How helpful would you say clams are with filtration?

radiata

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We're not talking about mussels, folks. The photo in Post #3 in this tread clearly says "Oyster Filtration".
 

MrAlpha

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I have wondered if my large dersa is the reason I have chronic low or zero No3 Po4. Moderate fish load and only using a skimmer and filter socks as export. I feed heavy, auto feeder pellets twice a day and alternate nori and frozen and aminos daily. When I dose No3 and po4 I’ll finally see it register on test kits but within 48 hours I’m back a zero. I just started dosing the No3 and po4 to the top off water to see if I can keep up. I have had that clam for 10 years. Hate to sell it if that’s not the cause of my low nutrients.
 

Casket_Case

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Albertsons is a grocery store. In certain groceries they have seafood sections with live sea food. Oyster, mussels, lobsters
Ahh, I see. We don’t have any of those around but Atlanta is close and they have huge markets with foreign food and typically a whole bunch of live saltwater critters. Never been but definitely want to go.
 

Tom Giddens

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I've kept clams above 1.025, well above. IME they react worse to low salinity.
Either way, I like having them and hope they help overall. Kept many from 2" to XL. Current is a Squomosa 2.5 years was 2.25" now about 8". Last was a Derasa about 16" when I sold it.
What is your secret? I have softies,LPS and a few SPS that grow but when I get a clam after 8 months or so they die. I feed fish several times a day.Not sure what I am doing wrong and I know it can be anything.
SG 1.025
Nitrates 30
PH 8.1
ALK 8.6
CAL 480
 

Paulie069

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In my bedroom on my dresser I have what I call a New Jersey Invert tank
In it I have three hermit crabs the size of baseballs, 3 sea cucumbers from my local bay, a blood clam ( combo of scallop n clam) naseris snails , tiny hermits (6),3-4 baby clams ( size of a nickel) and all the rock in there I picked of the ocean floor
I set it up mid June and to this day I’ve never ever had to clean it , it’s self cleaning and is crystal clear, only thin I do is 10 gal WC once in awhile and I use the water I take out of my main tank when I do WC to that one, and it’s all pure ocean water never rodi.
Best thing is everything in my invert tank I caught myself never bought anything for it
 

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Tom Giddens

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6F435071-CE3B-4550-A05D-EA7F142460F9.jpeg

I have wondered if my large dersa is the reason I have chronic low or zero No3 Po4. Moderate fish load and only using a skimmer and filter socks as export. I feed heavy, auto feeder pellets twice a day and alternate nori and frozen and aminos daily. When I dose No3 and po4 I’ll finally see it register on test kits but within 48 hours I’m back a zero. I just started dosing the No3 and po4 to the top off water to see if I can keep up. I have had that clam for 10 years. Hate to sell it if that’s not the cause of my low nutrients.
So you are saying your not getting coral growth/color because of the low nutrients?
 

Tom Giddens

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In my bedroom on my dresser I have what I call a New Jersey Invert tank
In it I have three hermit crabs the size of baseballs, 3 sea cucumbers from my local bay, a blood clam ( combo of scallop n clam) naseris snails , tiny hermits (6),3-4 baby clams ( size of a nickel) and all the rock in there I picked of the ocean floor
I set it up mid June and to this day I’ve never ever had to clean it , it’s self cleaning and is crystal clear, only thin I do is 10 gal WC once in awhile and I use the water I take out of my main tank when I do WC to that one, and it’s all pure ocean water never rodi.
Best thing is everything in my invert tank I caught myself never bought anything for it
Do you ever test the water to see what the parameters are? Where do you live?
 

OzinOz

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So I know derasas are known for being good to help with filtration, but how good are they? What do they usually help with? Are other clams helpful for this purpose as well?

1 - clam -Dyonopses.jpg

Photo by @Dyonopses
Love our Derusa but "she" has turned on her side, not open anymore. I stand her up and she lays down... Why? What to do? Thank You!
 

vlangel

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I think all clams are helpful to some extent because they filter feed. Of course older clams (3" and larger) also rely on their mantles to photosynthesize.

