clams

Question
hello david! i have a question regarding keeping clams in a
28 gallon nano cube. the tank has 105 watts of lighting. ( 2
ocellaris clowns 1 royal gramma 2 peppermint shrimp and one
frag of green zoanthids. is this enough? which clam would be
best? the tank has been set up for quite a few months now
and the ph is very low. around 7.5 is there a supplement for
this? which would be best? thanks!

Answer

Crocea Clam Hi Nick,

All great questions. Regarding "is this enough to stock your 28 gallon nano cube". Yes this is plenty. Let what you have grow. The green zoanthids will easily spread across a healthy maintained 28 gallon aquarium very quickly.

Regarding a clam for a 28 gallon nano cube:

Firstly when looking for a specimen, try to find an aqua-cultured clam, they may cost a bit more, but well worth it. They tend to be hardier, parasite and disease free, and are already accustomed to life in an aquarium. Not to mention this helps take the demand off of wild caught specimens that may have been caught and collected in other countries, using illegal methods. Try to find one more on the smaller side, but not too small...

Clams should be placed in established tanks that are over six months old and/or well established and stable. The reason behind this is that, like most all invertebrates, they do not tolerate rapid and/or large changes in various parameters such as salinity and ammonia/nitrate/nitrite/etc and a tank is still considered to be going through its initial cycling period and not truly 'stable' until about the 6 month mark.

The best species of clam for Nano tanks are the Crocea, Squamosa, and Maxima. Crocea can be kept in the smaller nano tanks, under 20 gallon, as they will reach a maximum size of about six inches while the Squamosa and Maxima's can reach sixteen inches when fully grown and as such, thought should be given to what to do with the clam when it gets too big for the tank. It is important to note that keeping a clam in a smaller tank is more difficult than a larger tank, over 29 gallons, due to the feeding and water quality requirements of the clam.

Regarding how to help keep the pH maintained in your aquarium:

One of the oldest methods used in the hobby to date, is to add kalkwasser to your reverse osmosis top-off water, and to your reverse osmosis water used for water changes. The ions in the kalkwasser raise the pH and help to keep it balanced. However for this method to work, make sure to follow the directions very carefully and make sure to mix the water extremely well to yield the best results of this skimmed solution.

To view a couple good kalkwasser products, see this link http://www.ocreef.com/kalkwasser
from our website.

Best Regards,
Dave

All Experts - Editor

OCReef.com - Director