Clams 06/07/2005
Hello from British Columbia Canada,
<Why hello there!>
I would like to thank you for all of the hard work you people put into this site for the hobby, very well done!
<Thanks>
I would like to ask about Clams, I have just purchased a DE 150w MH with 2X96w Actinic total of 492w, this will be placed on my 55g  
system. I would like to ask if this will be enough to have a Crocea/Maxima  clam in the system, the tank is 19' deep from the top of the  
glass and 13' wide, the system is 2 years old with 70lbs of LR and 35lbs of LS, as of right now I have a Hippo Clam in the tank he/she  
has been there for over a year and doing just fine.
<You should be alright. Do some research on those clams. They like light but there are other things that are just as important.  Like Isochrysis for feed.  Also Clams are fond of Nitrates believe it or not :)  Also check out the Giant Clams book by Daniel Knop>
Thank you very much for your time as I know that you are very busy  
with this site. < No problem.. EricS>
Ash

- Derasa Question -
JasonC,
<Good morning.>
Thanks so much for the quick response! 
<My pleasure.> 
I have a follow-up question for you... I'm also expecting some SPS (Montipora capricornis & an Acro) along with a T. derasa in a shipment to arrive on Friday. I've bought Seachem's Reef Dip for the SPS... is this a good product? 
<I have no experience with it.> 
Also, is there any special solution I should use for the T. derasa? 
<None that I am aware of.> 
I have a 250w MH on a 54g corner bowfront about 7 inches above the water. As far as placement of the Derasa, what would you consider ideal, substrate or rock? 
<On something solid... I've found that placement on rock can be a little precarious - have had clams cough and fall from uneven mounting attempts. In any case, on something solid [like a bivalve shell], off the substrate is preferred to prevent predatory attack through the byssal opening.> 
I want to get it right the first time because I know they can be easily stressed by movement within the tank. I've read the substrate is fine in many places, but according to something I read on the web attributed to Daniel Knop, it is better to have a derasa sitting on a rock because they are sensitive to sediment being stirred which could clog their gills. 
<I don't recall this, but there are other good reasons to keep your clam off the substrate.> 
Can you clarify this for me...
Thank you again for all of your advice... Kevin
<Cheers, J -- > 

Nano Acroporas & clams
Good morning crew
<Alex>
Do you guys know If I can have Acroporas & clams in my 10 gall nano reef system ?  I'm running It with 8 watts per gall with a Rio 600 pump. I know I should not have a problem with light & flow, but my LFS told me it could not be done. Clams yes Acroporas no. I know Acros are very aggressive so I should provide a lot of distance from each other.  What do you guys think?
Thank you for your time!
<Mmm, can be done... but not easily... by "clams" I take it you mean Tridacnids... get too big... and Acroporas generally require high and consistent water quality... difficult to achieve in such a small volume... though possible, have seen done. Bob Fenner>

Light and food for a clam
dear crew, can I just using 3 fluorescent lamps 20 watt
each and just white color in 2 feet aquarium? << Absolutely.  But you won't be able to keep much in there.  If this is just a freshwater tank, you are fine.  If this is to be a mini reef aquarium, then you are in need of much more lighting. >> and also
can I feet my clam with sera coral liquid? << I'm not sure I understand this question.  I don't know what sera coral liquid is, but I'll recommend that you definitely do not have a clam under such small lighting.  I would think that 200 watts of light is a minimum for most ornamental clams.  They do well when fed phytoplankton and even some commercial zooplankton products. >>
<<  Blundell  >>

Clam care?
hello, I have a question about my clam? the first week I buy it, the clam open widely. but after 2 weeks, the clam suddenly close for 2 days? << Are you feeding it?  Does it have enough light. >> before the clam close, I change the water and add all the nutrition. the water condition all are good after testing by the testing kit. my lighting is also good. I use about 100 watts on 2 foot deep  aquarium and the length is about 80 cm. so what should I do? << Can you talk more about this light.  100 watts of VHO is one bulb, and that is definitely not enough light.  And as for food, are you adding live phytoplankton or rotifers?  If not, I'd recommend you do so. >> hope to get your reply soon!!!
<<  Blundell  >>

