kirkland795
Aquarium Advice Regular
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2014
- Messages
- 99
Anyone have experience keeping freshwater clams in an aquarium? I have never kept clams and would like any advice.
freshwater clams
- Thread starter kirkland795
- Start date
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Fresh2o
Aquarium Advice Addict
I used the search feature in the mobile app and found a similar post from last month. Hope it helps!
Freshwater clams
Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
Freshwater clams
Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
OP
OP
kirkland795
Aquarium Advice Regular
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2014
- Messages
- 99
Thank you that was helpful!
Fishfur
Aquarium Advice Addict
I've kept 3 different species of clam, with varying degrees of success. The sad thing is, they can live for months in a state of semi starvation before they actually die, so you may think they're ok when they aren't.
There's only a couple of ways to tell if they are doing ok. One is to weigh them. Weigh when you get them, then about once a month or so. You need a scale that reads in grams or smaller increments. Or you can try to measure them carefully, always being sure to measure the same spot each time. If they are gaining in girth, that's good. If they are gaining weight, that's good. If they are not growing or gaining weight, they are not getting enough food.
They need quite small food items, smaller than filter shrimp do. Single cell algaes are one good food for them, if you're willing to culture it for them. It's not hard to do. Golden Pearls in the 5-50 micron size are very good too, and also good for other filter feeders like fan shrimp. Powdered spirulina is another good food, you need to mix it with water first though. Two Little Fishies make two foods, not cheap, that are also good. Spray dried algaes and Spray dried Crustaceans. I mix them with water first too. I find target feeding doesn't work all that well for clams. To do it properly you have to turn off the water circulation entirely.
So I just pour their food in and I find it helps if you have a circulation pump in addition to the filter. When you feed these very fine foods, turn off the filter for an hour or so, and leave the pump running, to circulate the foods and give the filter feeders a chance to get them before the filter removes them. I got a tap switch, a plug with a switch on it, that allows me to turn the filter off without actually unplugging the thing, much less trouble that way.
Healthy clams usually dig in and bury themselves, leaving only the feeding and breathing tube showing, which are hard to see, since they usually stick up barely an eighth of inch beyond the shell. Sometimes you may see the shoulder of the shell. They usually don't move around a whole lot from where you put them. They aren't that good at horizontal moves, just digging. Mine were rarely more than an inch or two from where I put them.
It's true some species have larvae that use fish gills to get around on, but the ones you're likely to see offered for sale to keep in FW tanks are not among them. Usually you see either the Asian clam, aka Golden clam, sometimes a black and white clam that's rounder in shape. I've also seen some called Shark Tooth, which look like an ordinary lake clam, but with a sharp 'tooth' on the shell that looks very like a shark's tooth. They're about 3 inches long and need a fairly deep substrate to dig into, at least 3 inches of it, and they often leave the tooth sticking up. Mine were, I think, beyond saving when I got them. Only one managed to dig in and I think it exhausted itself doing so. I had 6 and none lived more than a few weeks, poor things.
I suspect Shark tooth and possibly also the black and white ones need cooler temperatures than the Asian ones do, but it's just a hunch I have. I had 3 of the black and white ones, two of which lived about a year, and the 3rd lived about two years. They were gaining weight, albeit very slowly, and I do think they'd have done better in cooler water. As it was, the tank was not heated, it had temperate and cool water fish species in it that didn't need a heater.
I have a pair of Golden Asian clams now, and the gentleman I got them from, who has a wealth of experience life long in the aquarium trade in Asia, told me that one clam needs a minimum of 5 G of tank to have a hope of survival, if there are no other filter feeders in the tank. If there are, they either need a lot of extra food or a lot more tank space to support them. They are not suited for a new tank either. A tank should be at least six months up and running with fish and other critters before you add clams, to allow a reasonable growth of the micro organisms they feed on to establish.
When they die, usually there isn't too much of a problem unless you don't have any scavengers in your tank. If you have snails, or shrimp, they'll find a dead clam quite fast and consume it before it fouls the water. MTS snails are particularly good that way, since they dig all the time anyway. When clams die, the shells pop open and since they are not very far down in the substrate, snails have no problem getting to them and shrimp will get to them too. I've never had a tank foul because of a dead clam, though none of mine were particularly large.
At least one of the species that is sold as the Golden or Asian clam can get to five or six inches but it takes quite a long time for them to grow that big and if they do, you need to provide a deep enough substrate so they can bury themselves.
There's only a couple of ways to tell if they are doing ok. One is to weigh them. Weigh when you get them, then about once a month or so. You need a scale that reads in grams or smaller increments. Or you can try to measure them carefully, always being sure to measure the same spot each time. If they are gaining in girth, that's good. If they are gaining weight, that's good. If they are not growing or gaining weight, they are not getting enough food.
