Freshwater Clams!

[dizzied]

A lot of people keep them without much trouble.

I've even heard of people keeping them inside the filter. I'm not sure how well that works though.

 

[freshwaterfishlover]

I just bought 3 off Ebay. I will put them in my 20 Gallon tank with my 4 Frogs and Snail.

 

[nmonks]

Please understand with clams it isn't obvious whether they are thriving or not. Freshwater mussels should live many decades and can live for 150 years, but in tropical aquaria they will last a few months, maybe a year, before dying. The smaller Asian mussels don't live as long, but they should grow quickly when happy, and yet few people have that experience. Unless your water (not the glass) is green with algae, there is nothing for them to eat, and they slowly starve. Since they don't move much or expend much energy, it can take them a year to starve to death, but starving they are.

They can be kept in their own aquarium fairly easily. You need to feed them green algae or "filter feeding animal food" from the marine aquarium shop. Under such conditions they do well. The problem is that very, very few fishkeepers go to this effort to keep them, and adding filter feeder food to a regular tank is problematical. For one thing, the filter will suck it all up, but also it adds massively to the nitrate levels.

Cheers,

Neale

A lot of people keep them without much trouble.
I've even heard of people keeping them inside the filter. I'm not sure how well that works though.

 

[eschaton]

I have an Asian clam. When I first heard they didn't scavange detritus out of the water I asked the LFS, and they gave me a powedered fry food which is (I believe) freeze-dried rotifers. They said regular dosing provides enough microorganisms in the water that they'll have stable population of animals to filter-feed.

I take it this isn't true however? I have a 5.5 I can move the clam into (it's currently in a 40 gallon) where I can get food in a better concentration, but I can't overrun that with algae either.

I "do" have a half-gallon bowl type thing I was going to use for planted pico though. I suppose I could change this into a clam home...provided they don't need a real filter, as I understand they don't need a real heater.

So, how do I get algae growing in the water relatively quickly, if that's my recourse?

 

[nmonks]

Asian clams will be fine at room temperature, so long as it doesn't get too cold in your house.

I wouldn't worry about growing green algae. Just get some filter-feeder food from your marine aquarium shop, and use that. A turkey baster or something similar can be used to pipette the stuff into the clam's siphons. Those pipettes that come with Interpet medications are ideal. You'll get to see it sucked in, which is kind of cool. You only need to feed animals like this two or three times a week.

Cheers, Neale

I "do" have a half-gallon bowl type thing I was going to use for planted pico though. I suppose I could change this into a clam home...provided they don't need a real filter, as I understand they don't need a real heater.

So, how do I get algae growing in the water relatively quickly, if that's my recourse?