Topical Clam/mussels

[raptorrex]

anyone got any experience of keeping these? i am looking at getting some, just wondered what you guys thought.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

Bad idea.

They have a very low survival rate, as your average tank won't produce enough food for them to filter out of the water.

 

[raptorrex]

Bad idea.

They have a very low survival rate, as your average tank won't produce enough food for them to filter out of the water.

thanks, i take it your experience was not too successful? plus i was not really thinking of putting them in a community tank. well not at first.

 

[three-fingers]

I have a golden mussel, only had it for a few weeks though, I've been feeding him Kent 'Microvert' (horrible yellow liquid) out of a syringe straight into it's little siphon.

I'm getting some phyto too, so I can take him out and put him in a tank of the phyto every now and then.

Basically, they are very labour intensive for something that doesn't move much, I only have one because curiosity got the better of me, and I thought it would be an appropriate addition to an invertebrate tank. It digs in the sand every now and then too.

 

[KajukiKing]

i heared u can't keep them in a community tank because they release some sort of parasite thing that gets into the fish. Can anyone confirm that?

 

[raptorrex]

i heared u can't keep them in a community tank because they release some sort of parasite thing that gets into the fish. Can anyone confirm that?

lol, well i can confirm it happens, though it is not a parasite, per say, its how they breed. i am not aware of it causing serious problems, but i guess it could affect some fish adversely. i believe, though someone may correct me, that they attach to the gills, using the flow of water to feed from. and drop off when they are big enough to survive on their own.

 

[three-fingers]

Tis not the case for all mussels though, the tropical freshwater 'golden mussels' which a few places seem to be selling now are Limnoperna fortunei I think.

In which case, there is no parasitic larvae stage.

Swan mussels (the most common ones, usually sold at the LFS for coldwater external filters or ponds) do produce parasitic larvae though, I'm not sure how much damage they would do.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

EDIT: Beaten to the punch.

 

[aaronnorth]

i think they are pretty boring to be honest