I do not think that they are as efficient as macro algae or sponges when it comes to filtering. That is only my opinion based on experience and my gut. I do not have any science to back that claim up.
 

rusty hannon

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Hey all, I've always loved clams, oysters, and sponges. I've been trying filtration w sponges in a 10 gal. To b honest have more probs, different ones w different sponges, and haven't found anyone that has had long term luck w the little guys. 9 mo. to a year was about the longest I've seen although in a nano I had I lost, misplaced, 4 small orange guys and upon moving that tank 3 years later they were found in rock work hiding. I think at that time I was onto something but haven't been able to replicate since. Hope I'm not infringing here but thought maybe we could check out sponges along w clams in a filtration capacity? Not sure how this goes in a virtual world so apologise if I'm wrong here. Thanks and good morning reefers
 

vlangel

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Hey all, I've always loved clams, oysters, and sponges. I've been trying filtration w sponges in a 10 gal. To b honest have more probs, different ones w different sponges, and haven't found anyone that has had long term luck w the little guys. 9 mo. to a year was about the longest I've seen although in a nano I had I lost, misplaced, 4 small orange guys and upon moving that tank 3 years later they were found in rock work hiding. I think at that time I was onto something but haven't been able to replicate since. Hope I'm not infringing here but thought maybe we could check out sponges along w clams in a filtration capacity? Not sure how this goes in a virtual world so apologise if I'm wrong here. Thanks and good morning reefers
The prettier ornamental sponges do not seem as hardy as the the plainer entrusting white, gray or pink sponges. I have had had some of these plainer sponges for decades where as the pretty tree sponges I struggle to keep more than 18 months or so.

Also I think sponges need a constant high nutrient enviroment to thrive with a varied diet of nutrients. They probably filter all nutrients but need some trace nutrients not to be malnourished.
 

rusty hannon

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The prettier ornamental sponges do not seem as hardy as the the plainer entrusting white, gray or pink sponges. I have had had some of these plainer sponges for decades where as the pretty tree sponges I struggle to keep more than 18 months or so.

Also I think sponges need a constant high nutrient enviroment to thrive with a varied diet of nutrients. They probably filter all nutrients but need some trace nutrients not to be malnourished.
Thank you for you're reply. I'm very interested in trying to put together a sort of filtration crew. There are a lot of critters out there that would b helpful in a natural filtration capacity. Finding the right ones and putting them together is becoming difficult but I recon when they first started putting together va clean up crew it wasn't easy, IMO they still haven't gotten that right. You're information is very useful to me and thank you. The difference in hardiness between the species I'm documenting.
 

Saltyreef

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It's @Dr. Dendrostein I think. I haven't used them myself, but the idea seems much better than clams, so I'm definitely going to try a bag of them in the sump for my 180. The pros are:

1) Cheap
2) You don't need to worry about lighting
3) Mulm feeds corals
4) Get all their energy from nutrients in the water instead of photosynthesis (so don't introduce byproducts of photosynthesis)
5) I don't know if they're easier to take care of, but again... cheap.
6) If your eel looks hungry or you want to make a bouillabaisse, you don't need to go to the supermarket, just pop downstairs.

Clams are pretty, but I'd be thinking more about their place in the display/how they would add to the visual appeal, and less about whatever filtration they provide.
Yep you hit the nail on the head. I didnt wanna prematurely tag him cause i thought it might have been Paul B.
 

jda

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This is all anecdotal, but when I got rid of a pair of footlong Deresa and Squamosa to a local aquarium, my no3 rose a bit until the bacteria was able to reproduce over a few weeks and chew it up - went from .1 to about 3.0 nitrate for a short period of time (I say about since our test kits really suck). The Deresa and Squamosa likely were consuming a large amount of ammonia/ammonium before it hit the back end.
 

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Casket_Case

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paintman

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So i am assuming these oysters are from warm water areas of the world? Certainly couldn't use something like bluepoints from off the coast of Maine could you?
 

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