AM I WORTHY TO KEEP CLAMS?

[JayEeeTeeEss]

My nanotuners LED 5.6* w/ CREES is in the mail and I have 2 maxima clams purchased to be picked up on sunday. Because the guys there were extremely helpful with my whole order process, I had emailed nanotuners to make sure the lights would be sufficient to keep clams on the sand bed and they said to, "make sure my system is established long enough." Rather than keep bugging them (ALTHOUGH EVIL WILL BE HELPFUL FOR THE SECOND PART OF THIS THREAD). I decided to post it here. I need to know if I am worthy of these awesome creatures....

 

My 29BC has been running about 5 months.

 

-Calcium is 440-450ish

-nitrates are 15-20ppm and going down as I keep doing water changes. (had a few issues in the beginning that have been resolved).

-I'm assuming that my nitrites and ammonia are 0 although I haven't tested them in a while and I plan on getting an iodine test kit.

 

System is about 40lbs of LR, 30 lbs of LS, fuge with chaeto,

Equipment is Aquatic life 115 skimmer, MP10

 

What are other crucial factors I check to see if my tank is established enough?

 

Also should I wait to put them in until my lights are in the higher stages of the acclimation period? I had posted this question on another thread and EVIL said that SPS should be fine with the prolonged acclimation period. Would this prolonged acclimation be a problem for the clams. I have a friend that if needed I could store the clams in his tank until i can put them into mine, but because of the fear of them attaching to his rockwork I would REALLY like to avoid this if it is possible.

[cruiZe]

your tank should be pretty well established. The rule of thumb is usually 6 months. I wonder why the nitrates are still so high? are you running any type of fuge?

 

i think it would be better to acclimate them to one tank, than have to do it twice (2x the stress)

[JayEeeTeeEss]

Well its a long story but i'll try to shorten it:

 

I didn't realize that my friend had pushed down the grate in the middle chamber so there was a zero flow area in there I added a bunch of LR rubble and chaeto and thought everything was good. Was also ridiculously overfeeding. One day I tested and trates were 80+ppm! I did posting on here and other forums and removed the LRR which had collected loads of debris only to find the zero flow zone under that grate. I siphoned that out it and was A "SLUGE" of detritus and other debris that was like chocolate milk as if you had added way too much powder mix so it wasn't all incorporated into the milk haha. So after I removed that grate and the grate in the 1st chamber and completely siphoned everything out of the back chambers and added a powerhead in the middle chamber to stir up anything that tries to settle, reduced feedings drastically, and added an MP10 to eliminate dead spots in my display, as well as stepping up my W.C. from every 2 weeks to every 5-7 dsays. Nitrates have decreased a lot.

 

NOW BACK TO THE CLAMS!!!! haha

[Bamato]

Is your new hood going to arrive before the clams do? You definately meet lighting requirements.

 

Your nitrates aren't necessarily dangerous for clams, it's the stability that counts. Aside from your Nitrates being lowered, as long as all your other parameters are in check and you hold them consistent, you should be ok.

 

You will want to start testing Magnesium as well with clams. And monitor Ca closely to calculate the clams usage.

 

One last note, don't "assume" things are at certain levels.... test... don't be shy/lazy.

[JayEeeTeeEss]

Yeah retro kit is in the mail and to arrive saturday and be installed that day and the manhattan reefs frag swap is sunday where I'm picking them up from. I will get a mag test kit so i can start testing that.

 

I'm worried about a large shock to my system regarding the bioload and calcium in my tank. I have these two clams coming as well as a bunch of tiny SPS frags, zoas and yumas. Didn't really think that it might be an issue until you said that about monitoring calcium for their usage. I also bought some pods that I was going to add for my scooter blenny. Will all of this be an issue? Should I do a W.C. on monday or tuesday or should I let everything level out for a few days?

[Bamato]

It won't take two clams and some SPS very long to burn through 100 Ca. Just keep an eye on it. Water changes are never a bad thing IMHO.

[JayEeeTeeEss]

Ok thanks for the input....

 

Bump for this question from above:

 

 

Also should I wait to put them in until my lights are in the higher stages of the acclimation period? I had posted this question on another thread and EVIL said that SPS should be fine with the prolonged acclimation period. Would this prolonged acclimation be a problem for the clams. I have a friend that if needed I could store the clams in his tank until i can put them into mine, but because of the fear of them attaching to his rockwork I would REALLY like to avoid this if it is possible.

[JayEeeTeeEss]

bump

[Bamato]

The clams will need acclimation too. Theres no reason you can't have them in there while you're acclimating.

[JayEeeTeeEss]

I figured it would be fine, however being new to the game and respecting the clams I wanted to just double check. Thanks Bamato

[cody6766]

Make sure you're testing alk as well. You need your big 4 (Ca, alk, Mg, nitrates) in line and stable for sps and clams.

 

The clams will pull Ca and alk from the system pretty fast. It's not something you can't keep up with, just make sure you have plenty of 2 part and test kits.

 

Enjoy your new clams! I just stepped back into the clam world yesterday. I kept a derasa for a long time, but a little copper in a water change took out most of the tank. I'm finally back in with a little maxima from Village Frags.

[Rockfish]

Make sure you're testing alk as well. You need your big 4 (Ca, alk, Mg, nitrates) in line and stable for sps and clams.

 

The clams will pull Ca and alk from the system pretty fast. It's not something you can't keep up with, just make sure you have plenty of 2 part and test kits.

 

Enjoy your new clams! I just stepped back into the clam world yesterday. I kept a derasa for a long time, but a little copper in a water change took out most of the tank. I'm finally back in with a little maxima from Village Frags.

 

 

 

little maximas are a no no.....hope he's over 2 inches for your sake

[vincienzo45]

I have a crocea under the nanotuner 5.6 kit w/crees and it loves it But definitely monitor your Ca & Kh cuz the clam will eat it up. Good luck!

[cody6766]

little maximas are a no no.....hope he's over 2 inches for your sake

Yup, about 3-4 inches. I said little because my derasa was around 6" or so. It's been through 2 weeks or so of QT and another few weeks in the tank, so it's likely to last. The seller is a very successful hobbiest-turned-entrepreneur whom I trust. No 1.5" clams at his place. It was aquacultured too.

[redfishsc]

Make sure you're testing alk as well. You need your big 4 (Ca, alk, Mg, nitrates) in line and stable for sps and clams.

 

+1, except I'd remove nitrates and replace it with phosphates as being in the top 4. The clams may actually like the nitrates, and the SPS are severely inhibited by any excess phosphate.

 

Nitrate can make for brown SPS, for sure, but the phosphate is much more trouble IMO, and I think in contributes more to pest algae growth as well.

[Nickeleye]

Dan, did you ever get it running with your RKE/ALC?

[Rockfish]

Yup, about 3-4 inches. I said little because my derasa was around 6" or so. It's been through 2 weeks or so of QT and another few weeks in the tank, so it's likely to last. The seller is a very successful hobbiest-turned-entrepreneur whom I trust. No 1.5" clams at his place. It was aquacultured too.

 

 

that's what I like to hear!!

 

I wish more online sites wouldn't sell such tiny clam to ppl that have little to no experience with them