transporting from the coast.

[caferacermike]

I brought back another bucket of critters for a friend and was surprised when I opened the 2 buckets of Port A goodies I brought back.

Here are some pics to help explain the difference.
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/caferacermike/100_3092.jpg

My bucket is the crystal clear one.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/caferacermike/100_3093.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/caferacermike/100_3093-1.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/caferacermike/100_3094.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/caferacermike/100_3096.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/caferacermike/100_3095.jpg

I was surprised to see one so clear and the other so murky and with a bad smell. Everything is alive in both buckets. Both buckets were filled at the last minute with clean water from the same spot. Both had bubblers. Both rode in the same spot in the truck.

While standing on the beach a huge wave washed away all the sand and exposed thousands of tiny clams under our feet. It was neat to watch them instantly begin burying themselves. The next wave we were ready with nets. We scooped up about a thousand and tossed them in the bucket along with a strand of sargassum. Anyone care to agree with me that the clams may have helped keep the water so clear? My water was not that clear over night at the hotel. Could doing this help preserve more of our brought home wildlife next time? Were the clams a good idea or bad? I was thinking about tossing them all in my sump, that's why they ended up in the bucket.

[blueboy]

if they live, i don't see how they wouldn't be a good adition to a fuge, being that they are filter feeders, and may even spawn you some free coral food. i would just be worried about if they didn't live, and they were under the sand, so you might not notice, and a dead clam is a nasty thing, i wouldn't want to think about 1000 dead clams!

[blueboy]

looks like you found some other neat things too.

[urban79]

Where did you get all that stuff.

[LoneStar]

Very interesting Mike. Looks like all those filter feeders helped out with the water. Not sure if they would work in the fuge or not. Maybe worth a shot to see. If anything, they would help out for the ride home and then dispose of them after your primo stuff made it back??

[JimD]

This thread is not about the "what I got" or "where I got it". There will be plenty of other threads for that. Just looking for folks that want to take a scientific or educated guess as to whether it helped or not.

I would say that the evidence speaks for itself. All factors being the equal except one bucket has just murky water and no clams and the other has clear water and clams, knowing that clams are basicly filter feeders, logic would lead me to believe that the clams were 100% responsible for the clean water.

[oceancube]

is that a trigger i see in the picture with the clean water??? thats nice find!!! so small

[stoneroller]

The clams probably contributed to clearer water. That being said, I personally wouldn't have added that many to my
transportation bucket if my goal was to bring back fish, too risky. The sargo may have helped as well.

[TroyPham]

the little clams are fine. they will live for months in a dsb. i keep them in my sump for almost a year before breaking the tank down to move.

they are good to eat too. small but good to eat. they also make good fish food.

[caferacermike]

Not that it matters at all anymore but I was going to post pics of the second bucket today. I did a 50% water change and added about 200 of those clams to that bucket around 8:00pm and at 3:30 pm today the bucket was crystal clear and the fish were swimming all over, plus the anemone was open.

[txstateunivreefer]

do you think the clams have a potental for lowering dangerous levels of trates etc inside of a tank? ive heard that our maxima derassas etc do contribute to lowering nitrates just curious if those would too

[cbianco]

do you think the clams have a potental for lowering dangerous levels of trates etc inside of a tank? ive heard that our maxima derassas etc do contribute to lowering nitrates just curious if those would too

This is a good question! I have read that the dersa clam is good at lowering nitrates.

Question would be, Are these particular clams either related to the dersa or Are they another type of clam that will infact lower nitrates as well.

Mike was also wondering, since clams are filter feeders, would they provide filter services on a larger level since he has so many of them. I personally would give it a try.

The two potential problems that I can see are;

1. Does Mike in fact have enough disovled organics in his tank to support these clams?

2. What if they started to die off enmass? how much would this affect your tank chemistry.

Let us know how it turns out Mike!

Christopher :)

[taldrich13]

If they are anything like zebra mussels, they'll do a heck of a job clearing that bucket/your tank.

http://www.glsc.usgs.gov/main.php?content=research_invasive_zebramussel&tit le=Invasive%20Invertebrates0&menu=research_invasiv e_invertebrates

Great for scuba diving. Bad for the local critters.

From the website:

Zebra mussels affect natural ecosystems both directly and indirectly. The greatest direct impact relates to the mussel’s feeding behavior. Zebra mussels are filter feeders and process up to 1 gallon of water per day/mussel. During this process, every particle in the water column is removed and either eaten by the mussels or wrapped in mucus and spit out. This feeding ability, in combination with high population densities, rapidly clears the water of even the largest lakes. Since zebra mussels became established in Lake Erie, water clarity has increased from 6 inches to 30 feet in some areas. Unfortunately, the material removed from the water consists of other live animals and algae that supply food for larval fish and other invertebrates. In response to this changing food supply, populations of some animals have begun to decline.

I wonder how effective they'd be at replacing your skimmer :o

[taldrich13]

How about an update, Mike? Are they still alive and keeping the water clear?

I'm going to the coast next weekend and wondering if I should pick some up for myself.

[Richard]

do you think the clams have a potental for lowering dangerous levels of trates etc inside of a tank? ive heard that our maxima derassas etc do contribute to lowering nitrates just curious if those would too

Absolutely but it takes alot of them. I think you need to find a species that would fair better in our aquariums long term, not ones that live in a surf zone. Someday I want to go down and do some collecting in the grass beds, I'm sure if there are any small sandbed bivalve species there that they would be better suited to aquarium/refugium life. IPSF sells some but it would be a small fortune to get enough to make a real difference IMO.

Self Edited - You missed one Brian.

[mathias]

I would wonder about the clams or mussels waste? with cleaning so much of the debris or other stuff in the water what is it putting back into the water?

[greenmako]

Thread has been cleaned up any off topic post on this thread will result in a warning

[C.Mydas]

This is such a great thread! Are they still alive?