Fresh Water Mussels

[chishnfips]

Me and my brother where sitting watchiung my tank last night and started wondering if you could put fresh water mussels in in. How cool would that be to have in your tank.

So I was wondering if anyone has tried it or actually done it before?

If you have can you leave info on how to keep them and if they would survive in tropical conditions .

 

[black angel]

I think they need really cold water to survive and do better in ponds i think. Not 100% sure but i was told they dont live long in normal coldwater set ups anyway.

 

[CAC]

Search: snail_shop on ebay (think its that! ) and they have a muscle section, and some info.
Have a look, it says there all tropical...
Id like to get one, but im not sure how good theyd be, on that shop they also sell clams, which look quite cool...

Mikey

 

[Griz]

I can across what was labled as "Golden clams" the other day. It looked more like a freshwater mussel to me but with a more yellow/golden colour. I have no experience keeping them but they are probably delicious with some lemon juice and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Bear in mind, a lot of these things reproduce asexually, then the larvael young burrow into your fish... Not pleasant. Many also bury themselves very deeply in the substrate, and there's no way of knowing whether they're dead or alive until the ammonia starts to rocket...

 

[chishnfips]

hmmm, would be interseting to find out though. would they not help filter your water in the tank?

 

[OohFeeshy]

Doubt it.

 

[annka5]

Mussels are filter-feeders, but this just means they feed by "seiving" the water andingesting small stuff like algae etc from the water. I guess to some extent they would clean the water of tiny particles and algae but they'd also produce waste.
They'd not filter like fish tank-filters - i.e. not get rid of ammonia or nitrite etc.
I never realised that the larvae would burrow into fish and basically be parasitic on them - blergh!

 

[Qays]

why would it be cool?

 

[chishnfips]

It would be Something different from the norm to have in your tank, thats al I am thinking. But if they burrow into your fish thats not so good.

 

[k.o.d]

Freshwater mussels and bitterling have a true symbiotic relationship.

The bitterling reproduce by injecting the fertilised eggs into the gills of the freshwater mussels, the mussels actually foster the bitterling fry as they would their own ( as the mussel larvae are housed in the adult mussel gills )
The second stage of the mussel development is to attach themselves to the gills of the host fish and then they drop off and enter their adult phase in the mud beds.

If there were no mussels there would be lots less bitterlings and also the dispersion of new mussel beds would also be diminished.

Steve

 

[chishnfips]

So do the mussels harm the fish? Do they inject there larvae into all fishes gills?

 

[sammy86]

I have a freshwater mussel in my tank. you can actually get tropical mussels
from www.snailshop.co.uk

you can also get freshwater clams which are smaller ...

my mussel (called russel) is fun to watch when he arranges himself in the tank (he rocks about)

also when i got him out and put him in a jug - his 'foot' came out and was feeling around...

they are great for the tank as they kill nitrates... they also gobble up the 'bits' that float around aimlessly in the tank..
he opens up at feeding time to catch minute specs of food and such...

i dont reccomend getting 2, as the babies cling to the fish and can harm them - however mussels are selective about what species of fish they cling to...so research up and you might be ok..however i only reccomend one..

also you know if a mussel is dead if it opens up - if you pick it up and it is clamped shut..then the guy is still alive..

(i nearly killed my mussel by taking out of the tank and was going to disguard it. as it hadn't moved for days...however he soon opened up..and shut again when i picked him up - hes now safly back in the tank)

 

[chishnfips]

cool, cheers sammy, what fishies do you have in your tank?

 

[sammy86]

cool, cheers sammy, what fishies do you have in your tank?

i have community fish...

barbs, tetras, gobies, platys, drawf gourami, danios, snails, khuli loaches.

The Khulis often bury a tunnel under the mussel and use him as a rock lol...

my khuli and mussel...