Freshwater Clams

[dkpate]

Hey my fellow MTS sufferers!
I was just browsing through the Foster Smith catalog, and I came upon an ad for freshwater clams! They look really interesting, and only get to about 2", and I was wondering how they would go in my tank. I have about an inch and a half of sand substrate, do you think that's enough? Does anyone have any experience with them?
Thanks!

 

[i3k]

I bought a few of those before. They all died within a week. They burrow themselves into the gravel and pretty much died in the gravel. The thing is, you can't really tell if they are alive or dead...i found out the hard way...after them being in the same spot for 2 days...i took them out and they smelled rotten.

 

[Lowryder]

They are tasty with old bay...

 

[Etunes]

They are really easy to care for as long as you have the right substrate deapth. I would increase it to 2" personally but they are easy to care for as they are filter feeders.

 

[dkpate]

Being "filter feeders" is why I was interested in them. Thanks for your input guys!
Lowryder....Gross! I do not eat seafood or fish...

BTW, I got 6 new guppies yesterday, and I love them!

 

[mgamer20o0]

one bad thing is if they die you dont know and can easy foul the water. you might want to add like green water supplements for them. i have found very few people that ever end up being glad they got them. i think there better options out there.

 

[dkpate]

Ok, well I am going to take your advice Gamer, and pass them up. What are the better options?
And what the heck are green water supplements?

 

[Etunes]

Ok, well I am going to take your advice Gamer

Who ever dosent take it, he rocks when it comes to the info of fish.

And what the heck are green water supplements?

They filter feed micro organisms out of the water and this is food for them.

 

[mgamer20o0]

Ok, well I am going to take your advice Gamer, and pass them up. What are the better options?
And what the heck are green water supplements?

what tank are you looking to put something new in? bamboo shrimp is a filter feeding invert if you are looking for something close to the clam.

 

[dkpate]

I was gonna put them in my 20G tall community tank, which is currently home to 1 D. Gourami, 6 K. Loaches, the assassin snails and 8 male guppies. I am worried my DG would eat shrimp, because he is always prowling all over looking for more food.

 

[mgamer20o0]

bamboo shrimp isnt a dwarf shrimp.

 

[dkpate]

Hmm, I will have to check them out. Although there were some other shrimp that looked really neat I saw on another post. On the "Shrimp Tree" one. They were really neat looking!
Is there anything special I would need to do before I got them? Or do I need to get them special food, or do they just eat the leftovers? (Which isn't TOO much because of the loaches. It's crazy town in my tank at feeding time LOL. But since I had an overabundance of MT snails, there must be something!

 

[HN1]

I hate to sound negative, but I have only seen a very few people who have ever had long term success with clams. They require a well established tank, pristine water, and abundant suspended food. Their ideal tank is a catch 22 when dealing with a box of water.

 

[dkpate]

Yeah, I have been deterred from the clams. I am moving on to shrimp now LOL. I am looking at different species now.

 

[HN1]

Copy and paste my comments for filter feeding shrimp then.

 

[dkpate]

I just saw some bumblebee shrimp, and I like them, but I think they are too small. I do also like the tiger shrimp. I don't like clear shrimp, they creep me out, so I am browsing for colored ones LOL.

 

[Etunes]

I also want to add that dont add anything too small as your K. loaches might enjoy them. And may i say be VERY careful with bumblebee shrimp as they are expensive.

 

[dkpate]

Well, I just found out that 80* is too hot for the bees, so they are a no go. *sigh* oh well! I don't think my loaches could fit the shrimp in their mouths?
I did just fall in love with the blue tiger shrimp, so I am going to see how much they are.

 

[dkpate]

DOH! Cancel that! Geez, shrimp are spendy if they are not see-through!

 

[Etunes]

I want cardinal shrimp but i can imagine how much they cost.