Fresh Water Mussels?

[Ludwig Venter]

One thing leads to another.... At the risk of repeating myself.... (anyhows)...

I picked up some freshwater mussel shells down at the river this afternoon.... They were in abundance, so I'm sure if I dig around a little, I'd find live ones.....

Are they a prospect to keep in an aquarium, or can they be used as natural food source for the bigger fish??... Anyone seen them before, or perhaps keep any???... What are the requirements??

 

[Davo86]

Freshwater Mussels don't tolerate nitrite or ammonia but i don't expect that going to be a problem, other than that they are fairly easy to keep,
They do however like cooler temps around the low 20's ©

Not sure on them as a food source,

 

[8inary]

my lfs sells these.

i have bought them in the past, however, having a mixed cichlid tank they didnt last long. I do recall they would stand side on pointing upwards in the sand, i understand this is so they can put something out under the gravel/sand to eat.

my silver shark '11"' loved them - it didnt take them long before they were eaten up!

havent bothered with them since

 

[shroob]

I think they slowly starve to death in aquariums - hard to feed as they eat greenwater and filter out the critters in that, the average aquarium can't sustain the amount of food they require.

I should think you could feed them to your fish BUT to be completely safe they would have to come from an area with no polution or pesticides/herbicides/insectasides etc. so you may not want to risk it.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

So, with your sharks having eaten them, I assume they can be a food source, and as far as keeping them, I intend to keep them on their own in a 3ft.... What to feed them??

 

[8inary]

i know my silver shark loved them, other fish did also, however, i think shroob's comments make sense