They need quite small food items, smaller than filter shrimp do. Single cell algaes are one good food for them, if you're willing to culture it for them. It's not hard to do. Golden Pearls in the 5-50 micron size are very good too, and also good for other filter feeders like fan shrimp. Powdered spirulina is another good food, you need to mix it with water first though. Two Little Fishies make two foods, not cheap, that are also good. Spray dried algaes and Spray dried Crustaceans. I mix them with water first too. I find target feeding doesn't work all that well for clams. To do it properly you have to turn off the water circulation entirely.
So I just pour their food in and I find it helps if you have a circulation pump in addition to the filter. When you feed these very fine foods, turn off the filter for an hour or so, and leave the pump running, to circulate the foods and give the filter feeders a chance to get them before the filter removes them. I got a tap switch, a plug with a switch on it, that allows me to turn the filter off without actually unplugging the thing, much less trouble that way.
Healthy clams usually dig in and bury themselves, leaving only the feeding and breathing tube showing, which are hard to see, since they usually stick up barely an eighth of inch beyond the shell. Sometimes you may see the shoulder of the shell. They usually don't move around a whole lot from where you put them. They aren't that good at horizontal moves, just digging. Mine were rarely more than an inch or two from where I put them.
It's true some species have larvae that use fish gills to get around on, but the ones you're likely to see offered for sale to keep in FW tanks are not among them. Usually you see either the Asian clam, aka Golden clam, sometimes a black and white clam that's rounder in shape. I've also seen some called Shark Tooth, which look like an ordinary lake clam, but with a sharp 'tooth' on the shell that looks very like a shark's tooth. They're about 3 inches long and need a fairly deep substrate to dig into, at least 3 inches of it, and they often leave the tooth sticking up. Mine were, I think, beyond saving when I got them. Only one managed to dig in and I think it exhausted itself doing so. I had 6 and none lived more than a few weeks, poor things.
I suspect Shark tooth and possibly also the black and white ones need cooler temperatures than the Asian ones do, but it's just a hunch I have. I had 3 of the black and white ones, two of which lived about a year, and the 3rd lived about two years. They were gaining weight, albeit very slowly, and I do think they'd have done better in cooler water. As it was, the tank was not heated, it had temperate and cool water fish species in it that didn't need a heater.
I have a pair of Golden Asian clams now, and the gentleman I got them from, who has a wealth of experience life long in the aquarium trade in Asia, told me that one clam needs a minimum of 5 G of tank to have a hope of survival, if there are no other filter feeders in the tank. If there are, they either need a lot of extra food or a lot more tank space to support them. They are not suited for a new tank either. A tank should be at least six months up and running with fish and other critters before you add clams, to allow a reasonable growth of the micro organisms they feed on to establish.
When they die, usually there isn't too much of a problem unless you don't have any scavengers in your tank. If you have snails, or shrimp, they'll find a dead clam quite fast and consume it before it fouls the water. MTS snails are particularly good that way, since they dig all the time anyway. When clams die, the shells pop open and since they are not very far down in the substrate, snails have no problem getting to them and shrimp will get to them too. I've never had a tank foul because of a dead clam, though none of mine were particularly large.
At least one of the species that is sold as the Golden or Asian clam can get to five or six inches but it takes quite a long time for them to grow that big and if they do, you need to provide a deep enough substrate so they can bury themselves.
Rebel1970
Aquarium Advice Activist
Clams & Shrimp
So it is ok to have clams in a shrimp tank, is what your are saying..If so is there a particular clam for freshwater shrimp that is best?
Thanks for any advice
So it is ok to have clams in a shrimp tank, is what your are saying..If so is there a particular clam for freshwater shrimp that is best?
Thanks for any advice
Fishfur
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have two small golden clams in with shrimp and nano fish, and so far, so good. Many of the shrimp are filter feeding, so what I feed them is also useful for the clams. Of the clams you can get, I think the Golden ones are probably most suited.
I've found this thread really interesting, I've been wanting to add freshwater clams to my filter feeders tank but was really unsure how they'd cope. Great info!
55 gallon elephant nose tank
16 gallon Giant African shrimp tank
55 gallon elephant nose tank
16 gallon Giant African shrimp tank
Fishfur
Aquarium Advice Addict
One advantage, though one hopes it won't happen, is that shrimp will soon find a clam that has died and eat it. So you won't have to be concerned about water parameters in case of a clam death. If they die, the shells open up, leaving the animal completely exposed for shrimp and/or snails to consume.
I think the only time a death causes issues is when there are no scavengers to consume a dead clam. Then you can end up with spiking.
I've had the Goldens I have now for about, it must be the best part of a year now I think. They appear to be doing ok.
I think the only time a death causes issues is when there are no scavengers to consume a dead clam. Then you can end up with spiking.
I've had the Goldens I have now for about, it must be the best part of a year now I think. They appear to be doing ok.
It's the gold one's I've been looking at, i was hoping with me already feeding my vampire shrimp that they'd hopefully have a better chance of survival. And I've also snail's in the tank so if one did pass my snail's would clear up like you said.
