using clams to help lower nitrates???

[SharkBait_Mtl]

I have read and heard that a clam can help lower nitrates and nutrients.. is this true??? I have been fighting high nitrates and nutrients since I started this hobby.

If this is the case... is one clam better than another to do this??? which clam would you suggest??

any other ideas to help combat my high nutrients and nitrates would be appreciated...


thank in advance

 

[sassafrass]

The brighter color the clam is the more light is required to keep it . I don't think a clam is a good choice to lower nitrates as they require good water quality to start out with , zenia however will grow best in higher nutrient water and pulls nutrients directly out of the water column.
Lee

 

[greenbean36191]

Agreed with sassafrass. Tridacna clams are the only ones that will reduce nitrate and it's only under certain conditions. Even then the reduction is very minor. The problem is that like all animals, clams are nitrate produces, not consumers. It's the zooxanthellae that are reducing the nitrate. In order to produce a net reduction in nitrate, conditions have to be such that the clam is producing less nitrate than the zooxanthellae require for day to day maintenance.

Like sassafrass mentioned, they also need high lighting, which can be an algae nightmare in a tank with high nutrients.

You need to find the source of the nitrate- excess food, bioballs or mechanical filters, overstocking, bad water, accumulating detritus, etc. and cut back on it or eliminate it. Then export such as large water changes, siphoning, macroalgae, heavy skimming, and fast growing corals should be the next wave. If you still can't get things under control after a few months, it's probably and indication of stocking issues.

 

[SharkBait_Mtl]

I believe my lighting is good... 48" Geisseman (2x purple actinics) and 2x 250W MH)

as for water quality what do i need? my only problem is high nitrates...

0 phosphate
400 calcium
dKH ~143
ammonia 0.25
nitrates 50ish

 

[BurntOutReefer]

When was your last water change? Thats getting into yellow zone, even for a FOWLR.......and IMO, keep an eye on how much you feed.....and 50ish is danger zone for corals....even hardy ones like mushrooms.....

 

[SharkBait_Mtl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12965997#post12965997 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenbean36191
Agreed with sassafrass. Tridacna clams are the only ones that will reduce nitrate and it's only under certain conditions. Even then the reduction is very minor. The problem is that like all animals, clams are nitrate produces, not consumers. It's the zooxanthellae that are reducing the nitrate. In order to produce a net reduction in nitrate, conditions have to be such that the clam is producing less nitrate than the zooxanthellae require for day to day maintenance.

Like sassafrass mentioned, they also need high lighting, which can be an algae nightmare in a tank with high nutrients.

You need to find the source of the nitrate- excess food, bioballs or mechanical filters, overstocking, bad water, accumulating detritus, etc. and cut back on it or eliminate it. Then export such as large water changes, siphoning, macroalgae, heavy skimming, and fast growing corals should be the next wave. If you still can't get things under control after a few months, it's probably and indication of stocking issues.

I jst did a 3 day light out last week... almost all of my cyano is gone.

as for feeding I thought that was the issue... but I am barely feeding the tank now... auto feeder once a day and rinsed mysis and dried nori with selcon for the last 1.5-2 months. And I see that my fish look a little skinny.

no bioballs or mechanical filtration is used. I have a skimmer that i empty skimate every 2-3 days and I have recently added a phosban reactor with activated carbon. I have about 120 lbs of live rock in my 90 DT. I have a 60 sump/refuge with cheato in it.

I use RODI with filters recently changed. I tested newly mixed water and nitarates/ammonia are at 0. I have been doing 20g water changes every 2-3 days since last saturday. I had a small ammonia bloom from an unknown source. Possibly all the dead cyano?

as for stocking I have a maroon clown, a blue hippo tang, a yellow tang, an ornate wrasse, and a mandarin. 5 large turbos, 15-20 smaller snails, and 5 blue legged hermits as cleaning crew.

I had 2 cleaner shrimp and a fire shrimp. one cleaner and the fire smrimp I have not seen since I put them in the tank and the other cleaner I found dead, stuck to one of my powerheads a few weeks ago.

Fast growing corals.... what do you suggest???

 

[MinnFish]

What are you auto feeding (food type)? How much?

 

[SharkBait_Mtl]

these are the test kits, additives, and food that I use...

I mix the color bits and the formula 2 flakes in the autofeeder

I forgot to mention that I use Coral Frenzy once a week for the corals as well
I just got all that frozen food from someone who sold his tank... have not used any of it yet.. does frozen food have a shelf life?

 

[SharkBait_Mtl]

I went to a LFS today to have them check my water.... I had a feeling that my test kits were not right and these are the results they gave me... all the tests were done with aquarium pharmaceutical test kits.


pH 7.9
ammonia 0.25
no2 0.25
no3 100 :eek2:
phosphate 0
ca 300
kH 7 drops
gravity 1.026

I am doing 20g water changes every 2-3 days and my nitratres dont seem to go down...

would getting xenias really help to lower my nutrient/nitate problem?

greenbean mentioned something about fast growing corals are adding xenias what he meant?? are there other fast growing corals that I could add?

PLEASE HELP

 

[Batfly]

what's your bioload/ how many fish and inverts do you have?

