Store bought Clams

masta man

Member
Hi, I was wondering if any of you have store bought clams in your tanks. I heard that they are benefactors in filter feeding and cleaning the sand bed. Are they in any way possibly bad to the tank? I want to lower my nitrates from 15 do they work. muchas gracias
-Masta
 

janastasio

Member
I have purchased them before. Just purchase them from the fresh seafood section of the groc. store. I bought 2 kinds when I bought mine, but only the little necks (or are they called longnecks?) survived. So that is the type that I would recommend. I'm not sure how quickly they will lower the nitrates in your tank, but its worth a shot atleast. When you get them, take some water from your tank and put it into a bucket, just enough to submerge the clams. When you see bubbles coming up from the clam, or sometimes they will call it spitting, you can put the clams onto your sandbed. You do this to make sure that they are alive before putting them into your tank. They will usually start to bury themselves almost immed, but not all do. By the next day mine were just about all buried. Not all of mine survived for a long period of time. My last one just died, had it for about 7mos. Not sure what their life span is, but they are alot cheaper than buying them online. Good luck.
 

coraldude

Member
Originally Posted by nycbob
if u r looking to lower nitrates, why not try getting xenia?
Xenia to lower nitrates?????
 

azfishgal

Active Member
Originally Posted by nycbob
if u r looking to lower nitrates, why not try getting xenia?
Xenia helps with nitrates?
 

reefkprz

Active Member
yes, xenia consume dissolved nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia, there is an article called "down the drain nutrient export in marine aquaria" xenia was shown to contain a minor amount of nitrates a moderate amount of nitrites and a moderate amount of ammonia. as we akll know ammonia leds inevitably to nitrates........
little necks (quahogs) are definatly not well suited for reef tanks. the salinity is higher than they like the temperature is higher than they like, and they require a large amount of planktonic foods. they are better for FOWLR tanks run at a lower salinity, with no skimmer than they are for heavily skimmed, high salinity reefs. if yuou dont have a skimmer on your tank, a quahog may help, long established tanks, they may make it, cooler water tanks
, tanks fed Lots of phyto they are good. most new reefs (or smaller reefs) just dotn have the planktobnic content these clams require, they do not photosynthesize, they do not absorb nitrate, they filter particles that may lead to nitrate, and move through the sand bed helping keep it aerobic, nothing more.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
that sounded intelligent while I was typing it then I saw all the typos, please dont hold the typos against me. if it helps I'm typing in the dark and I type by hunt and peck...
 

goingpoor

Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
that sounded intelligent while I was typing it then I saw all the typos, please dont hold the typos against me. if it helps I'm typing in the dark and I type by hunt and peck...


lol
been there done that
 

coral keeper

Active Member
I got a cleaner clam in my 8 gallon bio cube and its doing good so far. Its in a reef tank. It actually did lower my nitrates.
 

mike22cha

Active Member
Those new ipods are a waste of money. I'm not going to save for one when I have my nano and my dad's bigger one (Not the video one, but the one smaller than that) that he never uses.
 

azfishgal

Active Member
Originally Posted by MIKE22cha
Well I'm going to get some xenia if that's true!
That might explain why my nitrates went down. I was having some issues with it, it was around 40, after doing several water changes and then realizing I needed to clean out my sponges more often (duh!) my nitrates are down to 6!!!
But, at the time I started to do water changes and cleaning the sponges more often I did include three frags of Xenia to my tank. I'm sure it was the combination of everything but it's kind of nice to know the Xenia may have helped out.
I know some people don't like it because it's a "weed" but if you put your Xenia on the highest point on your rock it won't spread as fast, as they like to grow up. It's worked for me. My Xenia has grown larger, but has not spread.
 

coraldude

Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
yes, xenia consume dissolved nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia, there is an article called "down the drain nutrient export in marine aquaria" xenia was shown to contain a minor amount of nitrates a moderate amount of nitrites and a moderate amount of ammonia. as we akll know ammonia leds inevitably to nitrates........
Yes, but is the Xenia using the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, or is it just present in Xenia?
 

reefkprz

Active Member
it absorbs it just like chaeto.

though I dont belive in as high a quantity, its been MONTHS since I read that article.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
quahogs, (hardshell clams) often called "littleneck, cherrystone, or chowder" according to size.
(Mercenaria mercenaria) latin name
 
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