M
moatdaddy
Guest
Ive heard rumors that clams you can get at the local superstores are helpful for your reef. does anyone got any suggestions or comments. how many for 120 gallon is acceptable
sharkbait9
Active Member
cherry stones and piss clams. I have 6 cherry stones and 3 piss clamsin my 55gal. i have a cherry stone in each corner and and one on each side in the middle and the piss clams sit tucked in my live rock. Every once in a while you can see a this gap in the sand in the corners of my tanks were the clam is opened up just a little to feed. The clams i think iahve lowered my water params all my levels are right on target. My trates were kind of high at 10 when i wanted zero and once i read the clam trick i did it and a week or so later my trates were down to 0.
jasonlwrig
Member
I just buy them at my local seafood market. I did have to go to 2-3 to find live clams but it really has helped keep my water in check.
appaloosa1
Member
could i put one in a 24g?
appaloosa1
Member
I thought this was interesting- My dad just told me that clams are responsible for cleaning up lake erie. He said when he used to go fishing up there that in someparts fish couldn't even live and they would often have growths. When clams were introduced they single handedly cleaned up the pollution in the lake. Now it is one of the cleanest fresh water lakes around.
sharkbait9
Active Member
the ones i got were sitting on ice, i just took the home filled the bag with air and did a dry float for 15 min and then dripped them for an hour and not one has had any problems they open up and filter feed. If you have brown spots in the sand lay them down with the opening facing toward the brown spots with in a day the brown is go, at least in my tank that is.
appaloosa1
Member
I just got one from my local seafood market. The giy couldn't understand why I only wanted one so he gave it to me for free. He is frozen right now, but I have him in some water from my tank since he didn't come with any water to acclimate him with. I hope he makes it!
ctgretzky9
Member
Good when they work...terrible when they die.
They are not suggested to help lower ntrates, and you dont hear about them often because they are not reliable. When they die, consider the ammonia spike which can occur from such a "meaty" inhabitant.
People have a tendency to post only their successes, you wont hear often form the people who have tried and failed.
If you want to lower nitrates, do tthe things nessecary to do it the proper way, and not a quick fix which could leave your tank poisoned rather quickly.
My experience with clams, both personally and through discussions with LFS and customers is that they work great for a while, then crash.
They are not suggested to help lower ntrates, and you dont hear about them often because they are not reliable. When they die, consider the ammonia spike which can occur from such a "meaty" inhabitant.
People have a tendency to post only their successes, you wont hear often form the people who have tried and failed.
If you want to lower nitrates, do tthe things nessecary to do it the proper way, and not a quick fix which could leave your tank poisoned rather quickly.
My experience with clams, both personally and through discussions with LFS and customers is that they work great for a while, then crash.
sharkbait9
Active Member
Originally Posted by ctgretzky9
Good when they work...terrible when they die.
They are not suggested to help lower ntrates, and you dont hear about them often because they are not reliable. When they die, consider the ammonia spike which can occur from such a "meaty" inhabitant.
People have a tendency to post only their successes, you wont hear often form the people who have tried and failed.
If you want to lower nitrates, do tthe things nessecary to do it the proper way, and not a quick fix which could leave your tank poisoned rather quickly.
My experience with clams, both personally and through discussions with LFS and customers is that they work great for a while, then crash.
That maybe true but then again if your paying attention to your tank and testing you should pretty much not have a problem. Secondly a regular piss clam and cherry stone open up when they die the back muscle relaxes and the shell springs open, as they are dieing the clam will start to open up more then just enough to allow the filtering holes to appear. third if the clam should die and the back muscle locks closed the as the gas build in the clam the clam will start to hover as the body cavity start to fill with gas. As the break down furthers along to max allowance and before the shell pops open it will start to float. Yes I have had bad experiences with clams and that was my fault for not knowing enough about clams and them needing CA and I2 and only thinking that they were a cleaner clam and that was the fault of my lfs for not stating that a clam does need to be feed micro verts and other micro foods not just the pollutants in the water. As for not being known to lower trates, well I guess its just been a lucky deal for me as my trates were a little high 5.0 but now I get no reading even if I let the test sit longer then two minutes. Like everything else in this world NOT everything works for every body, and everything you do may work for some and not for others. To make a broad statement like the work great for a while then crash, uuummm did any body ever admit fault? Like I just did? By not feeding them? Since I started target feeding my clams have grown and look quite nice. Your right in one way, they will poison a tank if left to rot away, then again you deserve to have your tank poisoned if you let anything rot away on its own. Think about what you just said “it’s a meaty inhabitant” what a fish considered? A vegetable inhabitant. Do you let a fish break down on it’s own in your tank?
Good when they work...terrible when they die.
They are not suggested to help lower ntrates, and you dont hear about them often because they are not reliable. When they die, consider the ammonia spike which can occur from such a "meaty" inhabitant.
People have a tendency to post only their successes, you wont hear often form the people who have tried and failed.
If you want to lower nitrates, do tthe things nessecary to do it the proper way, and not a quick fix which could leave your tank poisoned rather quickly.
My experience with clams, both personally and through discussions with LFS and customers is that they work great for a while, then crash.