Snails and clams 4/6/04 
Dear Crew, http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=350432  Here is the link. If you don't want to use that mode here is the included info but fewer pictures of the clam.  Thank you in advance for your help. I highly respect your efforts for this hobby. 
"I have a crocea clam that I have had in my 125 gal tank for about a 6 weeks now. I have a 10K and 20K 400 watt halides directly over the clam at a depth of about 20 inches of water and 6 inches above the water. 
<yikes... do read more in the wetwebmedia.com archives about such extreme uses of light. 400 watt MH is high for 125 gall tanks as it is unless you are dedicated to stonies and clams... and even then, 6" off the surface of the water is severe. Some animals will tolerate or even favor it. Many more will suffer (photoinhibition) over time. Its deceivingly problematic as the stress can take many weeks/months to manifest symptoms.> 
The water pars are good, zero nitrates last checked, weekly water changes for a month or so and every two to three before that. The tank has been up since October of last year. I do have a little trouble keeping the alk and Ca inline. They tend to go low a little. 
<no worries... its more important to be steady than high> 
I do not yet have a skimmer in the system. 
<unless you are doing large, regular water changes (weekly), please do get a skimmer ASAP to prevent future problems/challenges from accumulated organics> 
Circulation is provided by a little giant 5. (I will be upgrading to a sequence 5800 running the new Becket skimmer and providing circulation.) 
<ahh, good. Although the over-engineered/inefficient (electric consumption) Becket style skimmer plus the excess lighting tell me you are an SPS keeper or have been guided by the same <G>> 
The tank temp runs 80 in the day and at night and then drops early morning to 78 before the lights come on. 
Since my tank was bought used with 120 lb of live rock I have had a problem with phosphate. I read 0.03. I have been running PhosBan: "Julian Sprung's Marine Aquarium Formula" by Two Little Fishies. With this and water changes I have nearly completely eliminated hair alga. I also run carbon. 
<OK> 
The clam has been looking this way for several weeks. It is attached to rock that is buried in the sand. I pulled it out about two weeks ago to check for snails. I was careful not to pull it off the rock. I did not set the clam directly upright as you can see. Last night I found the second snail crawling on the sand near the clam. It had been close to a month since I found the last one that looks like this one. Any thoughts? Your advice is appreciated! 
<the gaping does not look severe... although laying on its side is hardly ideal. The snail appears to be a little olive snail. Regardless, this snail is not an algae eater as clearly evidenced by its modified radula/proboscis. That does not mean it is predatory either... but do be cautious> 
PS I will begin to feed phyto algae on Wednesday. 
<unless this algae is live-cultured, do know/consider that bottled phyto supplements are largely abused IMO (particle size tends to be too large to be useful for many phyto-feeders). More importantly, the overwhelming majority of filter-feeders in your/any reef are zooplankton feeders. Do use/employ a refugium for this purpose if not already doing so> 
I have him in a container in the sump awaiting sentence."  Thank you. 
<a proper QT tank would be better and really is a must if you intent to succeed long term as an aquarist. All new livestock (snails, clams, corals, fishes, algae, rocks, everything! must go through QT) and in cases such as this, the animal in question can be pulled back for isolation rather than lingering in the system and risking a spread of infection or imposition to water quality with death/decay. Much to do/read/learn here my friend. Anthony>

