Freshwater Clams

[Sursion]

Do these guys actually move around the tank? I've caught him moving rocks around the tank and redecorating, and he's buried himself a bit, but I've never actually seen him move from the spot I first put him.

[octoxpuss]

Clams will bury themeselvs not actually move unless there is a current.
A clam should never be cully buried then if it is most likely it is dead. From what i know.

[sheamurai]

My clams completely buried themselves all the time, but never moved.
In sand, if they are completely buried you should be able to see an airhole, as they do need to breathe. I used to vacuum mine out of the gravel and set them on top and watch them bury themselves again, a) to check that they were alive and b) becuase its cool to watch lol - its not like they do much else.
If you don't want them to bury themselves, you can stand them upright, with the hinge side in the substrate, and they won't be able to dig in. I kinda thought that was mean, tho, and always let them dig in.

[Sursion]

Mine doesn't dig though. He just plays with the rocks. Yesterday one of the fish kicked up a bloodworm and it floated into his shell, and he quickly spat it out. Kind of funny :shappy:

[sheamurai]

lol

Maybe your substrate is too coarse. When I converted my tank to cichlids, I gave my fish to my friend, and they don't dig in their new digs (lol).

You might try for fun grabbing a container of sand and set it in it, see if it will burrow down in that.

I actually have a video of mine digging in, but with dial-up I can't upload it.

[bluethumb]

I've heard they move like scallops. I had 8 freshwater clams at one point in time... never saw them do anything but burry themselves halfway.

[mermaidwannabe]

How large a tank would freshwater clams require? And can they thrive in a substrate that is entirely pea-gravel size? What do they eat?

[SmokeyCFH]

I've had hundreds of small freshwater clam in pretty coarse crushed coral and they seemed to bury themselves, but obviously they had an easier time burying themselves in aquarium gravel and sand.

[Sursion]

How large a tank would freshwater clams require? And can they thrive in a substrate that is entirely pea-gravel size? What do they eat?

They are filter feeders, which means they feed on the plankton that float around your tank. If your tank is too new, they won't have food. As a rule of thumb, you must wait 6 months for you add a filter feeder to the tank.

[mermaidwannabe]

Thanks for that vital info! That's good to know. It will be awhile, then, before I can consider stocking freshwater clams. I take it the plankton are microscopic, as in invisible to the human eye? I was wondering about tiny fry food pellets -- would those be too big for them to filter out of the water?

I'll definitely wait. Want to do this right.


-- Mermaid

[Scrup]

Yes, that would be too large for them. In the winter I use very finely crushed fish flake food, but that is not really an ideal food for them, not to mention most of it just ends up in the filter. gets me through a few months though.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

There are quite a few options. They do eat quite a bit so you would really want to supplement them, even in an established aquarium. Almost anything suitable for saltwater clams should work for freshwater.

[mermaidwannabe]

Wow -- that's quite a selection on the F&S page!

How often would one feed the clams? Every day? Can one assume if the plankton is put inside the aquarium, the clams would automatically filter-feed whatever they need, or would a syringe be necessary to aim the food specifically toward them? The latter doesn't happen in nature, so I assume they would just filter it out if it's present. Maybe the syringe method would make feeding easier for them, nonetheless?

Other tank residents might also benefit from plankton, like the tiny minnows or danios, whose mouths are extremely small ...

This is exciting! Thanks again for a very helpful post.

-- mermaid

[Sursion]

Out in nature, freshwater clams live in rivers and streams. They get their food and nutrients from opening the shell and letting the water move into them. Most aquariums don't have any currents, so I would assume you need to put it in their general direction. In a small tank it shouldn't matter though.

[Angelicus]

I added several freshwater clams and mussels to my tanks just a few months after set-up, but I'd read they needed supplementing, so got a gallon of "green water" from lfs. I keep a 3 gal goldfish bowl of the green water in front of a window & top it off once in a while with conditioned water. Then I pour in 1/2 cup to a cup of green H2O in a few times a week. Got 'em mail order so it seemed to take a week for them to adjust and start digging in, but all are thriving. The clams don't move much & rarely see 'em except for siphon opening. The mussels are mostly about 1/2 buried and cruise around.

There are some great articles on golden clams out there if you google...especially about the invasive species issue. I add a little bleach to my old tank water before dumping it to keep clam larvae from going down the drain and getting into local waterways. Not something I'd have thought of if I hadn't read about it.

My fish seem to like the green water too. Their colors really came up after I started adding it...maybe it helped my bio filter along. No big algae problem either, although I got some Zebra snails to clean up the little bit that shows up.

Hope this is helpful if you are thinking of getting some freshwater clams or mussels.:ssmile:
Dee

[Angelicus]

Someplace to read more about freshwater clams:

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:)Dee

[mermaidwannabe]

Thanks, Angelicus! I've saved that article in my favorites menu. After the six months are up, I definitely plan to get some FW clams.

-- mermaidwannabe
(happy as a clam!)

[CassieLEO]

I relly want to try some FW clams too!! Very interesting!

[Cermet]

They are filter feeders, which means they feed on the plankton that float around your tank. If your tank is too new, they won't have food. As a rule of thumb, you must wait 6 months for you add a filter feeder to the tank.

Wow, didn't know that but really valuable to know.

[Cermet]

Someplace to read more about freshwater clams:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

:)Dee

That was an eye opener - so much for clams and Discus.