cycling tank with clam

[TheSaltySpitoon]

im using a SALT water clam ..... the ones you use to cook and eat to cycle my tank good idea or what? he came out of his shell it was cool. willl that be enough to cycle tank--- these kind of clams http://pics.livejournal.com/chubbypanda/pic/003aabd2

[coralmansan]

Do you have live rock? Usually the die off from the live rock would be enough to cycle the tank. I've heard of people using peel and eat shrimp to cycle a tank but I have never tried using a dead critter to do it. I like to put my live rock in, wait about 2 weeks (with big water changes once a week), then turn lights on and get some micro algae to grow, then watch the copepods cover the tank.

[TheSaltySpitoon]

Originally Posted by coralmansan

Do you have live rock? Usually the die off from the live rock would be enough to cycle the tank. I've heard of people using peel and eat shrimp to cycle a tank but I have never tried using a dead critter to do it. I like to put my live rock in, wait about 2 weeks (with big water changes once a week), then turn lights on and get some micro algae to grow, then watch the copepods cover the tank.

noo hes alive!! i seen him coming out of his shell.... hes deffentaly alive

[Frankie]

A clam coming out of it's shell is dead. That is a reaction due to loss of life.
Yes it will help speed up your cycle. I agree though with the rock idea.

[slakker]

Looks like manila clams... I'm not sure the clams do anything in terms of "cycling". The cycling process is basically letting the tank go through a nitrogen cycle. So die off from live rock or live sand (or some people use a chunk of dead shrimp) will produce ammonia, that let's that bacteria grow and work to convert to nitrites then different bacteria grow and work to convert to nitrates which in turn gets mote bacteria to convert to free nitrogen.

Some people use a live cheap fish like damsels as they speed up the creation of nitrogen as that's produced in their waste. It also puts some "life" into an otherwise "boring" tank for the first few weeks.

A clam as far as I know actually will use up dissolved organics in the water so it actually will "eat" some of the ammonia as it filters the water. So unless it dies, it may actually slow your tanks cycle (albeit negligibly).

Just to clarify, I'm not an expert, but this is what I'm deducing from what I've read.

[BigAl07]

I'd pull the clam OUT if it's still alive. The "Cycle" will be cruel and surely wipe it out if it's not already dead. As mentioned above you want "Dead Matter" in there to decay and "Feed" the cycle.

I'm head set against using a Damsel or any other living critter to "feed" the cycle. The ammonia spike (if it doesn't kill them) will permanently damage their gills and other organs greatly reducing their life span. Yeah they are cheap but they are ALIVE!!

[lcstorc]

I've never heard of a live clam leving it's shell. Assuming it is alive then it will not help the cycle.
I assume it is dead in which case as it rotts it will provide the amonia source you need to kick off the cycle, It will so the same thing as the deli shrimp. Basically you just need some source of amonia to start the cycle. It can be something rotting or some people use household amonia. People used to use damsels and their waste became the amonia source but we now know much more about the cycle and do not need to torture live animals to start the cycle.