Crocea Clam [Formerly Citron Goby annoying Crocea Clam]
Hello again,
<Hi>
The Citron Goby died. I found a hairy crab of some sort peaking out of a hole after I put the fish in the tank, but didn't get an opportunity to
skewer it with a metal rod. It probably ate the fish.
<I'm very sorry to hear that!>
Tank life info: After about a weeks worth of treatment with Chemi Clean, and a four gallon water change, the Red Cyanobacteria seems to be gone,
thankfully. I'll probably be getting rid of the Palythoa as soon as I can find someone who wants it or buys it. I'm hoping to get hold of a small
frogspawn, fox coral, xenia, a few Ricordeas, and a few shrimp & snails. One by one on the corals, of course, to make sure there's enough room and
clearance in between them.
Clam info: It's still in there, still responsive to outside movement, etc.
I'm looking into buying a Coralife 20" 96W PowerQuad fixture, which should be plenty of light for almost anything, correct? (12g Tank, 96W PC, that's
8W per gallon) [What I have now is a 50/50 32W PC Bulb] I'm not around to kill expensive animals (or life in general), which is why I ask what's best.
Hopefully the light won't create TOO much heat suspended above the tank. (4" clearance or so)
<The 96wt PowerQuad sounds good. As for heat, adding a small 4" fan (which can be bought at home depot or radio shack) can help out a lot.>
Tank info: Right now it's an Eclipse hood with a 32W PC installed. When I get the Coralife fixture, I intend to take the hood off and put it in
storage, and just use an eggcrate cover over the water and suspend the PowerQuad hood above it. I've got an old Marineland Biowheel filter up in
the attic with a 10G tank that I was thinking about using, but I hear activated carbon only is not a very effective filtration method.
<Activated Carbon can be a great way in getting rid of many toxins which enter the aquarium. I currently use it on my tank for chemical warfare between corals.>
RedSea sells a Prizm skimmer that a local LFS uses to skim out stuff on smaller tanks, would that be a better option than the BioWheel system?
<The Prizm skimmer will do a fair job skimming the aquarium. However, many people prefer the "Bak Pak" skimmers for smaller sized aquariums, although either choice is fine.>
Lastly, the bubble coral I put in the back of the tank for a bit of rehab is doing quite well. It was closed in the 78g, but it slowly opening up more
and more with each passing day. In it's current location though, since it's expanding now, it's beginning to touch nearby green star polyps. Are the two
incompatible - should I move the bubble coral further away?
<The bubble coral will start to sting the star polyps causing the polyps not to open. You can  move one of the corals further away from each other to avoid any physical contact.>
And, again, thanks for your help. :)
<No problem! Take Care, Graham.>
-Enrique

Clam, Anemone Tank
You guys rock,
<Thanks!>
First off the website is awesome, I have learned so much, I recently pulled all of the coral and fish out of my 55 gal reef, and had planned on setting
up a rose BTA tank with about five rose's in it (its really hard to find info on anemone only tank set ups),
<Sounds good.>
I have since thought about putting several clams in as well, will the anemones release too many toxins to keep clam in the tank?
<Anemones will not have any chemical warfare with tridacnid clams. Instead, I would be worried about physical warfare; make sure the anemones do not come in contact with the clams at any time.>
the tank is about 20" tall with a 6" sand bed. and I run 2 175w MH 10000k about 6" from the surface is this enough light to keep the clams on the sand
bed,
<They'll do fine on the sandbed. However, keep in mind that some clams such as the T. crocea and T. maxima are rock boring clams and will attach their byssal gland to some surface. I would recommend putting them on top of an empty shell on the sandbed. When the clams attach to the shell, you may burry the shell giving the appearance that the clams are placed directly on the sandbed.>
I have two 110w VHO that I could also put on. would this be to much light is there such a thing?
<You're far from your limit -- you do not have too much light.>
If so what VHO bulbs so I use (true actinic 50/50's etc.)?,and for the clams could i just put a piece of acrylic under the sand in the area I want them to be for their foot? If so how far under should it be buried?
<That will also work well as using the empty clam shells. You may burry the clam about 1/2 into the sandbed. As an example, a clam 2" high (I'm not referring to the length of the clam, but instead the space between the foot and the mantel o the clam) would be buried around 1" in the sandbed. A clam 1" high would be buried about .5" in the sandbed. A clam 3" high would be buried around 1.5" in the sandbed. Of course, there are many exceptions and you do not have to burry the clams at all if you do not wish to. T. squamosa, T. derasa and T. gigas will do fine simply left on top of the sand.>
Thanks
<Take Care, Graham.>
Will

