grocery store cleaner clam question

[corally]

Originally Posted by Jmick
It’s my understanding these clams come from colder waters (like Puget Sound) and are not suitable for reef tanks. They may live for a little while but will die and will most likely do more harm then good.

They may come from cooler waters, but they have done just fine in my tank as they have in many others', after all, I got the advice on here.

 

[corally]

I forgot, if you have a decent cleanup crew, it should take care of them right away. The two that died in my tank were immediatley devoured by my crabs/shrimp.

 

[jmick]

How long have you had them in your tank? I remember the other thread on them but I'm still skeptical.

 

[jmick]

If someone has them in their fuge and they don’t have a clean up crew in it then they may run into problems, even if your clean up crew consumes them it’s still more of a load being put on your system. The idea of something rotting in my sand bed is scary.

 

[corally]

Originally Posted by Jmick
How long have you had them in your tank? I remember the other thread on them but I'm still skeptical.
I have some that have been in 4 months, some only a few weeks, I don't think they live very long, which is why it was recommened to me to buy them at the store instead of buying an actual "cleaner clam".

 

[corally]

Originally Posted by Jmick
If someone has them in their fuge and they don’t have a clean up crew in it then they may run into problems, even if your clean up crew consumes them it’s still more of a load being put on your system. The idea of something rotting in my sand bed is scary.
That's why I didn't put them in my fuge. Supposedly, when they die they come to the surface and open. One of mine did that, and the other never buried itself.

 

[mudplayerx]

I have heard of adding "cherry clams" to the tank as cleaner clams, but never "long necked clams." If anyone can clear up whether they are the same thing or which can be utilized as part of the cleaning crew, or whether both species can. Thanks.
ps- NEVER skip the process of letting the clams spit/burp in a dish of saltwater before adding them to the tank. The water that the clam has in its closed shells prior to this can be contaminated with high nitrates, bacteria, etc..

 

[merredeth]

Well, I went to my local Hy-Vee and the clams had just arrived so as am experiment I purchased 3 of the clams to put in my aggressive tank. Since my snowflake eel is 20 inches long and occassionally nips at other fish in the tank, I moved the other fish out of my 55 gallon tank and left him to himself long ago.
The eel has inverts in the tank and doesn't bother them for the most part, but anything that can help with the nite problem in that tank is worth a try since eels create a high bioload.
Since I still couldn't find an acclimation procedure that dffers from the fish acclimation, I decided to look on the web and this is what I found. At the bottom of this is a picture of a cleaner clam (the very type we eat) compliments of saltwaterfish.com.
Clam Acclimation This procedure should take NO LONGER than 1 hour to complete.
Test chemistry and make necessary adjustments to prepare your tank for acclimation. You will need the following supplies:
• A good, non-abrasive net
• A plastic cup
• A clean, empty bucket for acclimating
• A bucket with newly prepared seawater that is the same temperature as your aquarium.
• A thermometer
1. Cut the bag open below the metal clip and carefully place clam or coral with the water from the bag into the empty bucket.
2. Add 1 cup of your aquarium water to the bucket slowly.
3. Repeat step #2 every 5 minutes for 45 minutes.
4. Carefully remove the coral or clam from the bucket. Be extremely careful when handling live corals not to touch the delicate flesh of the animals. TRY to handle the corals only by their hard skeletons whenever possible.
5. Place your new clam or coral in a safe place in our reef community.
The only thing I changed was using peanut butter jars that were washed I put them in the tank so they would float and put a clam in each one of them as I added the water. The burps from the clams occured rather quickly.
I put the clams towards the front of the tank and observed all night the process of burying themselves until I went to bed.
This morning when I had waken up all the clams were buried and looking pretty good. One managed to move about six inches to the right prefering less water movement but all look like they are in good condition.
Denise M.