That maybe true but then again if your paying attention to your tank and testing you should pretty much not have a problem. Secondly a regular piss clam and cherry stone open up when they die the back muscle relaxes and the shell springs open, as they are dieing the clam will start to open up more then just enough to allow the filtering holes to appear. third if the clam should die and the back muscle locks closed the as the gas build in the clam the clam will start to hover as the body cavity start to fill with gas. As the break down furthers along to max allowance and before the shell pops open it will start to float. Yes I have had bad experiences with clams and that was my fault for not knowing enough about clams and them needing CA and I2 and only thinking that they were a cleaner clam and that was the fault of my lfs for not stating that a clam does need to be feed micro verts and other micro foods not just the pollutants in the water. As for not being known to lower trates, well I guess its just been a lucky deal for me as my trates were a little high 5.0 but now I get no reading even if I let the test sit longer then two minutes. Like everything else in this world NOT everything works for every body, and everything you do may work for some and not for others. To make a broad statement like the work great for a while then crash, uuummm did any body ever admit fault? Like I just did? By not feeding them? Since I started target feeding my clams have grown and look quite nice. Your right in one way, they will poison a tank if left to rot away, then again you deserve to have your tank poisoned if you let anything rot away on its own. Think about what you just said “it’s a meaty inhabitant” what a fish considered? A vegetable inhabitant. Do you let a fish break down on it’s own in your tank?
sharkbait9
Active Member
Originally Posted by Appaloosa1
I just got one from my local seafood market. The giy couldn't understand why I only wanted one so he gave it to me for free. He is frozen right now, but I have him in some water from my tank since he didn't come with any water to acclimate him with. I hope he makes it!
You should dry float him for 15 min and then do a drip acclamation. The clam has not been in water but on ice. The ice slows down the clam to almost a hibernation state. The dry float will warm him up slowly and then drip acclimate him for an hour so the clam gets used to your water parameters, then lay him on the bottom
I just got one from my local seafood market. The giy couldn't understand why I only wanted one so he gave it to me for free. He is frozen right now, but I have him in some water from my tank since he didn't come with any water to acclimate him with. I hope he makes it!
You should dry float him for 15 min and then do a drip acclamation. The clam has not been in water but on ice. The ice slows down the clam to almost a hibernation state. The dry float will warm him up slowly and then drip acclimate him for an hour so the clam gets used to your water parameters, then lay him on the bottom
sharkbait9
Active Member
Originally Posted by lionfish1
So do you need to feed them anything?
Yes, micro vert food like marine snow. I just started using frozen cyclop-eez and its funny (well I think) when I spot feed my clams you can acutely watch them suck in the red floating thingies.
So do you need to feed them anything?
Yes, micro vert food like marine snow. I just started using frozen cyclop-eez and its funny (well I think) when I spot feed my clams you can acutely watch them suck in the red floating thingies.
ctgretzky9
Member
I can only go by what people have posted on this and other message boards, my own experiences, and a good friend of mine who owns a reef aquarium shop and his customers...pretty broad criteria.
Problem is they die UNDER substrate most of the time since they bury themselves. So they cant float. Many people never knew they even died until they notice sps closing up or problems with other corals/fish.
An amonia spike occurs rapidly. It doesnt matter what you feed them, clams are filters. They will ingest anything fed to the tank in general. I cant see how you can "target feed" a filtering species of marine life that is buried in substrate. It is futile, and time consuming.
The comparison to a dead fish, which you notice right away and can easily be seen to a clam that is buried in substrate, and not even counted most of the time (most people cant even find their clams most of the time) is not understood by me.
If this was such a pangea for controlling nitrates it would have been in many of the trade hobby magazines such as coral and advanced aquarist magazine. In actuality, it is reccommended against by most experienced aquarists.
There is simply no substitute for proper maintenance, good skimming, water changes, and testing.
Problem is they die UNDER substrate most of the time since they bury themselves. So they cant float. Many people never knew they even died until they notice sps closing up or problems with other corals/fish.
An amonia spike occurs rapidly. It doesnt matter what you feed them, clams are filters. They will ingest anything fed to the tank in general. I cant see how you can "target feed" a filtering species of marine life that is buried in substrate. It is futile, and time consuming.
The comparison to a dead fish, which you notice right away and can easily be seen to a clam that is buried in substrate, and not even counted most of the time (most people cant even find their clams most of the time) is not understood by me.
If this was such a pangea for controlling nitrates it would have been in many of the trade hobby magazines such as coral and advanced aquarist magazine. In actuality, it is reccommended against by most experienced aquarists.
There is simply no substitute for proper maintenance, good skimming, water changes, and testing.
sharkbait9
Active Member
and that fine not everyone is going to do what some other people do. Like i said it works for me and some others. none of my clams are buried to the point that i can't see them. what on earth are you talking about how you can't see how to target feed a filter feeder? my syring is pointed at the clams opening and i blow a little micro vert, marine snow and cyclop eez over the opening hence target feeding. it maybe a waste of time for you, not me i enjoy taking care of my tank, its not much time but it's a healthy way for me to use up some time, other times, at the rang blowing off rounds or under water scuba diving. Salt water fish is a hobby that i tend to spend more time on so i can "waste" more time.