Just got some freshwater clams from the lake

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VioletThePurple

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I don't know much about them, but I do know that they're basically bulletproof cleaners like snails. I am acclimating them just in case. I've heard that they won't die except when opened, and that their cleaning abilities could even replace the need for having a filter. So, I'm excited. But I'm afraid they could have a hard time adjusting to my tank since they were wild caught. I don't think there's anything I can do to help if that's the case. I hope I'm lucky to have them adjust and live. Another potential problem is that my filter is very low flow. Like I barely notice any water movement. Unlike the constant moving water they came from.

If there's anything else I need to know about clams, let me know.
 
I don't know much about them, but I do know that they're basically bulletproof cleaners like snails. I am acclimating them just in case. I've heard that they won't die except when opened, and that their cleaning abilities could even replace the need for having a filter. So, I'm excited. But I'm afraid they could have a hard time adjusting to my tank since they were wild caught. I don't think there's anything I can do to help if that's the case. I hope I'm lucky to have them adjust and live. Another potential problem is that my filter is very low flow. Like I barely notice any water movement. Unlike the constant moving water they came from.

If there's anything else I need to know about clams, let me know.
I would be wary of bringing livestock from a lake into a tank with fish.
They likely have toxins or bacteria that could harm your fish.
Personally, I wouldn't add them.
 
I concur. Pathogens of aquarium fish differ from those of local temperate ecosystems. This is why we must never place anthing from an aquarium into the natural waterways. And it works in reverse.

Is there a problem that makes you think you need "cleaners" like claims?
 
Mussels and clams are not bullet proof. They are sensitive to chemicals and will die if there is any ammonia or nitrite above 0ppm, or nitrate above 20ppm.

They do not filter ammonia and nitrite out of water and cannot be used to replace a filter.

They do filter single celled algae and other microscopic and small planktonic organisms from the water. Most of them starve to death or die form poor water quality. You can buy liquid invertebrate foods for marine tanks and use it in freshwater for clams a couple of times a week. If you can't get invert food, use the yolk of a boiled egg mixed with some tank water and squirt a cloud over the clams. Turn the filter off for 30 minutes when you do this. You can also use powdered fish food mixed with water.

Healthy mussels/ clams will normally hold their shells shut tightly if you try to grab or open them. A sick or dead mussel/ clam will remain open and start to smell pretty soon after it has died.
 
I concur. Pathogens of aquarium fish differ from those of local temperate ecosystems. This is why we must never place anything from an aquarium into the natural waterways. And it works in reverse.

Is there a problem that makes you think you need "cleaners" like claims?
Yes, I have some pretty stubborn algae growth that I've heard they can help with. I've already tried limiting my lightening and wiping it off to combat it. I've added wild snails, so I don't think it's an issue.
 
Yes, I have some pretty stubborn algae growth that I've heard they can help with. I've already tried limiting my lightening and wiping it off to combat it. I've added wild snails, so I don't think it's an issue.
I still wouldn't recommend it, but if you feel like you are willing to bear the potential consequences, then so be it. Good luck
 
Mussels and clams are not bullet proof. They are sensitive to chemicals and will die if there is any ammonia or nitrite above 0ppm, or nitrate above 20ppm.

They do not filter ammonia and nitrite out of water and cannot be used to replace a filter.

They do filter single celled algae and other microscopic and small planktonic organisms from the water. Most of them starve to death or die from poor water quality. You can buy liquid invertebrate foods for marine tanks and use it in freshwater for clams a couple of times a week. If you can't get invert food, use the yolk of a boiled egg mixed with some tank water and squirt a cloud over the clams. Turn the filter off for 30 minutes when you do this. You can also use powdered fish food mixed with water.

Healthy mussels/ clams will normally hold their shells shut tightly if you try to grab or open them. A sick or dead mussel/ clam will remain open and start to smell pretty soon after it has died.
Why not?? In the reptile world, those pet owners never have to clean waste. There are bugs that clean for them. I don't understand why it can't be that way in the fishkeeping world. Why there isn't some aquatic animal that can added to replace fish tank maintenance. I already know to keep my water parameters cause any fish can die from poor water quality. You said they filter algae, so they shouldn't starve. I have algae growth in my tank.
 
Why not?? In the reptile world, those pet owners never have to clean waste. There are bugs that clean for them. I don't understand why it can't be that way in the fishkeeping world. Why there isn't some aquatic animal that can added to replace fish tank maintenance. I already know to keep my water parameters cause any fish can die from poor water quality. You said they filter algae, so they shouldn't starve. I have algae growth in my tank.