Clam Question 12/14/03
Ok, Guys, I'd like to ask for some help.  My LFS just got in a BEAUTIFUL bright blue crocea (5-6") and have priced it at only $49. I am thinking of getting it, but need to know what changes I should make, and if it is even feasible in my system, so I need to describe it for you.  This may be a little long.  Sorry.
I've been keeping SW FO for 16 years, and LR/Anemones and mostly softies for 6-7. For my corals, I have an AllGlass 72 bowfront with an overflow, with quite a bit of liverock from different sources (including Florida, back when that was legal) I have added over the years to keep the microfauna up, and twenty gallon sump tank which I have made into a combined sump/refugium.  It
is set up like this (in cross-section):

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|                                    |________|
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|___________________________|

I then have a standard, siphon style overflow out of the refugium and into a 5 gallon bucket (I wish I had room in the stand for something larger), where the return pump is located.  My Berlin skimmer and its pump are in the raised compartment, where all the incoming, surface skimmed water goes.  The effluent of the skimmer goes into the main part of the sump, as does the overflow from the compartment.  The water level in the 20G is about 2" below
the top.  I have a standard fluorescent light over it, on 24x7, and have sand, some liverock and mushroom Caulerpa in the refugium.  This is all the filtration I use, though I occasionally supplement this with a hang on Skilter for mechanical filtration and additional skimming (mostly after I clean, to remove any "stuff" I stir up).  I imagine you guys find this woefully inadequate, but it has worked for me for years.  
<no complaints here... just a concern that your skimmer does not produce enough skimmate weekly for its brand/placement>
I tend to subscribe to the "less is more" principle, believing that the main problem many people have with their reef tanks is that they won't leave them alone!
<agreed>
For lighting, I am using 4x48" VHO (3 daylight and 1 actinic).  I use 1 block of sea-lab formula 28 supplement to supplement calcium and trace elements, as well as very occasional water changes.  The tank has about 4-5" of small crushed coral which is teaming with microfauna.  Here are the specs for my tank: Ammonia & Nitrite: ~0 (obviously) NitrAte: 8 to occasionally as high as 20, with an average of 10-12 ppm
PH: 8.0-8.2
Calcium: 380-410
Alkalinity: 4.0-4.8 meq/L
In terms of the setup itself, do you think it could keep a crocea alive and happy (if I place it in the top half of the tank)?
As for the inhabitants, they currently are a nice Marine Beta (Comet), a Coral Beauty dwarf angel (how long do these live?  Mine is starting to swim kinda funny, waving his whole body.  He's been in there about 4 years.  Is there any information on life expectancy for most fish?  
<yes... data in public and hobby literature like the Dick Mills Tetra Marine Encyclopedia. Your dwarf angel can easily live 5-7 years IMO. No surprise to go over 10 years>
I wonder when my fish die after anywhere from 2-9 years if it is a problem, or just old age), a six line wrasse, a green spotted mandarin (who does great on all the isopods in my tank), a south sea devil and two green Chromis.  Inverts: a LT Anemone that is almost 18" across, a huge colt coral, a green trumpet/Candycane coral, a rose Lobophyllia, a huge colony of green star polyps, many, many green frilly mushrooms, some button polyps, a cleaner shrimp, a fire shrimp, a large green brittle star, and much microfauna. Everyone has been happy and healthy together for about three years (except the Betta, who was new this summer). I am planning to move the anemone and possible the damsel to another tank (my wife wants to set up my 42 hex as a anemone/clown/damsel tank), and probably will get a chevron tang to replace the Sailfin that finally outgrew the system and had to be moved to my 150 FO.  After reading your FAQ's, I suppose I had better move the cleaner shrimp, too.  And I am planning to thin out the star polyps and frilly mushrooms by giving some to a friend. Other than that, do you see any animals that concern you?
<nope... alls reasonable>
Basically, given what I have and how I keep my system, would it simply be foolish to buy a crocea? Jim
<not at all... once the shrimp is out and with a close eye on the angel, the clam will fare well in the top 12" of the aquarium. Anthony>

