# WOAH! thank god for clams!



## oscarlover43055 (Jun 7, 2008)

Freshwater clams, the natural filter, my tank was getting cloudy, and seemed to have bacteria, well after I added 4 clams, overnight my nitrates and nitrites went to 0 and the water looked like saltwater. I am telling you these things are amazing! Just make sure your fish are well fed before you put em in there . They burry themselves into the gravel/sand/substate, can burrow below items in the tank. The guy at the fishstore told me they will lower nitrates nitrites and eat bacteria out of your water.. Get yourself some  .. Besides has anyone ever been to a aquarium adventures? I WILL NEVER go to another fish store again.. Anyone else have them or want to try them?


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## cevvin (May 2, 2008)

Which snails are you talking about?


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## oscarlover43055 (Jun 7, 2008)

cevvin said:


> Which snails are you talking about?


I met clams, not snails!.. If a mod could fix that please do. And the freshwater clams are what the store calls them, they need 0 salt what so ever, and are extremely neat. They clean up excess food and remove bacteria/nitrates/nitrites.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Done  Be sure you don't just go to a lake and grab some clams out of it... They are filter feeders true... but in the wild they also contain things you don't want in your tank! 

Seceretly I'm going to grab some from a lake I know of and keep them in with some goldfish  Shhhh... don;t tell anyone...


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## Shroob (May 7, 2008)

Have to voice my sceptism here. Clams don't remove nitrate, if anything they add to the bioload. Clams feed on greenwater, which is hard to replicate in aquarium conditions and the majority of clams will die, slowly starving to death.

A link explaining it abit better than I can:
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=169129&st=0&p=1402389&#entry1402389

In short clams don't remove nitrates/toxins/pollutants, they add to the bioload, are a pain to feed and will most likely starve to death.


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## oscarlover43055 (Jun 7, 2008)

Take it for what its worth, the biologist at the fish store(more like fish mall) with over 1000 tanks crystal clear keeps at least 1 clam in all his freshwater tanks. and no I wouldn't get em out of a lake  i got em for 4.99 at the fish place . aquarium adventures.


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## Shroob (May 7, 2008)

*Correlation is not causation.* _Just because a fish tank has clams in them and the water is crystal clear doesn't mean that the clams are responsible for it_.

Fact - clams don't remove nitrate. They may filter small particles out of the water that indirectly helps keep water clear, but they do not remove nitrates/nitrites/ammonia or other toxins. They are a pain to feed and the vast majority slowly starve to death.


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## oscarlover43055 (Jun 7, 2008)

I'm sorry, I just had a biologist tell me that :S


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## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

Oscar - your "biologist" is wrong. I'm a biochemistry and biology dual major and I'm telling you - freshwater clams do not "reduce" nitrates whatsoever.


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## Shroob (May 7, 2008)

I just read my post again, it comes across as abit stern, sorry for that. I was just trying to point out that clams don't remove pollutants, they add to the bioload.

If your LFS is telling you this I would try and find another, or see if it was a mistake and correct them politely.


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## nomadofthehills (May 24, 2005)

Why is this "biologist" (salesman) working in a fish store?


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## BlackShark11k (Feb 16, 2007)

When these guys die they cloud up the water real bad... beware.


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## oscarlover43055 (Jun 7, 2008)

artemis1 said:


> When these guys die they cloud up the water real bad... beware.


Not when you have a pool filter on your 125, lol


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## oscarlover43055 (Jun 7, 2008)

Okay, not litterly a pool filter.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Now amount of filtration removes all nitrates. Water changes are still very much in demand!


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## BlackShark11k (Feb 16, 2007)

oscarlover43055 said:


> artemis1 said:
> 
> 
> > When these guys die they cloud up the water real bad... beware.
> ...


umm, no it doesn't matter if you have a dozen pool filters, it won't get rid of the cloudiness. only water changes will.


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