You're brand new to the hobby, yet act as though you know better than people who have been keeping fish for decades and all known info. You really should reconsider and be willing to listen to others, or your tanks will pay the consequences sooner or later.

Considering how helpful others have been to you in your many threads, it would also be worth being polite and thanking them now and again, rather than being snappy and demanding in your responses.
 
Why there isn't some aquatic animal that can added to replace fish tank maintenance.
Because maintenance is part of the hobby...if you can't be bothered then don't have a tank. Would you have a rabbit and not clean out the hutch? Would you have a dog and not pick up the poo? No, of course not
 
You're brand new to the hobby, yet act as though you know better than people who have been keeping fish for decades and all known info. You really should reconsider and be willing to listen to others, or your tanks will pay the consequences sooner or later.

Considering how helpful others have been to you in your many threads, it would also be worth being polite and thanking them now and again, rather than being snappy and demanding in your responses.
Okay, I guess I'll just be ignorant and blindly follow anything you say because clearly you must be better than me. Thanks for telling me the polite way to shut up and never share my opinion.
 
Because maintenance is part of the hobby...if you can't be bothered then don't have a tank. Would you have a rabbit and not clean out the hutch? Would you have a dog and not pick up the poo? No, of course not
I'm not bothered. I'm just saying it's possible in other circumstances, why not here? Just because I point out something doesn't mean I won't do it.
 
Why not?? In the reptile world, those pet owners never have to clean waste. There are bugs that clean for them. I don't understand why it can't be that way in the fishkeeping world. Why there isn't some aquatic animal that can added to replace fish tank maintenance. I already know to keep my water parameters cause any fish can die from poor water quality. You said they filter algae, so they shouldn't starve. I have algae growth in my tank.

Please take this as it is intended, to help you not only solve a problem but understand the issues behind these.

There is absolutely no replacement for maintenance of an aquarium by the aquarist. None. That is not how nature works. In the wild, there is a system that has evolved over thousands of years to maintain various species and along the way help them overcome various obstacles. [I don't really know how to better express this, so I hope it is understandable.] "Problem algae" does not really exist in nature, because each habitat has what has evolved to function there; if algae proliferates, fine, it will choke out the plants. In another habitat the botanical needs of plants will be provided and algae will be non-existent, as a hindrance at any rate. There are all sorts of checks and balances in biology, botany, chemistry to ensure this is successful.

In an aquarium we introduce various species of fish and plant, so the natural life processes play out for each species. But the aquarium is a very artificial environment, that does not exist anywhere in the natural world. We confine the species to a space where some of the natural processes cannot play out due to space, light, temperature, combinations of species, etc. The aquarist has to learn what the processes are, and what environmental factors are necessary for each species, but the course some of these take is far different.

Algae in an aquarium is normal; light plus nutrients will cause algae to appear. There is no such thing as an algae-free aquarium; those photos of such tanks are phoney. Such an aquarium is unhealthy because what is necessary because of nature is being eliminated, or at least the aquarist attempts to eliminate them.

There are some who deny the need for water changes; they may cite tanks with plants that run for years with no water changes. These people have no clue about nature. Even Diana Walstad who instigated the soil substrate method admits in her book and articles that she only gets away with minimal or no water changes if the fish load is considerably lower than most of us would have, and the plants are heavy and thriving. And no plant additives are added. The fish produce the nutrients the plants use, and it is in balance. I recall reading some years ago that a planted aquarium with fish that received no water changes could only work if the fish load consisted of six black neon tetras in a 55 gallon tank well planted. I doubt anyone onthis forum wold keep no more than six small fish in a 4-foot 55g tank. It takes maintenance to maintain a healthy aquarium.

Fish that do eat "algae" will usually not eat the "problem" algae we have to deal with because we do not have the biological system balanced. I've no idea about clams, but this is not in my view the way to go. Establish the balance of light and nutrients for the plants you have, and I can guarantee you will never see "problem" algae. It took me a few years to do this in my fish room, where I had problems with black brush algae in two or three tanks. Once I achieved the balance, for the following six years I never had this algae increasing.

Snails and shrimp can assist the aquarist, provided the system is in balance (fish load/live plants/water changes/filter cleanings), but they cannot replace maintenance.
 
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