Adding new clam
A member of my fish club is selling a very healthy 7" squamosa clam. We have the room in our 90g overflow.  Currently, we have a 4" crocea which seems to be really thriving.  We've got the space but I want to be sure it's a good environment for the clam.  We currently have 4 x 96 pc.s so the distance between the sand and lights is roughly 22"  This new clam likes a sand bottom.  I'm guessing that the light reduction is too drastic but wanted to check for sure.  Thanks in advance for the help. I LOVE your website; your design makes it really easy to learn a lot quickly.  Nancy
< Hi Nancy you are right I would not reduce the lighting from 400watt halide to power compacts Thanks for the question Mike H>

Fiberglass tank
Ok this is a short question. Is it possible to make a plywood tank and cover it in fiberglass to make sure it doesn't leak.
  I was looking to make my wife a small clam pond in the house 36"x36"x16"  
<Short answer, yes, possible. In the not so old days, fiberglass, resin and (marine) plywood were (along with large screws) often what marine wholesale facilities systems were constructed of. Viewing panel/s can be siliconed to inside cut-outs. Bob Fenner, who asks, "have you seen ClamsDirect. com's clam system units?">

Crocea Clam
I have a 135 gallon tank.  Would an Aquacultured Crocea Clam work in my tank with 420 watts of VHO lighting?  Thanks.<Do look over this link http://www.wetwebmedia.com/tridacnidart.htm ,and would also purchase Anthony Calfo's and Robert Fenner's book "Reef Invertebrates", It covers clams, Good Luck, IanB>
Tyler

Re: clams and snails
hi Anthony,
thank you for your prompt reply. I have an ETSS evolution 500 skimmer powered by an Iwaki 20 RLT pump. it has been set up and running but it does not produce a cup of dark skimmate a day. it is more like tea colored water, 
<a fine skimmer... you just need to tweak it some more to get dark daily skimmate. Little less air or water in this case to prevent tea colored product>
with terribly smelly gunk building up on the tube which I clean once a week. 
<excellent... you may even need to clean that internal coating more than once weekly to get really sweet production>
my tank has a life reef skimmer and a marine life cr-500 calcium reactor. the return pump is a Iwaki 55 RLT. do you think that I have a good skimmer? 
<the ETS yes>
how can I get it to produce that much dark skimmate a day?
<likely reduce the water flow just a bit to make the foam climb higher and drier. Also, see how it is fed: is it getting surface extracted water or water drawn from a dilute and fluctuating sump level? Skimmer boxes that catch raw overflowing water are best to feed skimmers>
thanks,
john
<best regards, Anthony>

Water movement in clam tank
Hello everyone at WWM,
<Howdy>
I am planning an 85 gal. flatback hex tank (48 x 18 x 24), and the critical species that will inhabit the tank are Tridacnid clams. Can you help clarify my
confusion over the flow rate for the tank?
<I'll try>
Daniel Knop's book on giant clams states that "we have to do with much less performance when keeping clams. . . that is, five times the aquarium volume. . . seems
reasonable to me." (pg. 147) That seems pretty low.
<Mmm, it's okay... given "complete" movement of the water (little "dead areas")>
I am trying to keep the specs of the tank as close to standard as possible to keep the costs down. The tank can be constructed with up to four 1" drains and four
or six 3/4" returns connected to 3/4" centipede return fittings for directional control. With this setup, the flow rate should max out at 1200 GPH--yes?
<Okay... bear in mind this is "real" flow rate versus an estimated value. In actual practice almost no pump installations yield near rated flow rates per interval>
Now the $6,400 question(s): Is this flow rate appropriate for a clam tank? Too much? Too little?
<About right. Most Tridacnid species, individuals will put up with, even enjoy greater water movement... as long as it's not directly blasting on them continuously>
Any wisdom you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Your Web site has been a valuable resource for me in properly planning this tank. Thank you all!
<Glad to hear this. Bob Fenner>
Jeff

