do clams really need 0 nitrate?

mahmoud · May 9, 2014

I have heard a lot of people saying that to start a reef tank u have to manage ur nitrate level to be at zero or max of 10, than hear some people keeping all kinds of corals happy in a tank that has high nitrate up to 70 and some times 100.
my tank has always been at 40 nitrate and never worked with me to low it, my last try will be a nitrate reactor soon maybe next month.
with my nitrate up to 40 I have succeed on keeping corals.
now the question is do really clams need 0 nitrate? or is it just talks ? cuz am thinking of getting a clam

Davesgt · May 9, 2014

As far as keeping nitrate's at 0 for a reef tank id say I don't believe that is absolutely necessary, because a lot of corals that I have had in the past seem to like a higher number of nitrates in the system. This being said ive also had corals that looked like death was meeting them over a mere 5ppm of nitrate! Its almost like school, your gonna pass that class if you have a C but dang having an A makes you fell better about yourself and might reflect better later on down the road ( ok I guess what im trying to say is that its probably gonna make your system healthier striving for that lower nitrate mark) To fix the problem of nitrates is to evaluate your system ( what might be making such high numbers? overfeeding, too many fish, maybe even some dead spots in your tank where detritus builds up and turns into a nitrate haven) Also check your filtration maybe that sump is over due for a good cleaning or your bio balls, live rock, or whatever media you run might have some detritus build up. These are all good steps that might help along with good husbandry to your tank. Ok to your main question, can you keep a clam in less that perfect nitrate water? YES you can, how do I know this? I have a friend who has 2 beautiful large maximas in a tank that runs around 30ppm all the time. Is this healthy for the clam, not 100% sure but id say you could probably get a definite answer from our Clam guru Skin'z if you would like to PM him. One last thing if choosing a clam for your system my 2 cents would be to find a healthy larger clam as smaller ones seem to be more finicky. Hope this helps