I am planning to setup a nano reef tank (due to space restrictions etc). I also love clams and SPS corals and these my tank wll consist of mainly these and a few select fishes.

The problem is that I read in Giant Clams in the Sea and Aquarium by James Fatherree that he doesnt recommend keeping Tridacnid clams in such tanks. His main reasons are temp and salinity swings, as well as low nutrient level in such tanks due to limited fish stocking.

Now, I am a little disappointed at reading this. As part of my planned setup, I will include autotop-up system to deal with salinity issues due to evaporation and a chiller or fans to deal with temp issues. I will also keep a few fishes as well and will do wekly maintenance. I have kept clams before in a larger tank and so have many years of reefing experiance, just not with clams/sps and small tanks. Though I did have a LPS coral nano tank in the past.

The planned tank is the JBJ 28G HQI setup.

How many of you out there have been keeping clams in small tanks successfully for at least a year or more? I'd like to hear about your experiance please.

PS, an pictures of clams in your tank when new and current would be nice to see as well. Many thanks.

as long as you stay on top of things in your tank and make sure it's STABLE for a period of time before adding a clam(s), it will work out well.....i think starting with a maxima would be the best bet for you.....do as much reading as you can and learn, learn, learn before jumping in head first.....the fact that you're asking questions on a forum site is proof that you want to get things right the first time. And that's something to be applauded

here's my 2 maximas....and my derasa's on the left

You will be fine if you have the lights to support one. Go Maxima by the way. And T5 or MH is required.

I sometimes feel reefkeeping "experts" who keep harping on temp/salinity issues with nano tanks have little firsthand experience with small tanks or assume they are too difficult for average hobbyists. Temperature and salinity are not hard to keep in control.

BTW, this is the same argument used against keeping SPS in nanos.

I kep 6 Tridacnids for over a year in a 20L, some of them fairly large, without problems.

The biggest challenge is keeping up with calcium demand in a way that doesn't result in huge swings throughout the day. The rest is fairly easy. Do take extra care to keep the temperature, salinity, and pH as stable as you possibly can.

Do not underestimate the amount of calcium a growing clam can pull from the water.

Many thanks for the replies. I was doing some reading on RC and came across this thread: Misconceptions

I think that as long as I control the temp (using fans) and salinity using an auto topup system, my tank should do just as well as a larger tank. I wont keep as many clams as I originally wanted, bt at least two or three of the smaller tridacnids.

PS I would highly recommend people read that thread from the begining. Makes some very interesting and possibly idea changing read.

I have been running a picotope with a crocea clam and sps since 9/11/08 clam was added in december.

I do dose everyday morning and night though ,but not really a big chore. I like it. Just somthing that is done before work and before bed. I also have an ato hooked up with a 2 gallon bucket reservoir. Kinda funny, a two gallon reservoir on a 3 gallon tank.

My favorite view !



top'o'clam



Fts

SmittyCoco: Thanks for posting your tanks photos. I can see from the last pic that the clam is clearly growing (the whitish areas on theedge of the shell), so it must be doing well. Many thanks for that. You have a very very nice looking tank as well. Keep up the good work.

ive kept a maxima in a 12g aquapod for mroe than a year now and the thing is growing like mad
i plan on keeping one in my supped up 3g whenever i get it up and running

i agree with lakshwadeep that experts dont seem to actually have much experience with small tanks. This coming from someone who started off with a 3g.

In my mind anything that is kept in a large tank can be kept in a nano, size permitting of course, so long as diligence is paid to the tank and the proper equipment is in use

so what type of lighting do you have for your clam?

check my tanks... clams are loving it!

smitty- i love ur tank!

I Hung a sunpod 70 over it . It dosn't look so big suspended .

I've been wanting to keep a clam in my tank for some time right now but I can't seem to keep my calcium up. I'm working on that right now and once I get it up and consistent for a while I'll give it a try.