Cleaner Clam Question???

[rubberduck]

Originally posted by Schadiest1
these clams will siphon water all day and when they spit, they are getting rid of waste. when they siphon the water, they collect nitrates and use them for food. if you are even in doubt that your clam is alive, just pick it up and lightly try to pry it open, if it is locked shut, still alive and good to go! if they bury themselves in the sand, it's only because they want to, it's really cool how they do it too. Thanks for the tip on the supermarket clams.... i hope swf.com doesn't get too mad!
good idea also, :yes:

 

[schadiest1]

i got a couple of those clams from the supermarket, and put them in a cup of my tank water and they spit... but one of them looks like his insides are hanging out, and when i pick him up, he goes back inside the shell and locks up. so i know he's alive, but why would his insides come out, my original clam never did this, and neither does the other one i bought. any ideas?

 

[mn1467]

I saw that too I thought there was something wrong so I watched the clam and saw that is how they dig in the sand bed so it is totally normal
By the way all six that I have are now buried in the sand and siphons sticking out usually only at night

 

[schadiest1]

i noticed that too after i posted that reply. its quite cool how they work. i thought his insides were spilling out at first and thought he might be dead... but picked him up and he locked up (i would hate to get my fingers in there when they lock their shell). but their good to go! Cost me $0.84 for 2 of them at my local supermarket! what a deal!!!!!:happy:

 

[bjgwilliam]

Man, I gotta try this. I am heading for California in the morning. I am going to try and find some at the fish market there. I'll put them in ice and bring them home. I'll let you know how it goes.:happy:

 

[tampaguy]

This may have been the coolest bit of information I have ever seen on this board!!! I got a pair of CCs from SWF.com a little while ago and had wanted more, but didn't want to pay the price -- for under 10 bucks I filled my refugium!!! they've all dug into the sand in under 24 hours. Incredible.

 

[spicey]

im sure they dont actually eat nitrates persay, but all the phyto, diatoms, cyano i saw in one of those pics, etc........and stuff that grows as a result of the nitrates. even though the tank is clear theres probably tons of little stuff growin in there. .......JW, but i thought those clams were collected in like the north east? idk. what about oysters and mussels and stuff, anyone try anything like that? o and how could they really be lowering nitrates if there eating them, but they still have to go to the bathroom

that means more nitrate.............................................................idk people idk

 

[noninja]

Hi all:
Great thread. Just bought a bag of >30 littlenecks at Costco for about 11 bucks. Wife's happy because she gets to eat many of them and I'm happy because the other group is going in the tank ! They are all expert spitters.
Thanks for the great advice.

 

[sammiefish]

I know a lot of these guys do come from the northeastern US coast... cold water atlantic... you know like cold water oysters... obviously these clams do fine in our tanks...
just curious.. how long do clams live....has anyone had any of these cleaner clams die in the tank... how do you know it died if its in the substrate... does it even cause a big deal or do the sandbed critters just do their cleanup?

 

[bjgwilliam]

Just got back from California, let you know how it goes:happy:

 

[kdfrosty]

I bought 3 Littleneck clams from the grocery last night. They had just arrived at the grocery yesterday. I put them into a bowl of tank water, and eventually saw them with their siphon tubes sticking out. When I pulled them out of the bowl of water, they all spit. I put them into my tank last night, and this morning they were all buried. I'll have look tonight to see if I can find their siphon tubes coming from the sand.

 

[bergamer]

atm I have 10 clams in my tank and they have been in there for roughly 8 months
my buddy, who told me about this still has them in his tank for 1 plus years
In my recent batch, I got a bad batch and none survived. Although I actually only put in 3 in my tank from the last batch, and before I knew it the clean up crew left a shell. They went to town really fast

 

[bjgwilliam]

:notsure: What is the typical time it take for them to spit? I mean from the time I put them in the water until the spit?

 

[bergamer]

it can easily be 5 minutes
but if have put some in my tank that never spit, as long as their vents open then it should be fine.
spitting is just the easiest and fastest way to determine their health

 

[ishtar]

Do you need to feed these clams? What if you run out nitrates? Is normal pc sump lighting enough? Might be stupid questions but let me know.

 

[jimlssc24]

Are they bad for DSB?

 

[kdfrosty]

Originally posted by Jimlssc24
Are they bad for DSB?
I'd hate to think so, as I just added 3 to my DSB a couple of days ago. From what I have seen, there are no problems.

 

[jimlssc24]

Does anybody know where I can get the in Ventura county? Or in the SFV?
Thanks,

 

[noninja]

Interesting side note: my sally lightfoot crab got a little too curious and poked into the littleneck clam. Right now, its stuck, because the clam "clammed up" .

sorry, real bad..

 

[bjgwilliam]

:notsure: I had 2 out of the six I bought make it, both of them have extended their vents. However, neither one of them have burried themselfs in the bed. Is this ok, or not?:notsure: