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Sponges/Clams/Anemones/Gorgonians in a nano?


Odobenus rosmarus

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Odobenus rosmarus

I've been reading around on livestock options for a reef tank because my tank has finished its cycle. I've gathered that I can't add most of the things I've listed in the title until my tank is 4-6 months old but I'd like to know more about them.

 

Sponges confuse me, I can't find much online about keeping sponges in a reef tank and Im not sure what they're compatible with or how to feed them.

 

I really like clams but they seems really difficult to keep. I should add that my tank is ten gallons so clams might not do great in my tank but, I'd still like to know about them and how I could approach keeping one in a small volume of water (feeding, tank mates, any other useful info).

 

Anemones are the ones i know the least about. All i know is they can sting other coral and can move around your tank. I'm interested in anemones because I'm planning on keeping a pair of clowns and think it would be a nice addition to my tank, its one of those things I've always wanted to keep.

 

I know Gorgonians can get REALLY big and I believe they are filter feeders? I don't know if i can keep these in a small tank but I like the look of them, they add a look to the tank that mimics the ocean floor.

 

I'm newer to the reefing hobby but I know all the basics inside and out, now that I'm getting to the point I can keep livestock I need a bit of help. Any input would help a ton!

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12_egg_Omelette

My favorite fan is a blueberry gorg, it's a nps coral. The conditions for it are considered expert. They also seem to do fine and the end crashing at one point. There are a few exceptions. They also need very frequent feeding which means high nutrients in the water. They also tend to do well in low lighting. I think this already takes a lot of the stuff you listed on your list off of it.

 

I think a NPS is best in an NPS only tank.

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Lol I have a mate who keeps clams in a 5 gallon. clams receive the vast majority of their food from photosynthesis rather than filter feeding (filter feeding is roughly 30% of their energy), so as long as you have a strong light you can keep a clam. If you wanna make it grow faster or if afraid it won't get enough energy you could dose something like Microvert from Kent (there's a large variety of those things out there, choose which ever brand you like).

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Mr. Microscope

:welcome: to Nano-Reef!

 

Most livestock can be kept in a nano, but some require very specific care. Some, to the point where you need to dedicate the setup, equipment, and entire tank to the care of that animal (research biotope). Start out with easy corals and work your way up.

 

Good luck!

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Odobenus rosmarus

Thank you guys for the input. I checked out the blueberry gorgonian you mention and DAMN they are sexy. I feel a little better about attempting clams because I've read that many people have kept them in small tank with success and i have a really strong light.

 

For now I'm probably going to stay away from sponges as they are recommended "expert only" by majority of people.

I have a noobie question; do I have to feed my corals? Im reading that most people highly recommend feeding corals because they are animals like everything else in the tank. What about feeding phytoplankton? I've read that phytoplankton benefits almost everything in the tank.

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For clams and sponges it's best to start them in an established tank that has more nutrients and stable water conditions so you may want to wait 9 mos- a yr. I bought a little 3/4" maxima for my Evolve8 tank when the tank was one yrs old and it is now about 1.5". Tank just turned 2 so I've had it a year.

 

Definitely figure out what you can support first w/ lighting and flow and try out the neighborhood. Try some mushrooms, zoas & acans, duncan, ricordea. When you feel like you're ready try some frogspawn, or sps. The odd thing is I can keep a frogspawn just fine in my Evolve 8 under my part 38 bulb but dang it, can't seem to get it right in my larger 3g with my Kessil. Tanks are like that. Square shape versus rectangular alone can alter what can live in your tank on how the lighting falls over it and how flow can be accommodated around rocks. Go with photosynthetic gorgs. I've tried only 2 nonphotosynthetic and one died, the other is hanging on. Pretty though they may be, when/if this one dies, i'll go to solely photosynthetic.

 

You'll find there are some things you can or can't keep at all, or can keep in one tank but not another, etc. Leave the harder stuff for later once you see what your skills are, if your tank can accommodate the flow, if your lights are what you need or will require upgrading.

 

And be patient. Research first through the posts, then ask, then try. Too many people buy, have problems, then start asking and it's too late.

