blackjacktang
Active Member
ive heard that you can buy clams from a grocery store and they burry in your sand and feed on nitrates. Is this true? because ive also heard that they need cold water and will sometimes leave disease into your tank
grocery bought clams
- Thread starter blackjacktang
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aquaknight
Active Member
Yes, all true, to an extent. You can typically can buy them at your local grocery store (somewhere out in middle Oklahoma, probably not ), and they will typically survive for a ranging amount of time. At the grocery store, you'll buy them as either littlenecks or cherrystone clams. Same clam, different name to indicate a size difference. For coldwater, it depends. Mercenaria mercenaria, the clam you purchase, has a massive range. All the way from the St. Lawrence gulf, above Nova Scotia, down to the Florida keys, and in the Gulf of Mexico.
The ones at the grocery store are typically farmed raised in Florida, so I'd imagine they are somewhat warmer then chilly Canadian waters. However their 'optimum' temperature I found online was 20°C, or 68°F. Well colder then our typical reef tank. But I think it's the distribution process, of them being shipping dry, on ice, and sitting at the supermarket on ice all day and night, that plays a majority role in their low survival numbers.
My personal experiences has been just a few will live for any amount of time. I do have some that are still alive, years after I bought them from Publix. Most die in a few days. I buy them for food for my fish anyways, so no real loss. There really isn't a disease concern, they've been out of the water long enough. They do still need flushed first. Put them in a bowl with tank water, and they will siphon in fresh tank water, and expel all the crap they've been holding in. They usually 'spit' when they do this.
For a source of nitrate reduction, actually all clams, crocea's, maximas, etc consume nitrates. However their levels of consumption are on the same timeline as mangroves or even xenia. They aren't very quick at it, and commonly available and hardier macroalgaes do the job better.
The ones at the grocery store are typically farmed raised in Florida, so I'd imagine they are somewhat warmer then chilly Canadian waters. However their 'optimum' temperature I found online was 20°C, or 68°F. Well colder then our typical reef tank. But I think it's the distribution process, of them being shipping dry, on ice, and sitting at the supermarket on ice all day and night, that plays a majority role in their low survival numbers.
My personal experiences has been just a few will live for any amount of time. I do have some that are still alive, years after I bought them from Publix. Most die in a few days. I buy them for food for my fish anyways, so no real loss. There really isn't a disease concern, they've been out of the water long enough. They do still need flushed first. Put them in a bowl with tank water, and they will siphon in fresh tank water, and expel all the crap they've been holding in. They usually 'spit' when they do this.
For a source of nitrate reduction, actually all clams, crocea's, maximas, etc consume nitrates. However their levels of consumption are on the same timeline as mangroves or even xenia. They aren't very quick at it, and commonly available and hardier macroalgaes do the job better.
blackjacktang
Active Member
so is there any point in getting them besides fish food if they consume nitrates slowly
aquaknight
Active Member
Originally Posted by Blackjacktang
http:///forum/post/3294286
so is there any point in getting them besides fish food if they consume nitrates slowly
Not really because of their low survival. If you were to have one die in your tank, which is very likely, basically all you've done is substantitally increases your parameters. I suppose if you wanted to pin something, them burying in the sand would minutely help aerate your sand, but that's about it.
http:///forum/post/3294286
so is there any point in getting them besides fish food if they consume nitrates slowly
Not really because of their low survival. If you were to have one die in your tank, which is very likely, basically all you've done is substantitally increases your parameters. I suppose if you wanted to pin something, them burying in the sand would minutely help aerate your sand, but that's about it.
thelameball2
New Member
Why dont you go buy roasted weenies from the grocery store you nub.