Re: Crocea clam tipping
Hello, once again I am at square one with my pH in my 180 gal. reef tank. My alk remains constant at 7-8. Since dosing nightly with Kalk my calcium came up to 440ppm. :-) 
<And those two parameters are quite natural... you are at the high end of Ca and the lower end of ALK. Any corruption of this balance (like trying to keep Ca high while raising ALK unnaturally... they are mutually exclusive somewhat) could be problematic... enjoy! You have reached nirvana (the state...not the band). My advice would actually be to let the Ca fall closer to 400 and raise the ALK a bit>
I thought my pH was in the 8.2-8.5 daily with the new Hanna pH handheld digital pH/thermometer that they sent me that was supposedly "calibrated". The replacement came back to me and with that one I was getting readings of 7.8 consistently. 
<nature of the instrument...handhelds have never been known for high degrees of accuracy>
I finally calibrated both of them myself this past weekend. 
<excellent!>
Each one was calibrated exactly the same way and also within 3 minutes of each other. It was actually quite easy to do. The readings on the two separate meters are now within .14 ppm of each other and the pH readings are now in the 7.65- 7.79 range. 
<seems doubtful with such high Ca and a good ALK>
Too low for my inhabitants I feel. 
<agreed if true... try a good colorimetric test kit to confirm>
I am still dosing and keeping an eye on the calcium so it doesn't snow in an 80 degree tank. 
<exactly! 440 is OK... but starting to make me nervous. One slip of a heavy Ca dose and it could get ugly>
I now have a float switch hooked up to my RO/DI storage tank in the basement below the tank and only have to flip a switch to top off my water now. I am buffering the make up water with Seachem marine buffer and have the make up water pH at 9.4. Too high? OK? 
<way too high... you only need to reconstitute close to average tap water (6-9 dKH)... the extra buffers in the sea salt will do the rest>
My calcium reactor CO2 was running at 7-8 bubbles every 15 seconds, 
<every system is different... but this sounds a little fast. May be the cause for the low pH if accurate>
how it got there from 5 I don't know (that's what I hate about the regulators on the tanks) so I think the extremely low pH in the effluent ( 6.04) was helping to lower the pH in the tank. 
<agreed>
I have adjusted back down to 5 bubbles every 15 seconds to get a higher pH of around 6.4 in the first chamber and 6.5+/- in the second chamber. Yes, I am doing the window thing whenever possible. Do I need to raise the alkalinity in the top off water as well as the pH or leave the alk in the top off water alone? Do I need to test the alk in the top off water? 
<as per above>
My salinity is now at a constant 1.024 with the float switch so everything is running fine there. I also am having a red slime algae thing going too. I was debating whether or not to do a large water change to battle the pH and the red slime or continue battling the pH at the moment with a couple of small ones. Couldn't hurt either way could it? 
<couldn't hurt... but simply increase water flow and skim more aggressively. Slime algae can be easily knocked out in 2 weeks in doing so>
It seems as though the red slime is more prevalent with the lower pH. Is this normal? 
<correct>
Any help would be appreciated. 
<higher Redox as with ozone reduces nuisance algae too>
Thanks, Jeff 
<best regards, Anthony>

