Clam in tap water?

[spamin76]

Will clams tolerate tap water or do they prefer RO? I have heard that they do better on a system with higher nutrient loads than some RO systems provide. Would this work or is it a bad idea? I have been raising several soft and LPS corals in tap water for about 3 months and everything has been doing pretty well(my xenia loves it - it has put out so many new buds in the past 2 weeks that it is not even funny).

 

[Typhon]

Well I wouldn't recommend tap water at all for a saltwater tank. Tap water contains heavy metals, chorline, etc. Normally what people mean by higher nutrient load is dissolved organic matter.

But I have always keep clams with low nutrient water, high calcium and regular feedings (phytoplankton). All my clams are doing great with impressive growth rates..

 

[Typhon]

Also.. intensity lighting..

 

[spamin76]

All of my fish and corals have been pretty vibrant and healthy, so tap water has been working quite well for me so far - I have never had a fish or a coral die on me or even fail to thrive in tap water - then again I live in cincinnati which is one of the few places in the US that does multiple stage active filtration on all the water.

I was really just wondering how picky and tolerant clams were to any impurities in the water - I want to know "could it work" and don't want to buy one if the answer is no. (Until I can set up an RO at least). I just don't want to buy something that I had no chance in keeping alive at present - it would be kind of unethical - and it would be a waste of $75-100

 

[Typhon]

In my opinion, i wouldn't risk it.

some LPS and softies are normally more tolerate of water conditions. Have you every test your water?? For heavy metals?? Phosphate?? Nitrite?? Nitrate?? Slicate?? etc??

 

[pat_man_ta]

I kept my littleneck quahog in treated Boston tap water for several months and it did fine. I have it in NSW in my 3 gallon now and it looks better, but that may be because i added better light too. I used a mix of AnQuel Plus and another decontaminator that supposedly detoxifies heavy metals and red sea salt mix. I am topping off with filtered drinking water now.

 

[spamin76]

I have tests for everything but heavy metals and I test periodically - low in everything I test for except calcium - the water is kind of hard. But calcium in the tap water is not necessarily a bad thing . I probably won't risk it then. I do use a water additive which claims to remove heavy metals but have never tested the veracity of that claim.