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What kind of substrate do you have and how long have they been living?

1 thing to be careful of...

Ive seen mine eat fish!

Ok well not eat them but fish go near the holes and nibble, so the mussel closes up and traps the fish! The fish kicks so the mussel stays shut :/ Lucky its only been some of my feders that have been lost.

Although a large mussel did manage to grab my turtles foot and hold him under water! Lucky my Fiance was home and took them out and cracked open the mussel to free Stinky! Now they are just in the feeder tank.

Cory, i'm sure you have looked into it, but the mussel [fry?] babies can cause issues, attaching to fish etc. I haven;t had it happen, nor does it seem that it is that dramatic, but its something you should know.

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

Hello - interesting thread. I have mussels too - maybe it's an Aussie thing. I do know that if the water is too warm for long they die but don't seem to bother about a week or so of hot Australian weather (don't have air con at the mo).

I have had a much better success rate with difficult to keep fish in this tank since they've been in there. Particularly fish sensitive to ammonia build up (okay I can be a bit lazy with changing the water in that tank). I credit him with keeping the water clean.

Oh and they look awesome if you catch them going for a walk. My husband ran in to tell me it had "thrown up" once. LOL - it was just taking a walk.

Mine still seem happy, but haven't made too noticeable an impact on the container of greenwater I added them to.

How did those clams make out in that container nonamethefish?
.....openwater

At the moment i'm just using seashells as that was easily accessable.

And a lightglobe, um, i thought they were all similar in size?

*looks for another size thing*

OK, thats a fully grown paradise fish in the background...

Callatya attached this image:


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

[font color="#008000"]Lightglobe? How big is a lightglobe?
[/font]

Which product do you use to add calcuim to your water?

Last edited by openwater at 07-Jan-2005 18:42

OK, i HAD 4, but when i moved out, my paren't were in charge of that tank (technically theirs) and they didn't quite get he concept of overfeeding for filter feeders. My fault, i drilled them for many years on DO NOT overfeed

and i lost another one when i stuck my finger through its shell. thats when i learned the calcium lesson!

They are probably around the size of a lightglobe.

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

those look pretty big, how big are they?

Calla - yours been living for a year in there?

How many do u have in that tank?

Mine? Pea gravel, and over a year in that tank.

Callatya attached this image:


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

Fine natural substrate, bigger then sand but about 1/3 - 1/4 size of normal gravel.

I don't know how old they are. I bought them sunday. They are about 3/4 inch around.

I was surprised to see these at Arizona Gardens. Aren't there issues with Freshwater clams in aquariums? I had a clam shell and was told to take it out by a fish store owner when I told him. He said whenever he had added freshwater clam shells to tanks, fish ended up sick and dying.

Scroll all the way down to see it:

[link=http://www.azgardens.com/snails.php]http://www.azgardens.com/snails.php" style="COLOR: #C000C0[/link]

I have Mussels, so far very few problems, only that to keep the shells in good nick, you need to add calcium.

they are very interesting, especially if you are a nightowl like myself

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

I was told by people that the clam will bury themselves in the substrate, just wondering how do they move themselves about.
thanks................openwater.

The guy I got them from reports occasional new clams appearing. I have observed what I supposed were clam larvae. According to the same book, they are quite small .3 mm

Mine still seem happy, but haven't made too noticeable an impact on the container of greenwater I added them to.

You use them in your filter?

has anyone had them reproduce in thier aqurium?

I live near a local bayou and I find tons and tons of these guys under a layer of mud. I use them in my filter system, 200 men army of clams in my wet/dry, and they give you a smile once in a while. They filter really well, they take in tiny particle and use them as food and nutrient. Cloudy water? no problem just add these guys in. They don't really harm my fish, well, they don't do anything accept open its mouth or dig in my gravel. Never really had any problem with them. My fish are extremly in good condition, even in an overstock tank.

Note: If you have gravel, they will dig down and stay there. They will usally starve to death if that happen. Better to not have gravel.

i gave up on them. i have come to suspect most are wild caught from rivers or streams, and that rapid water flow is essential to their well being. compared to their natural habitat, an aquarium is almost like a stagnat swamp.

if yours live more then a few months, let me know what kind they are. i would love to keep them long term. i am planning on buiding an outdoor pond in the near future with a small waterfall/stream flowing into it. hopefully clams will do better in it.

good luck