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#51
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tagging along! great ride, this thread is!
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#52
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Thank goodness I'm not the only one here with several expensive hobbies....LOL
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CCPMC of HETMARC |
#53
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hehehe, no kiddin'! AND I have a girlfriend to whom I'm engaged! ....if I wasn't broke before!.....
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#54
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Because this topic has become a great interest to many and myself, I am starting a short experiment with manila clams/asian market clams.
The purpose of this experiment is to see if these clams actually do a good job of filtering and can these replace a traditional skimmer. The tank is a 10 gallon with no skimmer, 1 clown gobie and a bunch of ricordia. Eclipse hood with carboon 30 watt reg light blue/white. It also has macroalgae, but a very small amount. The nitrate is around 20ppm. Has been checked. I do not do water changes and the nitrate has been high even with the macro. Will see the results in a week. Today is April 24, 2005 12:10 am pst 4 clams, 1 that doesn't seem to want to open. So that one may be dead. This is not a well designed experiment. More like data gathering. I know the macroalgae may affect the results. However; if my nitrates do go down, they are having affect. As stated before, the nitrates has been extremely high even with the macro. The only addition or change to the environment are the clams. |
#55
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After 3 days of having those cherrystone clams in my tank, I've noticed a drop in phosphates. I was at .5ppm and now I'm undetectable. This might be a coincidence though. I'll keep watching my other parameters.
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#56
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if they are tight, i think they are still alive? u know how can something thats dead have strength to hold itself closed, but then again, when i eat clams one or two never opens unless i PRY it
this is interesting... |
#57
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I placed a large cherrystone and three smaller littlenecks in one of my 20g SW tanks- almost a week now, and the water seems to be clearer than it was. I have done one water change on this tank since it's been established; about a year and a half. There's currently a pretty large bioload in it since a friend had to move and didn't have anywhere to keep some of his fish. There's a condylactis anemone that has been adopted by a gold stripe maroon clown from my friend....a Kaudern's cardinal that's been there for a while, a yellow tang and a Eibbli Angel also from my friend- plus an unidentified black crab he didn't even know he had until breaking down his tank! (the crab is about 2" across the body and 4 1/2 " or so with legs- reminds me of a mithrax- it has the flats on the claws) The little clams have dug themselves in, but the cherrystone is just hanging out on the top of the sand seemingly happily. So far, so good....I thought I'd try this before I tried anything in my main reef. Yes- very interesting!
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CCPMC of HETMARC |
#58
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PS- I've been feeding them some phyto- both ESV spraydried and Kent Chromaplex. From my reading, these type of animals probably won't get enough food without supplemental feeding- even in a well established reef like mine (running for a total of 13- 14 years starting as a 45L zebra moray tank and then moved into a 55 and set up as a reef supporting a mandarin successfully for a couple years so far- and he has never eaten any of the food I've fed that I've seen) Just something to keep in mind-
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CCPMC of HETMARC |
#59
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So these clams dont really need light right...could be in some but dont need it to live? I am thinking about having a prop section in my sump that will be on some eggcrate. Under that I will also have it as a pod town with some sand and rubble rock...can the clams go there under the egg crate of the prop section and hang with the pods?
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#60
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I personally wouldn't see why not- but I'm no expert....not a fool though, either! LOL I'd suggest making sure you could keep an eye on 'em in case any died- then you could remove them and maybe 'recycle' them as fish food rather than letting them decompose in your sump.
Howdy to ya, NOLACLS- I used to live in LaPlace and Baton Rouge!
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CCPMC of HETMARC |
#61
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Yeah I would be able to see them no problem. and if I had to take them out all I would need to do is take out the egg crate and remove them. I just would like to have some odd little critters down there...and they help filter to.
Thats about an hour from me but I have been there many times |
#62
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if possible even more pics would be good. i mean when i eat clams, i do notice sand and stuff like that in them, so they do perhaps intake bigger particles??
hehe.. |
#63
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Well, I tend to look at it in terms that I can identify with....If you're walking around in a cave or a barn or something, occasionally you get dirt or straw or cobwebs on you and even in your mouth as you breathe. A clam lives in the sand and digs in it, so it would stand to reason that occasionally they might get some in their 'mouth' or lungs (gills). Too much and it could kill ya- or at least make you cough and choke and think you're dying, Eh?
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#64
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My only concern is that we don't know they're dying until they're dead and have made the tank smell like fisherman's wharf.
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#65
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Quote:
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Here... take this astronaut dipper so you can spend more time next to your tank. |
#66
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Dr4gonFly,
Did one die in your tank? Kevin |
#67
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Not yet.... But I'm anxiously waiting with a water change always at the ready.. .
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#68
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I just picked up 6 of these guys at the local grocery store. They're "proofing" (a term from making bread) in a bucket of salt water right now. I'll let you guys know how it goes. I'm putting them in a small tank I had laying aroun with a couple hermits and a small striped puffer. I know, I'll move him to a bigger home as he grows. I just want to see what effect the clams have on the water quality.
Karl
__________________
I reject your reality and substitute my own. If I'm not in, I'm making something cold. |
#69
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Just a quick update, and I will also get some more pictures of my clams soon.
I have not had any clams die in the refugium to date and I have about 8 in there at the moment. I have one in my display which has been there for about 7 weeks now. I think it learned to only extend it's syphon at night as to not bee eaten by the CopperBand. I have not had any spikes in nutrients, and have never had measurable levels anyway so I can't tell you how effective they are as filters. |
#70
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In my experiment in the 20g, the water seems to be a lot clearer- no die-off or anything....yet!
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CCPMC of HETMARC |
#71
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Herein lies another problem. We need to come up with an equation for # & size vs tank volume.
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#72
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Just make sure no one eats them after they have been in the tank.
The Title of this thread may suggest to some people that because they are edible clams they can eat them after they put them in their tank. There are too many contaminants in a closed system to eat anything in it so please if you were thinking about it don't. Just for information. Not accusing anyone.
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Erik Hydo |
#73
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I stuck 2 in my tank today, one has drawn a LOT of attention from some hermits and a whelk, so I think its mostly dead, the other one seems to be fine. I dont even know if it's a clam. It was actually labeled Mussel. It's black and small. here's a pic. it's to the right of my blue maxima.
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Just mind your water and your fish will mind themselves. |
#74
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Yep that is a mussel. They taste good boiled in beer.
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Erik Hydo |
#75
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Chrismo, you risk taker. I personally would not have put a mussel I bought from a grocery store in a tank right NEXT to a maxima, much less in the same system. I would be too worried about pollutants. I put 6 manila clams in my puffer tank. It's set up to handle the extra pollutants in the water. Not that your tank isn't, but tridacnid clams generally aren't as hardy as, say, a puffer or a hermit crab.
I hope everything works out for you, though. Karl
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I reject your reality and substitute my own. If I'm not in, I'm making something cold. |
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