Clams, Mandarin & Anemone
We have a 40 gallon tank with a 20 gallon aquarium for a sump, an oversize protein skimmer, a large loosely formed live rock structure (very stable) just lots of passageways for greater circulation, three small pumps in the 40 for on a wave timer for circulation, 2-96 watt power compacts, one 6700k and one blue actinic. The system is up and running for almost three months. Is this a satisfactory set up for a clam?
<It does not seem like enough light for the smaller species, Croceas and maximas, and too small for a derasa or squamosa.>
We would like to have a vivid blue color like the derasa maxima, but would like to keep the size down. What would you suggest?
<You maybe able to keep one up high, in the top third of the tank, but I would not recommend it. The best clam tanks are shallow and designed so you can look down on the clam. That is how they are best viewed for color. I am betting your 40 is a 3 foot long tank, about 12 inches wide, and kind of tall. This is really not the best kind of set up.>
Or is this not the appropriate set up?
<See notes above>
By the way we have a pair of maroon clowns in a bubble tip anemone, a cleaner shrimp, a mandarin dragonette, two very small yellow cucumbers, a few mushrooms, open brain, frogspawn, Pocillopora (sp?), small hermits, and small snails.
<Be sure to feed that bubble tip anemone and I would definitely get a refugium going now for the dragonette. This tank is too small and too immature to provide enough food for the Mandarin to survive. The refugium will help, as will keeping other fish competitors to a minimum.>
Thank you, Mike & Melody
<You are welcome. -Steven Pro>

Building a Dream Tank
Hello again Steve,
Thank you for the quick reply! You asked for more info about the tank in the picture I sent. I will direct you to the web site I found it on http://www.cpfarms.com
<The link does not seem to work or perhaps the site is down for some reason.>
They had a members contest and that tank won third place. I don't know if it is still posted on their page. These are tanks for Japan. I used my translator and the best info I could gather was the following.
It was a standard 90 gallon tank. Berlin style. 250w.HQI with another lighting set up I was completely unfamiliar with. I'm sorry I can't understand the translation. It had been up for a year and a half. The owner Chita Satoshi commented that the only major problems were being able to get the Clams to stay amongst the rock work.
<T. crocea are comfortable amongst rocks, but maximas prefer to be on the sand. Try to get Daniel Knop's excellent book "Giant Clams".>
I am only assuming that their is use of a calcium reactor, though there was no mention of one.
<A good idea to have one>
I know that is not much to go on. I was hoping that just looking at the corals themselves you could let me know if (using the correct equipment) it could be, not copied, but matched.
<Yes, if looks very doable. Some suggestions. 90 gal. tank with built in overflows, preferable over siphon hang-on units Sump with high quality skimmer; Euro-Reef, Tunze, Aqua-C, etc. Return pump(s) rated at 900 gph or greater (check that overflows can handle this) 2 175 watt MH's with 10,000K Aqualine Buschke lamps Supplemental actinics supplied by 2 48" VHO's or 2 36" PC's Water purification unit (RO, DI, or Kold-Sterile) Calcium Reactor... 4-6" Deep Sand Bed... Small quarantine tank for new additions Most importantly, a good source for livestock>
Thanks again. Josie

Zero nitrates w/ refugium vs. giant clam
Hello Mr. Fenner-
I have read all the refugium notes/FAQs and I'm sold on one. For my future 92 corner tank I will use a 20 gal hex for the sump and one for
the refugium (have an odd-shaped stand). From my limited (but growing---thanks!) knowledge, I understand that giant clams actually like some nitrates. 
<This is so... to a degree.>
I plan to start as basically a FO system, but I want to set it up as properly as possible w/ long term reef results in mind.
So, what is your "official" opinion on clam + skimmer + Miracle Mud refugium?
Thank You! Erik Nelson
<Of all timely notes... picked up Leng Sy yesterday on the way to going to Hollywood, giving a pitch to the combined L.A. and Orange County marine clubs... and Leng and I went over and over re skimmers, his mud product... We kind of agree that "skimming has its place" and in general, after some time, balancing (a few months typically), a not-too efficient skimmer can/should be cycled on/off (day intervals) to allow production of planktonic organisms, in the face of a dearth of removable materials... in most systems. Bob Fenner>