there's a guy in Crystal River FL. who wants to start a public aquarium, a big dream for a small town. since scalloping in the grass flats is a big thing here, i'd like to suggest a display tank highlighting scallops , and some of the other critters seen there. But i've never seen them kept successfully, though it's not a fish , anyone know anything about keeping scallops, i just admire, catch ,and eat them.
I know nothing about successfully keeping scallops, but here are some ramblings:
I have kept bay scallops. We had an aquaculture facility that was closing down some large raw seawater storage tanks, and I was allowed to dig through it all and collect whatever animals I wanted out of them. I collected all sorts of inverts, and since they were all going to be killed, I decided to try and keep some scallops alive in a 90 gallon local tank I had setup.
I was able to keep them alive for about 2 months, feeding them on a proprietary plankton product produced at that same lab. Feeding was extremely difficult, as I had to spray the plankton into the water upstream of the scallops using a turkey baster, and try not to spook them into closing up at the same time. Honestly, I think they ended up dying from starvation, and I never really liked this feeding technique, but it was the best I could come up with. A professional aquarist will probably have a better method.
It's also worth noting that scallops swim. A lot. And it is loud. As some sort of protest they clapped all night long in my 90g, and I about lost my mind by the end of the 2 months. Dying is the only thing that saved them from the deep fryer.
Not sure if this helps you or not, but good luck! I hope you guys have better luck than I did!