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For clams and sponges it's best to start them in an established tank that has more nutrients and stable water conditions so you may want to wait 9 mos- a yr. I bought a little 3/4" maxima for my Evolve8 tank when the tank was one yrs old and it is now about 1.5". Tank just turned 2 so I've had it a year.

 

Definitely figure out what you can support first w/ lighting and flow and try out the neighborhood. Try some mushrooms, zoas & acans, duncan, ricordea. When you feel like you're ready try some frogspawn, or sps. The odd thing is I can keep a frogspawn just fine in my Evolve 8 under my part 38 bulb but dang it, can't seem to get it right in my larger 3g with my Kessil. Tanks are like that. Square shape versus rectangular alone can alter what can live in your tank on how the lighting falls over it and how flow can be accommodated around rocks. Go with photosynthetic gorgs. I've tried only 2 nonphotosynthetic and one died, the other is hanging on. Pretty though they may be, when/if this one dies, i'll go to solely photosynthetic.

 

You'll find there are some things you can or can't keep at all, or can keep in one tank but not another, etc. Leave the harder stuff for later once you see what your skills are, if your tank can accommodate the flow, if your lights are what you need or will require upgrading.

 

And be patient. Research first through the posts, then ask, then try. Too many people buy, have problems, then start asking and it's too late.

I'd argue that clams don't need a very established tank and can be added within 1-2 months. Clams don't require extremely high nutrients and any further required nutrients can be accomplished via dosing. It's estimated that 65% of energy comes from filter feeding for small clams, larger clams only get 34% from filter feeding. So it's viable to keep clams after a few months, so long as you have enough lighting; smaller clams will only require Microvert dosing.

 

Also:"In the home aquarium, the Maxima Clams require intense lighting to thrive as they contain the symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae, and receive the majority of their nutrition from the light through photosynthesis"~Liveaquaria

 

Sources:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+529+586&pcatid=586

 

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Gorgs: Photosynthetics are beyond easy - give them tons of light and flow. NPS ones should not be kept in 99% of tanks unless you can spot feed them daily.

Clams: Can do just fine in nano tanks but will consume a ton of alk/calc once they get going and growing. They actually do much better with some nitrate/phos/DOC present in the water. But you will need to dose alk/calc daily with them and it is possible the clam grows so large that your alk demand is dangerous (over 1dkh/day on a tiny tank can mean a crash if you miss dosing for a day or two).

Sponges: Kind of similar to NPS gorgs, they need lots of nutrients to filter out of the water. I have two in my large system that have been doing fantastic but my experience and knowledge about them is limited.

Kind of interesting that all the stuff you named needs lots of nutrients (aka dirty water) to be happy. The problem will be though that without a good skimmer your water won't be "dirty"... it will be "filthy". This is the primary challenge I've seen with Nano tanks. It's very hard to get appropriate filtration.

So if you feel comfortable doing very frequent water changes, you may be able to keep the NPS stuff easily. But I wouldn't recommend large/frequent water changes with clams.

 

Side note for Rememberme: I have read a few scientific papers that show clams get almost zero nutrition from filter feeding. They do however get a large percentage (10-20% IIRC) from pulling out dissolved organics and nitrogen from the water. Hence the dirty water thing. This is also a reason why most large clam farms i've read about dose nitrogen fertilizer into their growout pens and not phytoplankton.

 

As always, I could be wrong about any of this stuff - but this is my opinions given the research I've done :D

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Odobenus rosmarus

I wanted to add my tank info so that I could get some more advice as to keeping clams/gorgonians/sponges/anemones in my tank, or to even see if its suitable for them.

 

- Standard 10 gallon

- Aquaclear 70 running sponge, live rock rubble, ceramic rings

- Aquaclear 50 running sponge, carbon, ceramic rings

- Fluval Sea PS1 protein skimmer

- 165watt Chinese LED (Marsaqua)

- 9.5 pounds of semi-live rock

- 20 punds of live sand

 

The tank has been running for 1 month and I just took tests of my parameters.

