Is it necessary for tank to be aged before adding clams??

[Reefjunkee]

Should the tank be aged before adding clams???I have a 90 gallon with 550 watts of 14k MH`s and actinics.It`s been up and running for about 3 weeks.I had a 24g system that was about 9 months old that I swapped the rock and water to the new tank..All my corals are thriving.All water perameters are pristine.ca-450,0 ammonia,0 nitrite,0 nitrate.kh-10

 

[MrChico]

It would help, you will still see some parameter swings on into the 3rd and 4th month, and with them algea blooms and die offs.

 

[Omar H]

I'd vote for waiting on the tank to become stable before adding clams. They do require stable parameters and some organic nutrition that you would only get in an established tank.

JMO, others may have had different experiences.

Omar

 

[Sk8r]

I just added a clam in our 4th month, and it has done well since. I don't think it would have a month earlier, because of the food issue. You pretty well have to feed phytoplankton (green soup) to the clam, and if you start dumping phyto into a new tank that doesn't have enough biosystem yet, you may get algae problems that won't be easy to resolve.

 

[Reefjunkee]

I have about 135lbs of rock.About 25 came from from my 24nano that ran for about 8 or 9 months and the rest came from another reefers tank that was established for a few years.About 60lbs of livesand.Should I still wait a few months???Thanks for all the info.

 

[hairymushroom]

Even though the rock was established , your tank still went through a cycle , 3 weeks is too early to be thinking of adding anything to your tank , let alone a clam

 

[Kaykay55]

I would say wait 4 months or so until you add a clam. Do your research

 

[Ti]

I would wait

 

[coralfarmer84]

Its a good idea to wait BUT if your like me and had to have one, i put a crocea into my new system after only one month. 9 months later he has grown about 2 inches and is just as gorgeous as day 1. I do agree with the people above, waiting is nice.... but i'm just couldn't pass it up. If you transferred rock and such from your other tank, I don't see there being a huge problem. just my .02

 

[thorsen]

When I started my tank I had no knowledge and just added things willy nilly. Three clams went in within the first month. Needless to say early on I had some high fatality rates, but the clams have all thrived.

 

[LBCBJ]

Clams over 2-3 inches really don't need any supplemental feeding, but of course it won't hurt. Still, I would wait at least 3 or 4 months to get stable tanks parameters and to simply get some experince under your belt. Clams need very stable water chemistry that is simply not there in a young tank.