Clams at Market

gnorman

gnorman

Active Member
ok so i have a really dumb question but i feel its kinda important for the well being of my tank
so, we have a few fish that need clam in their diet. one of the fish is a queen angel and we feed it clam every other day to help keep it heatly and also just for a nice lil snack for being a good and beautiful fish. we get the clams at the market in the sea food section and buy 4 or so at a time, we then put them into our fuge instead of the fridge. we put them into the fuge and they dug down into the sand. is this ok for the system? are these clams the same that SWFish sells as cleaner clams? do we need to acclimate the clams before we put them in, and also, will the clams be ok in the 82 degree temp instead of the ocean water they came in? all info would help me out a ton.
thanks so much
 
N

nereef

Guest
if they are cherry stone or leatherneck clams, then many people use them in their tanks. you take a bowl of tank water and place the clame into it. it will "burp," then you can put it into the tank. i'm not sure if they are the same clams that swf sell, but they are at least similar.
 
gnorman

gnorman

Active Member
ok so it sounds like this is ok to do then?
we just thought that it would be better to keep the clams alive in water while they wait to be devoured by our fish then to just let them sit and rot in our fridge.
is there any beneficial act towards the tank for doing this? like, do the clams reduce nitrates or what have u? and what do the clams eat since they bury themselves into the sand
 
N

nereef

Guest
they are bivalves, so they are filter feeders. reduction of nitrates is a possibility. i'm not sure if it's proven or not, but many people use them in their systems for this.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
the clams are the same thing SWF sells, they probably buy them at the grocers too. they are Mercenaria mercenaria (hardshell clam, quahog, little neck, cherrystone all the same thing name is relative to size) they dont directly consume nitrates contrary to popular belief, they consume particulate foods that may lead to nitrates. and move through your sandbed potentially keeping it aerobic. they are actually dangerous to DSBs as they disturb the anoxic and anaerobic sections possibly releasing toxins. Quahogs prefer salinities between 18 and 26 parts per thousand. This is less salty than the open ocean (salinity about 35 parts per thousand), so quahogs are often found in estuaries (like Narragansett Bay) where the mixing of fresh and salt water provides ideal conditions. and temperatures than we generally run our reef tanks are higher than Ideal for them. therefore their lifespan may be shortened, their natural range is from from Prince Edward Island to the Yucatán Peninsula further north is too cold further south there is too much predation, possibly to warm as well.
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
As a last resort,I got a moorish idol to eat by prying one of these open and tossing the whole thing in. I feed these this way every once in a while; all fish seem to go nuts over them. The juice smell in the water must get some appetite going.
 
gnorman

gnorman

Active Member
hey thanks for all that info on them its really appreciated. yeah all my fish love it! even the chromis try to get in on the action and whenever a small piece strays they are all over it.
i guess its good for them too, keeps the healthy and strong and they love it.
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Does anyone worry about introducing parasites with these clams? I put them in FW & ice in the fridge for a couple of days and I've been feeding them for years.....still violates my QT rule; but I only think about potential problems when I'm on this site an reading other folk's problems.
 
dugger

dugger

Member
I have at least 12 of these clams in my tank and they do great as long as the sand is deep enough and for 99 cents ya cant beat the price
 
twist

twist

New Member
I have about 10 right now as well. Occationally one will surface from beneath the sand and die. Getting them from the local market though makes the loss bearable.
 
bkvreef

bkvreef

Member
Do these clams need to be in a sand bed?
I recently bought "nitrate clams" at my lfs for 5 for $20 (AGGGHHHH)
I was told they don't need sand bed, thus they are in my refugium with rubble and culerpa and cheato.
So I can go and get the clams at the local supermarket? How do I know if they are alive (they aren't kept in a tank usually are they?)
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
A supermarket wont sell dead clams they would get crucified in court. all the clams you see on Ice are alive at your supermarket. there is two ways to sell clams alive or cooked. the difference is obvious. (usually involving breading) *S*
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
OMG fried clams. Haven't had any since my visit to Old Orchard Beach last summer. I love fried clams. Too bad all you can get is Michigan are those stupid strips.
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Originally Posted by bkvreef
Do these clams need to be in a sand bed?
I recently bought "nitrate clams" at my lfs for 5 for $20 (AGGGHHHH)
I was told they don't need sand bed, thus they are in my refugium with rubble and culerpa and cheato.
So I can go and get the clams at the local supermarket? How do I know if they are alive (they aren't kept in a tank usually are they?)
If they're tightly closed and don't "smell dead"; they probably aren't. BTW, these are great on the grill as an appetizer; just toss 'em on the grill, when open, they're ready for butter and/or tabasco!
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
OMG fried clams. Haven't had any since my visit to Old Orchard Beach last summer. I love fried clams. Too bad all you can get is Michigan are those stupid strips.
OH yeah OOB, my friends like to go party down there. but I havent been there in years.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
I tried to get some oysters that were on ice, I acclamated them but they didn't make it. If you go to a high end supermarket they will have them in tanks. That is where I got mine. I'm still waiting for my puffer to figure out how to get into them.
 
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