55 gallon elephant nose tank
16 gallon Giant African shrimp tank
55 gallon elephant nose tank
16 gallon Giant African shrimp tank
Fishfur
Aquarium Advice Addict
Main thing is to bear in mind is that the clams virtually never stop filtering. They can only make use of very small things, but with other filter feeders in their tank, they're competing for the same food. So you have to feed enough to ensure they all get fed. Weighing or measuring the clams on a monthly basis are the only ways I know to be sure they aren't starving, since the shrimp, being higher up and able to move around, kind of have first claim on the goodies in the water.
If you can ever get hold of a FW rotifer culture, they would be deeply appreciated by clams and shrimp alike. I've tried twice to culture them, with out long term success as yet, but I intend to try again.
If you can ever get hold of a FW rotifer culture, they would be deeply appreciated by clams and shrimp alike. I've tried twice to culture them, with out long term success as yet, but I intend to try again.
I use spirulina powder and powdered rotifer which they enjoy and frozen food. Like you say i would add extra too help feed them. Weighing them sounds like a great idea, i wouldn't have thought off that. Do they have a large bio load?
55 gallon elephant nose tank
16 gallon Giant African shrimp tank
55 gallon elephant nose tank
16 gallon Giant African shrimp tank
Fishfur
Aquarium Advice Addict
I do not think they have nearly as much bioload as fish, but I am not certain, it's not something I've ever been able to find out about for sure. You'd need a scale that weighs in small increments, single grams at least if not less than grams.
Where do you get rotifer powder ? Never heard of or seen that anywhere. Spirulina is good though, I use that too.
Where do you get rotifer powder ? Never heard of or seen that anywhere. Spirulina is good though, I use that too.
I bought the powder off eBay, i got a 10 gram bag think they're called a world of fish, the only problem I have with it, is it seems to float so i usually leave it for a while soaking in a tub of tank water.
55 gallon elephant nose tank
16 gallon Giant African shrimp tank
55 gallon elephant nose tank
16 gallon Giant African shrimp tank
Fishfur
Aquarium Advice Addict
I was just looking up rotifer powder, and the sites appear to be Asian mainly. They all say to mix the powder with water [sea water usually, they're talking mainly shrimp farming], and to aerate the container for 5-10 minutes, then spread the resulting mixture evenly over the surface.
I'll have to check Ebay and see if I can find some. The sites are selling commercial quantities, from 1 to 100 Kg. !. They make copepod and artemia products too. Very interesting. A thread on a discus forum was talking about using these powders too. Thanks for mentioning it, I'd never have known to look for it otherwise.
I'll have to check Ebay and see if I can find some. The sites are selling commercial quantities, from 1 to 100 Kg. !. They make copepod and artemia products too. Very interesting. A thread on a discus forum was talking about using these powders too. Thanks for mentioning it, I'd never have known to look for it otherwise.
Fishfur
Aquarium Advice Addict
If you don't mind the trouble, new hatched BBS may be useful too, for shrimp and clams. Somewhere, once, I read an article where someone had kept clams a long time, and come up with a diet for them. If I bookmarked it, it's on the old laptop, haven't switched the old data to the new machine yet. Wanted to try the home made diet but then my mother was ill and I was away so much with her, didn't ever get to it and the first clams I had died. The oldest lived about 18 months and grew a fair bit, no idea why he died.
That's great thanks any info is helpful, I really like keeping filter feeders for some reason! I did try live cyclops once as I thought with them being small they would manage them they fed on them fine. But I'm definitely going to give bbs a go.
55 gallon elephant nose tank
16 gallon Giant African shrimp tank
55 gallon elephant nose tank
16 gallon Giant African shrimp tank
Fishfur
Aquarium Advice Addict
Me too ! Filter shrimp, clams, daphnia, moina, various other tiny invert species like Fairy shrimps, for which I have eggs and some hope, at some point. Must get some fresh single cell algae cultures going though, as they will be needed for the moina and fairy shrimps and I feed them to the clams and shrimp as well. Not hard to keep going, only lost the last lot because my landlord is such a jerk and making life such a pain.
That's cool! I just recently added some green lace shrimp to my tank and I'm enjoying watching them. Don't know what it is about filter feeders but I find them very interesting 
55 gallon elephant nose tank
16 gallon Giant African shrimp tank
55 gallon elephant nose tank
16 gallon Giant African shrimp tank
Pseudomugil
Aquarium Advice FINatic
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2014
- Messages
- 778
I've kept freshwater clams before. We had them for about a year when suddenly they all died within a matter of days. I still wonder why 
Care was very simple though. When they're feeding you'll see their shells open a few mm and their white skin will be visible. We never target fed them, they just seem to take care of themselves. Also, if you have sand, they can burrow under it.
Care was very simple though. When they're feeding you'll see their shells open a few mm and their white skin will be visible. We never target fed them, they just seem to take care of themselves. Also, if you have sand, they can burrow under it.
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