Cleaner clams?

[rmorris_14]

I was looking at an online provider invert section and they had "cleaner clams" for sale.

Cleaner Clam (mercenaria mercenaria)

Cleaner clams are great for filter feeding! These are our personal favorites when it comes to filter feeding, great for reducing nitrates and phosphates, but especially nitrates. They appear to be quite comfortable almost anywhere we put them, but appear to favor a sand bed. Please Note: Due to...

coralsanonymous.com

Kind of curious if anyone else has had these in their tanks.

What are everyones thoughts on these?

 

[charles7]

That’s actually cool! They have these in my lake near my house for freshwater (not the same same thing but ya know similar looks and all). I’ve seen the freshwater ones I have near me on website for sale. Never seen them in tanks and didn’t know they were for saltwater too

 

[rmorris_14]

That’s actually cool! They have these in my lake near my house for freshwater (not the same same thing but ya know similar looks and all). I’ve seen the freshwater ones I have near me on website for sale. Never seen them in tanks and didn’t know they were for saltwater too

RIGHT?!?!... I'm kind of an invert nerd. The fact that I didn't even know this was thing kind of makes me wonder why I didn't know about this lol.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

RIGHT?!?!... I'm kind of an invert nerd. The fact that I didn't even know this was thing kind of makes me wonder why I didn't know about this lol.

I was buying littleneck clams from the gorcery store for my CBB when it was first introduced. I would keep them in the sump, as somehow they were still alive on ice when purchased. After a bit, I would lose 1-2 here or there, as they would bury in the sand. I just kept getting 3-4 every time I would go to the store. Lose 1 or so, find 1 that was from before and repeat. I no longer feed the cbb clams on the half shell, as it eats my DIY frozen food, which has clam strips in it.

Needless to say, I now have 5 in my 180 display and 4-5 in my sump lol. They move around the sand and the only hint they are there are their necks just barely sticking out of the sand lol. Being as they move around, them and my decorated goby keep it pretty clean. I have had them spawn once, but it was nothing like if snails or anemones spawned. Much lighter "cloudiness" and the corals seemed to love it.

Funny thing on little necks, is that they eat cyano, diatoms and dinos. I have never had issues with those things above the sand bed, but always some have been present below the sand where it meets the glass. That has been reduced to about nothing since moving them to the DT. There is still some here or there, but not near as much.

 

[rmorris_14]

I was buying littleneck clams from the gorcery store for my CBB when it was first introduced. I would keep them in the sump, as somehow they were still alive on ice when purchased. After a bit, I would lose 1-2 here or there, as they would bury in the sand. I just kept getting 3-4 every time I would go to the store. Lose 1 or so, find 1 that was from before and repeat. I no longer feed the cbb clams on the half shell, as it eats my DIY frozen food, which has clam strips in it.

Needless to say, I now have 5 in my 180 display and 4-5 in my sump lol. They move around the sand and the only hint they are there are their necks just barely sticking out of the sand lol. Being as they move around, them and my decorated goby keep it pretty clean. I have had them spawn once, but it was nothing like if snails or anemones spawned. Much lighter "cloudiness" and the corals seemed to love it.

Funny thing on little necks, is that they eat cyano, diatoms and dinos. I have never had issues with those things above the sand bed, but always some have been present below the sand where it meets the glass. That has been reduced to about nothing since moving them to the DT. There is still some here or there, but not near as much.

Are there any potential downsides to keeping them in the tank? I started reading and it says they need nitrates to survive. I am SUPER good on those (Check). hahaha

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I haven't kept any yet, but with these and other "human food" clams you could not only keep them but breed them if you wanted to - they're not nearly as difficult as some other bivalves.

Mercenaria mercenaria (A.K.A. Northern Quahog, Hard Clam, Cherrystone Clam, Topneck Clam, and Littleneck Clam) - you can feed the broodstock clams and rear the young on a diet of Isochrysis galbana (clone T. Iso) and Chaetoceros gracilis. As was mentioned, they'll eat cyano, diatoms, dinos, and pretty much any other microalgae that comes their way, but they are filter feeders, so don't expect them to go hunting these down if you have an outbreak. They can live in warm waters, but they prefer colder waters (~65-72F).

If your tank is small or you have a lot of (read: way too many) clams, they might drain the nutrients from your tank pretty quickly, but for most people that doesn't really seem to be an issue.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Are there any potential downsides to keeping them in the tank? I started reading and it says they need nitrates to survive. I am SUPER good on those (Check). hahaha

I run 10-15 no3 and .08-.1 PO4 and they seem to do fine. I also dose phyto, aminos and the slurry from my DIY food contains all of the before mentioned items. With this level of broad feeding, they seem to do fine along with everything else in there, including NPS corals.

As @ISpeakForTheSeas mentioned, they do prefer colder waters, but seem to do well in my reef at 76 degrees. (+/- .5 F)