in one of the 55 gal sumps i made recently i devoted a small section of the tank to larger gravel that i took out of the 125 gal. that it now filters. my original thought was that it would help start some of the nessesary bacteria in the filter, and provide another step of filtration. about 3 weeks after hooking up and running the sump i came across small freshwater snails at a local resivoir. i scooped as many as i could find into a bucket i had with me and brought them home, where i set up a small tank, and put the clams on meds just as a precaution. it has been just over 2 weeks since... so now my question is, if i add these small freshwater clams to the substrated section of my sump, i know they are filter feeders and will act as another form of filtration, but will the waste the clams produce defeat the purpose of having them?? i figure i will just keep an eye on my water quality, but has anybody else out there tried this???
to clean or not to clean
- Thread starter fishmanbob87
- Start date
Certain clams are fish parasites when young. Be sure to ID them and find out their entire life cycle before adding them to any tank with fish.
Otherwise, yes. I believe the benefits of adding a clam outweigh the waste it puts out, in that the clam is a toxin concentrator. As long as you remove the clam before it dies, you've done a great thing for your system. If one dies and you don't notice, it will nastify things temporarily but still be fine after a few water changes in a 125g with a 55g as a sump.
Otherwise, yes. I believe the benefits of adding a clam outweigh the waste it puts out, in that the clam is a toxin concentrator. As long as you remove the clam before it dies, you've done a great thing for your system. If one dies and you don't notice, it will nastify things temporarily but still be fine after a few water changes in a 125g with a 55g as a sump.