13 clams and counting. got a nice crocea and one of the 6-7 inch tahitian maxis
part of him
Wow! Nice one Paul. Really like that color.
I wonder with all the clams you are getting if you are going to have to start to add masses of nutrients for them soon. Dr. Mac talks about how they suck Nitrates out of his system in no time when he gets a large system. Have you read much about clam propagation and what they have to do and figured out if you will need to do something special in your system? Just thinking out loud.
jon, thanks, i have not read anything along those lines. any links? don’t understand the “clam propagation,” or is that the official term for keeping them. the way i see it, i am well understocked, and if i keep up with water changes, things might be ok, chemically.
two days ago my params were perfect, with ca of 425 and kh at 8+ no dosing, except for kalkwasser. high evaporation about 2 gals a day. just skimming. zero on all oother relevant numbers, but have not tested for mag.
insofar as nutrients, i feed the fish every day at least some, and every other day a bit more than a cube of food, plus some flakes, and spot pellet feeding of corals twice a week for waste. is that what you mean?
i can use some elucidation.
I am by far not an expert on clams, but it would make sense to me that if they appreciate a little Nitrates in the water and a large quantity of them could clean the Nitrates out of a system then it may be a limiting factor for good health and growth long term. Now to what extent I don’t know.
I also know thought that clams filter out a decent amount of plankton out of the water column. While in a well stocked decent sized system I am sure 1-2 clams wouldn’t make a significant impact, but at which point you need to add plankton yourself I don’t know.
As far as clam propagation I mean where many of the “Aquacultured” clams come from. They are often maricultured though(meaning they use water from right out of the ocean often times with a continuous water change) I believe there are some YouTube videos, but I can’t get YouTube working on this Windows 7 machine right now. The people in charge of, or who study, these endeavors may have some insight into this. Chris may know as well.
Again it’s just me thinking out loud and questioning things like all of my Biology professors tought me to. You may not need to do anything more then you are currently.
One of the best looking clams I have ever seen, Good Luck with it Paul. And thanks for the pics.
Hey Paul
I’d like to see a full shot of the big clam!! Also they had a real bright green one was it still there??
I’ve heard mixed thoughts on those clams thats why I don’t have one yet very interested on how it does for ya.
As far as the nitrates in the water it is beneficial to the clams they do feed off of it and it does help. I have no nitrates in my water and only a very small amount of phosphate and mine do just fine and there growing. Don’t know if they’d grow better with little nitrate or not , I’m not sure about adding it I have to many natural filters install to remove is maybe a very diluted target solution ??? who knows
I’m not even sure how you could safely add Nitrates. I know someone that would have some insight though. She added Nitrates to a dedicated tank to help sea grass grow as it was a limiting factor. Ken knows her and may have some contact info or insight on this as he saw a presentation she did on this topic.
I’m curious.
hey bill. u mean this one, right. he’s still there
lovely clam
here’s the full shot including the flash
jon, i’m adding nitrates by feeding, then fish excrete, amm to trites to trates seems to me. clams are using the nitrates as supplemental to lighting produced food.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:7, topic:2601”]
I’m not even sure how you could safely add Nitrates. I know someone that would have some insight though. She added Nitrates to a dedicated tank to help sea grass grow as it was a limiting factor. Ken knows her and may have some contact info or insight on this as he saw a presentation she did on this topic.
I’m curious. [/quote]
There is a nitrate additive that can be added DPA sells it. More for plants, I was talking to Chris&Barb about it when we were talking about vodka dosing.
Yes Paul thats the one. If I wasn’t getting the tear drop I have it already. Oh and the tear drop will be here possibly next Saturday, gone to pick it up.
WARNING- you have to many clams. i will do the right thing and stop by this weekend to take a couple off your hands.
PBJ!
[quote=“Rich_17, post:11, topic:2601”]
WARNING- you have to many clams. i will do the right thing and stop by this weekend to take a couple off your hands.
PBJ![/quote]
Good deal go get Paul’s 
Rich can take half of Paul’s. I’ll take half of Bill’s. We need to be responsible reef keepers here. 
just bought a python and a cobra. sneak past them, confront a sea snake.
and i rented a gangbanger.
c’mon down! slap-stick
Nice clam Paul. I have been looking at those. If yours does well I just might have to pick one up.
[quote=“Ento_Reefer, post:15, topic:2601”]
Nice clam Paul. I have been looking at those. If yours does well I just might have to pick one up.[/quote]
thnx elln, he looks fine this morning. i check them and all my clammies at night and mornin for snail bstrds, and see nothing.
Nice clams Moli! They call that a bakers dozen. I guess they can take in nitrates by their zooxanthalae absorbing it for photosynthesis. Other wise i thought they live on filtering phytoplankton and zooplankton from the water. the phtyo would also eat the nitrates, and then the clams eat them,eh? you could grow green water to feed their tank. i bet they would like that too.