High Nitrates

[Richard]

richard, do you think using those clams would pose a pathogenic threat to tridacnids?

No clue really. I thought about adding a bunch to my tank but was worried they would die off in my sandbed (they burrow) and give me problems. Many of the food clams prefer cooler temps than reef tanks usually run at.

[Ram_Puppy]

IPSF sells hawiian endemic sand bed clams if this is an approach anyone wants to take.

personally.. i think one full grown maxima would do more for water quality than 50 little sand bed clams... and maximas are far prettier.

[jessinator752]

this might be a dumb question, but what is a fuge? i've heard a lot of talk about them, but i have no idea what it is. i bought a 29 gal set up off of craigslist about 3 months ago. it came fully stocked with live sand, live rock, soft corals, and fish. my nitrates have been around 80 since i got it. i can't seem to bring those levels down. i do a regular 25% water change about every 5-7 days yet the levels stay the same. my livestock seem fine, everything appears to be growing, but every where i read online says you should have lower nitrates. i finally bought a protien skimmer (lee brand) last month and i clean that out regular as well. what do i need to do? is it ok to have a nitrate level of 80?

[Fin-Addict]

HEB sells live clams! We get them all the time (for hard to keep fish)!

[matt]

As Richard said, the HEB clams are cold water clams and would doubtedlessly not survive long in 80o water. But they sure are tasty!

[JimD]

Fuge = refugium, usualy a seperate tank plumbed to the main display tank with low flow to house nutrient absorbing macro algae like Chaetomorpha and other beneficial organisms. Can also be used as a sump to increse water volume. A search should produce much more information.

[jessinator752]

thank you for explaining that to me. i was wondering what fuge meant. this is my first saltwater tank so i'm still new to all the terms.

[Mr_Cool]

Do you have "Bio balls" in your wet/dry? I've never used them, but I hear they become nitrate factories after a while. I would slowly remove them and replace with some liverock rubble.

Again, that's just what I've heard.

[Bill S]

It is not unusual for the HEB clams to be exposed to 80 degree water in their natural environment. I grew up on the east coast, and as kids we clammed pretty regularly. The bays would regularly hit 80 in the summer. That being said, I'm sure they prefer the cooler temps, as we were about the southern limit for them (South Jersey).