Freshwater clams

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shellyx

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Hi, I've been interested for a while in getting a clam for my giant African shrimp tank but wondered if anyone has any experience with them? I've heard good and bad reviews on them so wondered if you could help.
The clam would go in my 16 gallon with my shrimp, I feed them every second day they get either spirulina powder, green plankton, crushed flakes, frozen daphnia and frozen fish eggs.
Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks Lesley

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Im interested to learn more about fw clams too.
Im not sure how they'd compete in a heavily populated rcs tank.

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They are filter feeders that need to feed nearly constantly so food every day is a must. Food always available and good water quality are two requirements and they are both hard to meet at the same time.
 
Hi Shellyx!!!

I had these. One didn't make it too long but the other seemed to be doing great until my tank had the pH crash.

It was awesome to have something like that in the tank.

The basics are that it can foul your water fast if it dies. So info says they can let go of eggs that can injure fish gills because they use them as a host once the babies start their life in the water.

The lfs called these FW Golden Clams. But the golden clams I see have concentric rings and a cherrystone shell shape. I have seen clams similar to these when I was a kid at a lake on the western side /coast states of the USA.

Bottom line I couldn't positively say what the species of these are.

60074-albums11380-picture65408.jpg


I had one which buried itself in a day or 2 and the other never did and it just wasn't well in the first place. It did live a while though.

60074-albums11380-picture64776.jpg


Here it is buried about 3" with an inch sticking out.
60074-albums11380-picture65589.jpg


Here is a pic of what you DON'T want your clam to look like...DEAD!
60074-albums11380-picture65492.jpg
 
Hi Autumn, thanks for the info i forgot you had kept clams lol
The one's I've seen are golden in color as well and the guy also has pink one's? Very pretty. I've always been interested in them and thought they'd do well in with my filter feeders as I keep them well fed! The only thing that worries me if they die it could cause problems for my guy's and I don't want that. So I'm still unsure what to do at the moment. I've done lots of research on them but it's always good to speak to someone who has kept them. ;)

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The pink ones sound really interesting!!! You keep excellent track of things going on in your tanks. Get them!!!

By the pic at the end of my other post you can see the DEAD one and how the shell loosens up and it is noticeable. The one sitting horizontally on the substrate is the one which died and I could see the tissue looking loose or soft. When it would filter with it's shell opened a mm or so, the tissue looked firm.

I think after observing the healthy behavior you could see easily if it were ill or not looking normal and could remove it to a QT.

I would buy another clam if I see one at the lfs. The Asian market stores have all sorts of live mollusks, and I have been tempted...only tempted since I would worry about parasites. :)
 
I think I'm going to try one so I can keep a close eye on it since I've not kept them before. I'm going to speak to the guy tomorrow and try and get a hold of the pink clam they look really pretty kinda pearlescent.
Did you target feed your's often? I target my shrimp every second day, would that be ok?

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I did try to target the ill one but as long as I saw the other one filtering I did just feed normally.

If you can get the pinks that would be very interesting. How big are they/do they get?
 
I think they grow to around 2 inches, so they should be an ok size for my tank.
I'll just watch make sure that it feeds ok, it should in my tank there's always food going in for my guy's!

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I think they grow to around 2 inches, so they should be an ok size for my tank.
I'll just watch make sure that it feeds ok, it should in my tank there's always food going in for my guy's!

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That sounds good. They are gonna get fat in your tank:lol:
 
I look forward to seeing your pics shellyx. Clams look fun for some reason:).
Im just concerned with them becoming potential time bombs when they die. Sounds like you'll be all over that when it needs to be removed.
Vacations for at least a few days are the x factor.

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Thanks Tbox, that's also one of my concerns so I've decided to buy just the one at the moment since i haven't kept these before, it will also give me a chance to see how they feed and act when they're healthy in case i end up with a ill one I'll hopefully no the difference!
The guy I'm buying from is waiting for pink and powder blue clams to come into his store so I'm going to wait till then. :)

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Got my clams in today, only ordered the one but they kindly set me 2. Just keeping my fingers crossed they do ok. These guy's are tiny about 2cm in length. 1420653536364.jpg

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
16 gallon vampire shrimp and snails
 
Nice clams! They look a little camera shy.
Keep us updated with interesting clam care discovery

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Thank you both :)

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
16 gallon vampire shrimp and snails
 
A 2for, sweet!
2 clams sit side by side all there life. One day they get tossed around in a bag and end up in some new digs side by side again.
Hey Larry, where the hell are we?
I dont know Mussel, I cant see a darn thing!
Dont call me Mussel!

Hardy Harr.

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Lol very good! ;)
Still no movement, just hope they are settling in.

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
16 gallon vampire shrimp and snails
 
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