burrowing clams aka 'hum'

[FuEl]

Was thinking of adding some 'hum' into my dsb in my sump to help stir up the sand while they burrow..to prevent the dsb from becoming stagnant with hydrogen sulphide buildup. My dsb in the sump is around 17cm in depth. Will the 'hum' hinder the functionality of the dsb?

[Siput]

What do they eat? Was thinking of doing something similar, but with the samll shellfish (some sort of small clam) that u can find off the low-tide mark at any beach...but hink they may eat plankton and unsure if they can survive 100% in the water (as they live along the tide mark)

[FuEl]

They are filter feeders like tubeworms, scallops etc. They should sustain on phyto feeding and dissolved organic matter.

[ryz]

sorry a bit off topic... are the mussels seen in cold storage and market etc alive?? Or are they dead? I was thinking that those still tightly shut are probably still alive right? cause if it's tightly shut, it's muscles are contracting?

[Siput]

some are alive..but probably not long left in this world as they would have gone through much travel. Locally harvested ones ,may be better off but not very safe for consumption? Eg those reared in the straits of Johor...

[FuEl]

Those should be still alive. Remember taking one from my mom to dump into my tank long long ago..and it started to burrow. Seafood best to keep fresh..if the clams are dead they would start to stink already.

[Siput]

They are filter feeders like tubeworms, scallops etc. They should sustain on phyto feeding and dissolved organic matter.

Thanks. Will give it a try...

[Terryz_]

Also can try "lala"....

[FuEl]

Also can try "lala"....

Ya lor..i was referring to them.

[arcanehacker]

why not add a sand sifter starfish? Its really good at stirring up the sand and its usually only $2..

[Terryz_]

The star will kanna eaten by his harlequin... Haha..

[hammerhd]

can use lala.

they leave vey long... until 1 of them get too smart burrow up and kena makan by the trigger

[Achilles Tang]

Mussels do not live very long in the typical reef tank... I tried it.... unless you have a mud substrate and turbid water.

[FuEl]

Hmmm..my question still unanswered...so will "lala" affect the functionality of a DSB?

[Achilles Tang]

You are not supposed to have large creatures dig into a DSB.

Worms are fine and so are nassarious snails... but I think yellow dog conchs strombus canarium (linnaous) do burrow quite deep and thus disrupt DSBs by letting in more oxygen into the anoxic layer, killing the anaerobic bacteria.

[FuEl]

Ok..looks like I have to use bristleworms...