Could I keep a clam in this?

incysor

New member
First off before you flame me I haven't bought anything yet.

I am looking to put together a small nano tank and I'd like to keep a clam and a mated pair of Harlequin shimp in it. I won't be keeing anything else in it other than perhaps a rock or two. I don't have enough light in my main tanks for clams, and I have other critters that would love to eat them anyway. So the main tank is out. I wasn't really planning on using much in the way of filtration on it because I'll be doing nearly a full water change every couple days from my main tanks. Now. Please tell me what's wrong with the idea, and what I can do to make it more feasible. I haven't tried to keep a clam, and I don't know much about them. I understand that some reqire more light than others so some might not be suitable for anything other than MH, even if the light is only 3 inches from them. Here's the tank I'm looking at.

http://www.fishsupply.com/cgi-bin/f2/common/store.cgi?dbname=f2&mode=item&path=top/S/SA/SAMJL-MT001

Thanks in advance.
 
From what I understand, clams need a fairly constant alkalinity and lots calcium. I think even with frequent water changes, it would be hard to keep those values constant in such a small volume. They would run out of suspended planktonic food to feed on too.

Maybe you could just plumb a smaller tank so it runs off your main tank. Like a refugium, but with clams and shrimp.
 
Someone who has experience with clams as well as a LOT of experience with reef tanks smaller than 10 gallons could probably do it. It doesnt sound like this is you so i will say no. Not because it is impossible but saying that managing a reef tank that small is difficult is an understatement. It will REQUIRE matenence several times a day - every day.


You need to work your way up/down to a tank that small. Start with a 10g reef. If you are sucessfull keeping coral for a year in it, try a 5. After a year of having a 5.5, step down to a 2.5. If you are having sucuss in your 2.5, and by success i dont mean, living, i mean thriving, you can try that tiny tank. And remember any tank needs to be set up for a year before you add a clam. If your corals arnt thriving dont put a clam in, it will just die.
 
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