 

[cabbage2003]

what type of sand is in your rdsb? are you able to take it offline? do a 50% water change and do a test right afterwards. do the numbers change?

 

[SALT WATER CRAZ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12969001#post12969001 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SharkBait_Mtl
I went to a LFS today to have them check my water.... I had a feeling that my test kits were not right and these are the results they gave me... all the tests were done with aquarium pharmaceutical test kits.


pH 7.9
ammonia 0.25
no2 0.25
no3 100 :eek2:
phosphate 0
ca 300
kH 7 drops
gravity 1.026

I am doing 20g water changes every 2-3 days and my nitratres dont seem to go down...

would getting xenias really help to lower my nutrient/nitate problem?

greenbean mentioned something about fast growing corals are adding xenias what he meant?? are there other fast growing corals that I could add?

PLEASE HELP

I would not add any live stock to this tank till you get your paramiters under control.


Are you useing ro/di????

 

[greenbean36191]

Agreed, if you have any ammonia in an established tank there's something seriously wrong with the filtration. Have you been using any sort of medication lately?

 

[crazywesc]

Looks to me like your tank is going through another cycle. Have you had a fish go missing lately? Are your inverts still alive?
I'm not sure but can a tank cycle from to many water changes?
Maybe you changed to much water to quick tyring to get your nitrates down and took to much of the benificial bacteria out of the water colum. But that would probably have to be a massive water change.

 

[martinphillip03]

Thats a very good question. How long have you personally had the tank set up?

Marty

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12969481#post12969481 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by crazywesc
Looks to me like your tank is going through another cycle. Have you had a fish go missing lately? Are your inverts still alive?
I'm not sure but can a tank cycle from to many water changes?
Maybe you changed to much water to quick tyring to get your nitrates down and took to much of the benificial bacteria out of the water colum. But that would probably have to be a massive water change.

 

[SharkBait_Mtl]

I have a blue hippo tang, a yellow tang, a maroon clown, an ornate wrasse, and a mandarin. Cleaning crew is 5 large turbo snails, 20 or so smaller snails, and 5 blue legged hermits.

none of my fish are missing. as for the 2 missing shrimp I cannot find them anywhere... they disappeared the day after i put them into the tank over 2 months ago.

My corals dont seem to be bothered by the water quality. I actually found an acro frag that had fallen during the light out and was half white... it is starting to get most of it's color back. My open brain seems to be loving the nitrates... I have never seen it sooo big.

will dying corals produce ammonia/nitrite/nitrate??? my mushroom and a candycane that I have, have never fully recovered from my near tank crash 2 months ago and are still in the tank.

(I was told to try AZNO3 to try and lower nitates and it killed most of my corals)

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~additives_azno3.html

as for water changes I have done 4-5 20g in the last 2 weeks.

the fine aragonite sand in my RDSB is about 1.5-2 years old.

I only got the ammonia bloom after I did the 3 day light out last week. but it has gone down dramatically. ammonia was at 2 last weekend.

I am using RO/DI.. filters were changed 2 weeks ago. tested the water and there is no nitrate or ammonia.

the only way I can do a 50% water change is if I get 2 more 20g rubbermaid garbage bins and then get the water.... my RODI does not make water that fast. I also live in an apt so space is very limited. If I get 2 more bins to make and prep water my wife will kill me.

Also... with all the water that I have changed, and then doing another 50%... wont the tank cycle again?


ever since my near disaster 2 months ago (AZNO3) I have not added any medictaion / additives to the tank.

I started my 60g cube 2 years ago and then transfered everything to the 90 last year.

 

[SharkBait_Mtl]

ok.... I talked my wife into letting me get another 2 garbage bins.
so I will be doing a massive water change today if I can get enough water.

I have a question that still remains unanswered... IF I do a massive (50%) water change with all the other water changes that I have done in the last 2 weeks will my tank cycle again?

If the tank does cycle again does that mean that I will have to take out all my fish and corals and try to find them a home until the tank cycles?

and ALSO I will be moving in to my 1st house anywhere between aug6 and aug 28. If I do this massive water change, does this mean that I will have to keep all this water and move it?? or do I do another massive water change in 3-6 weeks?

 

[Leopard Man]

Yes, your tank will probably cycle again if you do a big water change. I would move all the livestock out if you can to another tank that is cycled and matured. Or I would use an ammonia detoxifier product like Seachem Prime or Kordon Amquel. With this you can keep your livestock in your tank, and it will detoxify your ammonia, at the same time, your tank can still fulfill its cycling process.

When you move house, and if your tank is cylcled, keep as much water as possible.

 

[SharkBait_Mtl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12973636#post12973636 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Leopard Man
Yes, your tank will probably cycle again if you do a big water change. I would move all the livestock out if you can to another tank that is cycled and matured. Or I would use an ammonia detoxifier product like Seachem Prime or Kordon Amquel. With this you can keep your livestock in your tank, and it will detoxify your ammonia, at the same time, your tank can still fulfill its cycling process.

When you move house, and if your tank is cylcled, keep as much water as possible.

are these products safe for corals?

 

[Leopard Man]

I've tried Seachem Prime before when my ammonia reached 1, and I had LPS and clams, they did ok and survived. Not sure if they are safe with softies and SPS though.