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can i put a clam in a 10 gallon


Disturbed22

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Disturbed22

I REALLY want to put a clam in my 10 gallon. I am thinking about getting a crocea or a maximal. I am getting a jbj unibody light so I know that will be enough light. I use reefcrystals salt. I don't use a test kit and I don't dose. But what would I have to do to keep a clam?

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You would have to get a test kit and doae according to your test results. People here will give you alot of different advice but you are really the only one that can determine whether or not you can keep a clam successfully in your tank. I have kept a clam successfully in my 3 gallon for a while now but i test and dose accordingly between my water changes.

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I know its possible I just need to know what to do basically.

 

Just get one and go with it cuz what works for one person isn't always gonna work for someone else. You got the basics.... lights, water, feed. Your own routine will shortly follow

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I REALLY want to put a clam in my 10 gallon. I am thinking about getting a crocea or a maximal. I am getting a jbj unibody light so I know that will be enough light. I use reefcrystals salt. I don't use a test kit and I don't dose. But what would I have to do to keep a clam?

 

You have to pick up test kits first and foremost. Make sure your water in your tank is stable enough to support a clam. They eat calcium like crazy. But to keep calcium in check you need to know your alk, and magnesium levels as well. They all link together.

 

So before you go out and buy a clam, wasting your money and its life. Make sure your levels are stable at the right levels. Using test kits. After those are stable. You can pick up a clam. Continue to test and dose supplements as needed to keep the water in line of where it needs to be. As for your lights, getting the jbj unibody "should" be good enough.

 

As for where the levels should be. Each salt is different but they should be somewhere between the numbers as follows. These are just basic levels. Some might be different

420-480ppm calcium

7-10 DKH(alk)

1350-1400ppm Magnesium

 

Edit: also pick up good quality test kits. Elos,red sea, salifert to name a few.

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It really won't matter what people here tell you if you don't have the basic test kits, you are flying blind. Are you going to hit a mountain? Probably. It doesn't really matter if people here tell you about how much they value clam's lives as the decision to risk the clam's life you buy will be dependent on how much you value a clam's life. There's no question that it's possible to keep a clam in a 10G. People have done it in less. Just because someone can drive around the nurburgring doesn't mean you should try to do it blind folded.

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Disturbed22
It really won't matter what people here tell you if you don't have the basic test kits, you are flying blind. Are you going to hit a mountain? Probably. It doesn't really matter if people here tell you about how much they value clam's lives as the decision to risk the clam's life you buy will be dependent on how much you value a clam's life. There's no question that it's possible to keep a clam in a 10G. People have done it in less. Just because someone can drive around the nurburgring doesn't mean you should try to do it blind folded.

 

 

Basically your just telling me to test and dose as needed right?

 

 

And if I didn't have a test kit and didn't dose but I did weekly water changes that's still not good enough right?

 

 

 

 

Thanks guys for the help

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C.I._Reefer
Basically your just telling me to test and dose as needed right?

 

 

And if I didn't have a test kit and didn't dose but I did weekly water changes that's still not good enough right?

 

 

 

 

Thanks guys for the help

 

 

it completely depends, but in a tank that small probably not. Even if you start with a really small clam, as it grows, so will its nutrient intake. I personally think people with little expierence should avoid putting a clam in anything smaller than a 40b but thats just me.

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Basically your just telling me to test and dose as needed right?

 

 

And if I didn't have a test kit and didn't dose but I did weekly water changes that's still not good enough right?

 

 

 

 

Thanks guys for the help

 

IMO, you should have the test kits and figure out your parameters before adding corals anyways. So the fact that you do not have them is just asking for trouble down the line.

 

At some point the clam/corals will start to eat more calcium/alk/mag. out of your water then is provided during a water change. How would you know? testing your water.

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Basically your just telling me to test and dose as needed right?

 

And if I didn't have a test kit and didn't dose but I did weekly water changes that's still not good enough right?

 

Thanks guys for the help

If you did large water changes weekly, and matched your water parameters well enough to survive the long term large water changes, then yes it could theoretically be done without a test kit. If you don't have a test kit, then you probably don't have a digital thermometer, and you don't have a refractometer. When you do a 50% water change and you miss the temp by 3-4 degrees and miss the salinity by 5 PPT because of your hydrometer (I assume you have one of those, by I'm probably wrong about that too), then bad things will happen.

 

The test kit is there so you know when you need to either dose or water change. People dose because either there is something deficient in their salt mix for their application, or because the water changes required to keep the most demanding elements would be uneconomical (time or money) compared to dosing. If you've got a 100 gallon tank (probably closer to 140G with sump), it would be very expensive to do 50% weekly water changes. If you've got a 10 gallon tank, 50% weekly water changes are an order of magnitude less expensive.

 

Is it possible, yes. Is it advisable, no. An API master saltwater kit is less than half of what you are going to pay for a clam. Here it is on amazon. Just go buy one.

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Disturbed22

If you did large water changes weekly, and matched your water parameters well enough to survive the long term large water changes, then yes it could theoretically be done without a test kit. If you don't have a test kit, then you probably don't have a digital thermometer, and you don't have a refractometer. When you do a 50% water change and you miss the temp by 3-4 degrees and miss the salinity by 5 PPT because of your hydrometer (I assume you have one of those, by I'm probably wrong about that too), then bad things will happen.

 

The test kit is there so you know when you need to either dose or water change. People dose because either there is something deficient in their salt mix for their application, or because the water changes required to keep the most demanding elements would be uneconomical (time or money) compared to dosing. If you've got a 100 gallon tank (probably closer to 140G with sump), it would be very expensive to do 50% weekly water changes. If you've got a 10 gallon tank, 50% weekly water changes are an order of magnitude less expensive.

 

Is it possible, yes. Is it advisable, no. An API master saltwater kit is less than half of what you are going to pay for a clam. Here it is on amazon. Just go buy one.

 

 

I have a refractometer, RKL, MP10, top notch ####. I just don't really see the need for a test kit. But if I want a clam then I understand I would probably need one

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Everyone's tank is different. All kinds of things affect your water chemistry from the type of water you use to your salt mix to the type of sand and LR you chose. Levels can even vary from box to box with salt mixes. I would have killed my LPS corals by now if I wasn't testing because my calcium varies from 360-380 with my salt mix. I have to dose every water change to get the 440 I keep it at. It's only $25 for the test kit so it's not really a 'waste of money' if it saves your tank from a crash or saves a couple hundred dollars worth of livestock.

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My question is not can you keep one in a 10 gallon because its defiitely possible in a mature tank with proper water, lighting, and flow BUT will it ever outgrow a 10 gallon?

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altolamprologus
My question is not can you keep one in a 10 gallon because its defiitely possible in a mature tank with proper water, lighting, and flow BUT will it ever outgrow a 10 gallon?

They're called giant clams for a reason. IIRC maximas are the smallest at 1 foot long

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My question is not can you keep one in a 10 gallon because its defiitely possible in a mature tank with proper water, lighting, and flow BUT will it ever outgrow a 10 gallon?

If it's healthy and growing, a maximal will for sure.

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Disturbed22
I find this statement very amusing.

 

why?

 

They're called giant clams for a reason. IIRC maximas are the smallest at 1 foot long

 

crocea is the smallest and I think they only get about 6 inches

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