Clams and reducing Nitrates..

[Paradox]

How efficient are clams in reducing Nitrates? My tank always has some ranging 5-15. I just added a Squamosa and it seems to be doing well. Do clams make any signifant reduction in Nitrates at all?

I know...I do have a canister, but Im cleaning it as often as I can. I also still have the bio bale in my bak pac skimmer which is probably adding to the nitrates. Ive been slowly removing it, but Im afraid that I wont have enough biological filtration. I only have about 40lbs of live rock and slowly increasing. I also have 60 lbs of live sand. Currently I have a lot of softies, 25-30 snails, 10-15 hermits, but no fish. If I remove the bio bale, will I have enough bio filtration to house a few small fish? Im thinking of getting a couple young clowns and a small fairy wrasse.

Ive also been thinking about a refugium, to harvest macro to aid in this problem. How large of a refugium is required to make a difference for a 50 gallon tank?

D.

[Jeremy1973]

Hmm..I would ask Casey who has a ton of clams.

[aliendomain]

If you have enough clams NO3 levels will stay lower unless there is a very high bio load. You would have to have a number of Tridacna to see a noticeable difference though. Keep in mind that NO3 levels in the range you a talking about could be harmful to more delicate Tridacna like the crocea and maxima so IMO stay away from these until your levels are lower. I had a hard time getting my NO3 down after my tank cycled until I removed all mechanical filtration from the tank.

Hope this helps.

AlienDomain