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L# Freshwater Aquaria
 L# Invertebrates
  L# Freshwater Clams?
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SubscribeFreshwater Clams?
Fish Guy
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Mega Fish
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male canada
How do you take care of these, and what are suggested tank mates and tank size for these?
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:27Profile PM Edit Report 
bettachris
 
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male usa
i posted this as well. i would say that they are easy to keep,but hard to feed only b/c they need filter feeder food.
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:27Profile Homepage Yahoo PM Edit Delete Report 
sham
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female usa
Clams are interesting if you meet their needs and they can help keep your tank filtered but most tanks don't really qualify as clam tanks. The only tankmates that might not work are invert eaters such as loaches and some cichlids might be able to dig them up and crush them open. A clam needs about 2 sq inches of bottom space to sit in and that's it. However the more clams you have the harder they will be to keep fed. Once they find an open spot and dig into the gravel they don't really move so they can't go find food. They have to be in an area with high enough current to carry food to them and you have to feed enough messy foods that there are particles in the water. If you feed solid pellets that don't get broken up as your fish eat them then don't even try clams. Also If you have less than around 6 times the tanks volume per hour they will probably all starve. These are river critters and the more water movement the better. Alot of mine starved themselves by wandering into caves or behind a piece of driftwood where the current was too low. I can keep around 20 alive in a 55g tank with 2 penguin 330 filters(12 times the tanks volume per hour). I also feed alot of crushed up flakes for the small fish and shrimp pellets which get turned into a cloud of little particles when my congo tetras grab them. You can avoid all these problems by using something like an eye dropper to squirt food in front of the clams everyday but it seems like too much work for something that just sits there. 1 last thing. If you use any type of medication at all you will have to hunt down your clams and remove them. Even if it says safe for inverts chances are you will lose some clams.
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:27Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
openwater
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male canada
They will also need calcium in order to decay of their shells. You might have to add some crush coral, piece of coral or other leaching material for proper shell health.
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:27Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
sham
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female usa
Clams are not as sensitive to low calcium and ph as snails. Generally if you keep the ph above 7.0 they don't have a problem. Unless of course your gh is really low like 2-3 then the calcium will probably be too low.
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:27Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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