to make his clam movement as natural as possible.

Originally posted by dondragon62:

.... also try as I might I have looked and looked but do not see any gravel showing through the clams.  

All I can do is show you a picture! - Without the F5/F6 test keys, it's difficult to get a good action screen grab, but this is a reasonable shot....
(The effect though is more obvious when seeing them panning across the right-hand screen).

[Surferminn]

Holy Cow! Cliff's right about that split in the clam wherein the gravel is showing through. Poor clam, some mean ol fish musta really tugged on it hard. It must still be connected underneath to be able to open and close. Took a confirmation pic, but Cliff's pic is the best. Good find, Cliff.

Other minor thing I noted was that upon closing, there was a kinda jagged sharp triangular piece of shard/glass sticking out on its lips. Pic didn't come out too well, but here's one. ... could be my video card if nobody else sees it. You have to click on it a couple of times to enlarge it. I think I messed up saving it. But clicking it a couple of times will bring it up. Also, the shard is there on my monitor there when the clams have been panned to sit on the right side of the aquarium (as opposed to being on the left or middle) and close to fully closing. Here's one more pic just taken, gotta have patience for it to pull its entrails in first...

[Yodelking]

I have a question for Jim... What triggers real clams to close? I guess they don't have an eye, so is it movements in the water, or do they sence it in other ways?

[Jim Sachs]

Though they dont have eyes, they are light-sensitive. The smaller ones like these are easily triggered by passing your hand over the tank, causing a slight shadow to fall across them. When the shadow has passed, they immediately open back up. I've slowed mine down to about half-speed in an attempt to avoid the "surely they don't move that fast" comments. I see that I was unsuccessful in this

[Jav400]

Maybe if not all of them were set to the same speed? ..............................

[Ralph]

If.. they are light sensitive does that mean they would normally close at night?

And.. I think the general audience would like it if the clams were "somewhat" more active.. which could be accomplished by letting the fish swim closer.. they currently seem to avoid the area of the clams

[henemly]

When fully closed for a second they look like eggs, but maybe
the real ones do too.

[Jim Sachs]

Ralph - yes, they close at night.

As far as being more active - remember, the movement of the clams is just one of dozens of things that will be happening in the tank. If everything were always going on at once, it would be chaos.