[saddison]

Has anybody ever had a freshwater clam in their aquarium?
I saw some in a magazine once (never knew you could put them into at home aquariums)
I will be getting a 75 gallon aquarium, hopefully in a month or two (25% of the way there!) and I am interested in purchasing a clam or two.
The fish that will be in the 75 gallon aquarium are angelfish (3), bala shark (2), skirted tetra (2), dwarf gourami (2), paradise gourami (2), tiger barb (1 for now, hopefully will be able to get him some friends when he moves into the new "apartment"), mollies (2), pleco (2), and "catfish of some sorts" (2).....
I will be going with a more natural setting (drift wood, rocks, live plants.. etc)...
Would getting some clams be too much for the tank?
Are they hard to take care of?
I use some freshwater salt in my aquarium to keep my fish's health up... Will that salt hurt them (even if it is a small amount)?
Are they hard to care for?

Any advice would be great, thanks!

 

[Dino]

Salt does nothing for the fishs health, all it does is aggravate the slime coat.
Clams do not make good fish mates.
If one dies, how do you know until the water starts going bad?
Many clams also carry organisms that are fish parasites.
They are also filter feeders, so they are difficult to feed unless you have a large amount of green water ( which makes it hard to see the fish).
They stay buried in the substrate, so what is there to look at?

 

[saddison]

oh...
never thought of it that way..
thanks for the insite!!!!!

And salt aggravates the slime coat on the fish?
Why does it say "protects the fish from infections" yadda yadda on the box?

 

[Dino]

Because salt makes for a thicker slime coat, which is fine for external parasite infections like anchor worm, but does little for internal or wound infections due to bacteria or viruses.

As well, these are freshwater fish.
Most freshwater fish do not come in contact with sodium chloride in their natural environment.

 

[saddison]

Well, so much for what my LFS told me!

Thank you very much for your knowledge!

What sort of parasites could salt be used as a treatment for?

 

[Dino]

It may help with ich, but I find it easier just to jack the heat up to 82F over the course of a day.

 

[MediaHound]

Check out this video of a freshwater clam:
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f40/video-corbicula-fluminea-freshwater-clam-burying-278.html

 

[wittkid]

Also, Asian clams are a non native animal that reproduce like crazy. They are hermophroditic, so even if you only have one to start out with...if there's enough food for them to eat, you're going to have too many in a really short time! Avoid using them. And if you're going to throw them out, be sure not to return them to any natural freshwaters.

 

[saddison]

Thank you all for your great advice.
I will avoid live clams at all cost.
Perhaps just some clam shells will cure my urge?
Or maybe after I set up my new awesome "natural" aquarium, I will not have the urge..

Are there any crustations that do not asexually reproduce?
Should I avoid crustations, because there will be 4 "bottom feeding" type of fish....