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	Freshwater Clams
frostjam Fingerling Posts: 36 Kudos: 58 Votes: 0 Registered: 08-May-2004	Hi all, I have a freshwater clam, I can not seem to find any information on the web about the care of it. It seems to be doing fine, it burrows into the gravel just fine and shortly after burrowing begins to filter the water. Does anyone have any advice on looking after these really nice little things!? Thanks in advance James
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:28
paige Hobbyist Posts: 65 Kudos: 49 Registered: 12-May-2004	I have one...I don't give it any special care except they are filter feeders so they need to be fed something they can eat. When I feed my fish zooplankton I usually squirt some of the extra juice in my clams direction.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:28
jake Fish Addict Posts: 594 Kudos: 875 Votes: 2 Registered: 21-Mar-2004	When you do a gravel vac, be SURE to vac wherever the clam is extra good. The clams don't move around once they burrow in, so when they filter water in and expel the waste, the waste goes all around them. I had fw clams and was shocked at the amount of waste they would accumulate in a week. If you have some fast growing plants, you could probably use clams as fert tablets.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:28
frostjam Fingerling Posts: 36 Kudos: 58 Votes: 0 Registered: 08-May-2004	Thanks for the Advice.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:28
Theresa_M Moderator Queen of Zoom Posts: 3649 Kudos: 4280 Votes: 790 Registered: 04-Jan-2004	Um, well...I do nothing special for my clams The advice about moving them when cleaning is good, they really don't move once settled in. When I vac I move them so they have to reburrow, kind of assures me they're still alive ~~~~~~~~~~~~ There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:28
fishboy8206 Enthusiast Posts: 227 Kudos: 354 Votes: 2 Registered: 27-Jan-2004	good Q i was going to ask it myself.My brother and I each got a clam today and have barried themselves. i have found mine. it dug up under a plant and started to move it. still can't find my brothers is there a easy way to find it.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:28
frostjam Fingerling Posts: 36 Kudos: 58 Votes: 0 Registered: 08-May-2004	one of my clams moves around quite a bit, but none of them have actually dug below the gravel. I would imagine the best way to find it is when you gravel vac the tank.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:28
JediDragon Fingerling Posts: 37 Kudos: 221 Votes: 70 Registered: 19-Jul-2004	I was looking to get a FW clam and asked my LFS but they said that they don't carry them because when they reproduce they give off a toxic inky liquid substance that kills all the fish in the tank. Is this true? Can anyone else confirm this? [span class="edited"][Edited by JediDragon 2004-07-22 16:57][/span]
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:28
frostjam Fingerling Posts: 36 Kudos: 58 Votes: 0 Registered: 08-May-2004	Hmm I havn't heard of that one , however I'm not too sure on the breeding habits of clams, there is not much about on the net. I have one in one of my tanks and two in another... no deaths yet. Definatly worth the reasearch though. let me know what you find out.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:28
Callatya Moderator The girl's got crabs! Posts: 9662 Kudos: 5261 Registered: 16-Sep-2001	they let off a black ooze when they die and rot, could that be it? For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:28
frostjam Fingerling Posts: 36 Kudos: 58 Votes: 0 Registered: 08-May-2004	Perhaps this site sheds some light on this... It says that clam lavae cling to fish gills as parasites, in stressd fish these parasite lavae can kill the fish. In large numbers clam lavae can overcome even a healthy fish. It does say however that if a clam dies it does pollute the water. Here is the URL anyway: http://www.fishpondinfo.com/snail.htm#clam
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:28


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