 

Nitrate: 4.0

Phosphate: 0.36

Calcium: 430

Magnesium: 1200

Alkalinity: 9.5 dKH

 

I'm using the Red Sea Reef Care Program on this tank. Right now I have nothing in the tank so I'm not dosing elements or anything but I can dose them later if I need to. My Phosphate is pretty high lol so i started dosing 1mL of NO3:PO4-X today and i'll continue until its dropped to about 0.08 (thats what people recommend)l, then once I get my phosphate and nitrate down I'm probably going to start adding stuff to the tank.

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Photosynthetic Gorgs and Rock Flower anemones will be super easy in that tank. I'd advise against clams. I'd boost your mag to 1400ish.

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Odobenus rosmarus

Woah! rock anemones look pretty cool, what do they go well with? will they be aggressive towards anything? And just today I started adding Res Sea's ABC+ to boost my elements.

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Woah! rock anemones look pretty cool, what do they go well with? will they be aggressive towards anything? And just today I started adding Res Sea's ABC+ to boost my elements.

 

They go well with anything but are semi aggressive. Like all anemones, they will decide (not you) where they want to be in your tank. Generally after a while they settle down but can randomly decide they are unhappy months later and move. I have owned many and all are still alive. Probably the hardiest thing ive ever put in my tanks. They can eat a fish if the fish is beyond stupid, but i've never caught mine catching a live fish. There is a good thread on this forum about information on them.

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Odobenus rosmarus

I'm most likely going to get a rock anemone asap, they are very cool. I wanted to update my parameters because I've decided that in 2-4 weeks I'm going to get a clam for this tank.

 

Nitrate: 0

Phosphate: 0.16

Calcium: 460

Magnesium: 1280

Alkalinity: 10.5 dKH

Everything in my tank seems to be on the right track. Once I get my first corals in the tank and get a feel for keeping corals, then I will add a clam and possibly a sponge. If I can figure out how to post pictures, I will post pics of the corals and clam when I get them.

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I'd argue that clams don't need a very established tank and can be added within 1-2 months. Clams don't require extremely high nutrients and any further required nutrients can be accomplished via dosing. It's estimated that 65% of energy comes from filter feeding for small clams, larger clams only get 34% from filter feeding. So it's viable to keep clams after a few months, so long as you have enough lighting; smaller clams will only require Microvert dosing.

 

Also:"In the home aquarium, the Maxima Clams require intense lighting to thrive as they contain the symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae, and receive the majority of their nutrition from the light through photosynthesis"~Liveaquaria

 

Sources:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+529+586&pcatid=586

 

 

 

 

 

although it's true they don't need nutrients, stable parameters are very important for a clams overall health and stress level. they aren't very tolerant to swings in parameters from nitrates, phosphates, alk, etc. in a nano or any tank, 1-2 months in from the end of a cycle can still have fluctuating nutrient levels, especially from frequent water changes required in a nano tank.

 

just because you can, doesn't mean you should. clams are the biggest gamble anyone can add to their tank, it being established for at least 6 months to a year puts the odds on your side.

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Odobenus rosmarus

In that case I will take your advice and wait. I don't want to be killing any animals or throwing money away, I should invest in an ATO before I even look into getting a clam anyways. I'm not in any rush either, its not like my tank will run away or anything lol I would rather do things right and make getting a clam a six month millstone.

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In that case I will take your advice and wait. I don't want to be killing any animals or throwing money away, I should invest in an ATO before I even look into getting a clam anyways. I'm not in any rush either, its not like my tank will run away or anything lol I would rather do things right and make getting a clam a six month millstone.

it can be done though, just with a heavy side of caution. look up the 0.7 gallon going on the first page of the pico sub-forum. a guy from germany is still keeping his alive, im just not 100% sure what type he has in it.

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it can be done though, just with a heavy side of caution. look up the 0.7 gallon going on the first page of the pico sub-forum. a guy from germany is still keeping his alive, im just not 100% sure what type he has in it.

none of my salty tanks have exceeded 2 gallons, I wish I had bigger space to work with in the tanks.
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