Long Neck Clams instead of filter socks?

[MrWellington]

My FOWLR has a single 4x7 filter sock in a 30G sump for a medium-stocked 130G DT. It's kind of a pain to keep at it due to its placement. I was wondering if anyone thought of using stock grocery store live longneck clams or muscles as an alternative, as they are natural filter feeders and would be presented with (I think) a good supply of food. That's the upside. What would be the downside?

Thoughts?

 

[JoJosReef]

Following. Something I'm interested in trying in the future.

 

[ReeferZ1227]

My shot in the dark - im unsure of nutrition requirements for longnecks, as well as parameters/temperaturs. Im guessing at minimum, youd run into issues like sustainingn NPS - you would need to have enough constant food supply, an average mixed reef or FOWLR would not provide enough nutrition (assuming you want to just jam a boatload into your sump).

Keep in mind filter socks are a mechanical filter, this would be a biological filter, i.e. detritius would not physically be stopped from flowing past which is really the purpose of a sock. Apples and oranges.

 

[jda]

Downside: they die in your tank and all of what they filtered, plus the mass that you introduced, is now in there. Nothing was removed. Think of this as a fuge where nothing ever gets exported and is allowed to die in the tank.

They also won't likely filter all that you can remove with mechanical means. For example, let's say that your food had some heavy metals in them (they do). Those metals often bind to organics. The clam is not going to filter out all organics of all sizes but the mechanical or protein skimmer might just remove those metals bound to all organic sizes.

Littlenecks are not long lived at reef temperatures.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following as well!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

This question pops up every now and then:

Dr. Dendrostein did filtration using oysters (discussed in the first thread below): https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-helpful-would-you-say-clams-are-with-filtration.777605/

Clams replacing refugium as a nutrient export

Hi, In a video (can't remember which one) Randy said an employee at BRS swears by the use of clams for nutrient export - keep adding clams until the desired nutrient drop is reached. Is there an experiment planned to prove/disprove this idea? Thanks and love the videos

www.reef2reef.com

For tridacnid clams (gigas specifically):

YES, to all the concerns about keeping a Gigas this large. From spraying water out of a 60"x30"x31" tank daily, spawning multiple times a year, and the clam's massive weight and movement. Which I found impossible to support, and because of this it caused the hinge to separate, and its eventual demise. Also the 550+ gallon system became a parasite to it's needs. It would strip all NO3, PO4, CA, and ALK. This one I had for 14 years and at it's death in October it was 30" long and 140lbs. I will never keep another Gigas and I recommend other do the same. I enjoyed it. But I am done with it! Check that off the bucket list.

There are a few others, but these are ones I remember how to find easily.