Clams and Skimmers

I think skimmers are an accessory.  Unless your tank is overstocked I don't think you need one.  And if you do need it you probably have a sweet a**  tank.

Now don't you go steal my idea for a "  ASM G4 Gigas " skimmer, Mike 

What about oysters?

MMMM oysters. I don't really like them chilled but a good smoked oyster on a ritz cracker, now thats a snack. Though I hardly see what that has to do with filtration Kmastin.


Sculpin

I had a finger leather that died, its base happened to be a 4 inch live oyster.  Which has been living in my refugium for more than a year.  I just wondered if it was helping with the filtration any.

Mark - Do you think it's possible that any other changes made could have helped as well? Time?, I see rock was moved?, and lights were added? That was a big clam, I remember seeing it when I visited your house the first time. For a second there I thought the bottom tank was your new tank because of the lights you had hung over the 75. I know you used them for the new tank. Anyway, just trying to ask some questions and see what you thought.

I agree with bbauman, there look to be many factors in your 'experiment' that could have changed the outcome. Just a few things that I noticed, there appears to be a major change in the setup, such as the rockwork as before mentioned as well as the lights. It also appears that the skimmer was removed....to test your theory, are you sure that you had the skimmer working properly before making the changes. Also, there appears to be some sort of overflow attached to the tank in the second picture, is this plumbed to a sump with macro in it?.....I am sorry to be skeptical, but it appears that a lot more than just two weeks had transpired between the pictures...I agree with posting your own results of an experiment, but if you are going to state them as facts, there needs to be a controlled experiment where only one variable is changed....it seems your 'experiment' has had many factors changed, and to state that only one of those factors caused the results you wanted is just not scientific proof....


While I do believe that a clam helps to reduce dissolved elements in the tank such as phosphate and nitrate, I will not state it as a fact, due to the fact that I have not run a CONTROLLED experiment to prove my hypothesis...

All bivalves are efficient filter feeders, thus their niche in nature, in an unskimmed system I'm sure they have a marked role in the filtering of the tank.
I think a lot of these concerns and general knowledge of skimmers is based on old technology, the skimmer in that picture is an outdated and inefficient model.  Skimmers have come a long way not only in the last ten years but in the last year alone the technology has vastly improved.  That being said though there are a hundred ways to run a reef tank and all can work equally well in many systems.  But I don't doubt that skimmer couldn't clear a tank, it is well suited for a tank below 20 gallons if that IMO. 
I have seen several instances where clams have cleared phyto blooms in peoples systems, but this method is hardly a complete one....

you quoted part of my sentence, read on I should have used a period...
The ocean has efficient means of removing wastes, ie beaches...balanced system etc....  I was saying in an unskimmed system (meaning aquarium) they most likely have a marked role in filtering the tank.

Whoops, you are right that's a pic from about a month or two later.

Yes that is one of the older less efficient skimmers, but a good skimmer nonetheless. I know how to setup skimmers and even after a week it had not found enough skimmate to wet a dog.

Edited by Mark Peterson - September 26 2008 at 8:26pm