Is the clam in question the Tridacna gigas, the giant clam or one of their 7 relatives in the genus? I'm sure it would take a lot of time but they are the planet's largest living bivalve mollusk. They can even grow to 200 KG or 440 Lbs and extend 1.5 meters or 5 feet across.

The one in the shop is probably "farm raised." The wild ones are endangered. They are amazingly long-lived. One source suggests that their life expectancy was 146 years and there is one recorded at 160!

No wonder your Mother wants you to buy in on the project. ;)

I'm really pleased that you have a mentor for your reef tank. That can be really helpful in any aspect of the aquarium hobby. With reefs, certainly one of the most technical specialties, that becomes even more important.

A couple of years from now, go back and take a look at a couple of your first GL posts. You will be amazed by how you have changed as an aquarist. :)

Marine tanks are harder to start, though if one has mastered the basics of cycling an aquarium, they are off to a good start. And once a salt water tank is up and running, some people don't think that they are that much different from a freshwater aquarium. Certainly one can get even more into chemistry and other technical aspects, especially as has been mentioned, with a reef tank.

Salt Water aquarists probably spend more on their aquariums that any other group of aquarists, though aquatic gardeners and keepers of large carnivores are right up there too. There are a growing number of magazines, lots of new books, web sites and in the larger cities, growing marine aquarium societies. For instance, here there is the http://www.cmas.net/

I sort of keep in touch through an e-mail subscription to "Stan & Debbie Hauter - About.com Saltwater Aquariums Guide" <newsletters@about.com>

Their web site is http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/startinganaquarium/How_to_Start_a_Saltwater_Aquarium.htm
That particular page is on starting a salt water aquarium. I think they also have a forum. You want to find yourself a couple of resource people.

I would urge you to take advantage of some of those types of sources. If you have someone local which you can attach yourself to, do that too.

I'm guessing that you are a student and you may find your first marine tank to be modest compared to some of the monster "status symbol" tanks around. My tanks are modest too. :)

"Back when I was a student" in junior high and high school, I probably checked out the major aquarium books more from the school library than anyone else. I was smitten by the killifish, many of which are every bit as beautiful as reef fish or even fancy guppies. (And many of the really gorgeous ones are cheaper and easier to breed.) I didn't know that there was a local general aquarium society nearby and that the American Killifish Association was just starting up and that Chicagoland was a relative hotbed for killinuts. Talk about a case of "fish lust!"

It would be over a decade after I first read about them that I was able to purchase my first killies. Maybe that was not a bad thing, because of my guppies and other "bread and butter" fish, I had a better idea of how to keep aquariums and care for fry. Goofing off in the college library, in addition to smoozing with friends and a couple of neat girls, included grabbing and reading everything I could find on killies. By the time I had paid off a small college loan and a car loan (how much could a '66 VW bug cost?) I had a small fleet of modest sized aquariums and was ready for killies.

I hope, if you really want a salt water set-up. that you do not have to wait that long. However deferred gratification isn't all that bad a thing. And it would enable you to think through what you specifically would want to do with salt water.

An Australian lady by the handle of miskairal became a very active Guppylog member here after getting stuck with a tank of guppies. That has been why several neat and caring individuals have showed up at guppylog. If you Google search Guppylog you can follow her progress through saving that wo-begotten tank of guppies to struggling with the nitrogen cycle to become a key member of Guppylog. Along the way (she lives not too far from the East Coast of Oz (as in Great Barrier Reef country) and not surprisingly became interested in marine tanks. She told us about her partial transition to salt water aquariums. Last I heard, she was computer technical help for a salt water forum and investigating sea horses. Several here miss her, but her transition is typical of several Guppylog members who have moved on.