Fresh Water Clams?

[timmystood]

Just a quickie (usual for me! ) Are fresh-water clams ok in Malawi tanks?? There's also a Yellow-Spotted Plec (L001) and some Peppered Cory Catfish in there aswell... would the clams be ok with all these??

Cheers

 

[nmonks]

Freshwater clams are normally bad in any aquarium, but not for the reasons people think.

Only very few (the family Unionidae, or swan mussels) have parasitic larvae, and even then, the larvae do little harm and are attached for only a few days. Moreover, the larvae tend to be specific to certain fish, so a swan mussel from Europe is unlikely to parasitise a sunfish from North America.

Anyway, the problem with freshwater mussels is that they need food (no surprise) but being filter feeders they can't simply eat little bits of food or algae from the substrate in the way snails or shrimps do. You need to feed them by hand, two or three times a week, using a pipette. Filter feeder food for this purpose can be obtained from marine aquarium suppliers.

Since the clams like to dig and tend to move about, finding them for feeding time becomes a chore in an aquarium with rocks and plants. If they can't dig themselves in, they tend to be attacked by fish, which peck at the siphons and mantles, which eventually kills the clam or mussel.

In short, freshwater clams 90% of the time end up dying prematurely in fish tanks. Swan mussels can live for 150 years, for example, but in fish tanks rarely last more than a few months. Some are coldwater species anyway (e.g. swan mussels) and die from heat exhaustion, while others are actually brackish water ones and cannot be kept in freshwater permanently. The commonest one in the UK (and likely the US) is the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea, which is regarded in many places as a pest species. There's a nice page on how to keep them (in their own tank) here.

Cheers,

Neale

Just a quickie (usual for me! ) Are fresh-water clams ok in Malawi tanks?? There's also a Yellow-Spotted Plec (L001) and some Peppered Cory Catfish in there aswell... would the clams be ok with all these??

 

[timmystood]

OK, cheers nmonks.. i'll stay clear of adding them to any of my tanks then

I'll read that link you sent me and possible set-up a clam-only tank.

 

[cichlidcrazy]

I would also say no to the Peppered Cory Catfish these wouldnt last long with malawis not familar with the L001 if its quite large it may be able to hold its own .

 

[timmystood]

I would also say no to the Peppered Cory Catfish these wouldnt last long with malawis not familar with the L001 if its quite large it may be able to hold its own .

The peppered cories are already in there and have been for months I was just after adding some fresh-water clams.. but after nmonks advice I have decieded not too.

 

[voo]

I had a clam once.
Never moved
A pain to feed

...

It died. Pretty boring thing if you ask me.
Apple snails i got at the same time were much better.

 

[cichlidcrazy]

I would also say no to the Peppered Cory Catfish these wouldnt last long with malawis not familar with the L001 if its quite large it may be able to hold its own .

The peppered cories are already in there and have been for months I was just after adding some fresh-water clams.. but after nmonks advice I have decieded not too.

They may be alright for now but i would keep an eye on them also they do best in groups i notice in your sig you only have 2

 

[timmystood]

Yeah I know they do best in groups... I've kept cories all my fish-keeping life. I have 3 more peppered cories growing in a grow-out tank, and once they are up to size they will go with the 2.

 

[Dragonscales]

If you have a mature tank and can get hold of Australian mussels then you will have a far better chance of success. They are pretty hardy buggers and are also pretty active IME. Don't expect to have a neat tank though as they love to bulldoze everything and anything within reach. Sand is far better than gravel too due to the burrowing habits they have.

 

[MoMa]

OK, ok, ok. I inherited a few of these.
Any other sites, etc. to check out, as mine appear to be neither the Asian Clam or the Mussel mentioned, and I'd love to know if these are safe for my planted or my brackish (puffer food).
They look to be Corbicula fluminea.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[giobelkoicenter]

Here is my fresh water clams I place them to separate container now because they say that their larvae will harm fish