Freshwater Mussels

[kimberly]

I was at the LFS and saw an aquarium of large mussels titled "Freshwater Mussels". I've never seen that before. I have seen small freshwater clams but not large mussels (similar to the kind people eat). The clerk said they're from Singapore. When I asked him what they eat, he said they just filter the water (implying that you do not need to feed them). However, I'm thinking they must need green water? or a supplement like liquid invertebrate food. He also said they live around 2 years.

Has anyone ever kept mussels? Are they hard to keep? They are pretty large. I am assuming they would need a 20 gallon or larger, with deep substrate?

 

[Corleone]

Depending on the species, in the wild they can live decades. They usually slowly starve to death in an aquarium, but that can take a months, I've heard of them surviving two years in the live well of a fishing boat in storage.

I've read of them being used to clear up greenwater, but after that, if you want to keep them alive, you need to periodically move them into a tank of cultured greenwater to feed them. Ultimately, it's a lot of work for a brown sedentary invertebrate. You could put the shell in your tank and get the same effect with no effort.

 

[kimberly]

Depending on the species, in the wild they can live decades. They usually slowly starve to death in an aquarium, but that can take a months, I've heard of them surviving two years in the live well of a fishing boat in storage.

I've read of them being used to clear up greenwater, but after that, if you want to keep them alive, you need to periodically move them into a tank of cultured greenwater to feed them. Ultimately, it's a lot of work for a brown sedentary invertebrate. You could put the shell in your tank and get the same effect with no effort.

That's really unfortunate and rather cruel, since they are not sold with this information. I don't understand why they available in the pet trade to start with.

 

[raptorrex]

Depending on the species, in the wild they can live decades. They usually slowly starve to death in an aquarium, but that can take a months, I've heard of them surviving two years in the live well of a fishing boat in storage.

I've read of them being used to clear up greenwater, but after that, if you want to keep them alive, you need to periodically move them into a tank of cultured greenwater to feed them. Ultimately, it's a lot of work for a brown sedentary invertebrate. You could put the shell in your tank and get the same effect with no effort.

That's really unfortunate and rather cruel, since they are not sold with this information. I don't understand why they available in the pet trade to start with.

i looked into the filtering properties of these guys, which is impressive. just, as noted above, in a community tank they will simply starve to death. and honestly they are far from entertaining when kept on their own.

on the down side, they would make good food for puffer fish! I know this sounds horrible. but these clams are already in the shops, not buying them will simply allow them to starve in the LFS tanks. off-putting as it is, they would be better used as food, than just left to die!

 

[Corleone]

Depending on the species, in the wild they can live decades. They usually slowly starve to death in an aquarium, but that can take a months, I've heard of them surviving two years in the live well of a fishing boat in storage.

I've read of them being used to clear up greenwater, but after that, if you want to keep them alive, you need to periodically move them into a tank of cultured greenwater to feed them. Ultimately, it's a lot of work for a brown sedentary invertebrate. You could put the shell in your tank and get the same effect with no effort.

That's really unfortunate and rather cruel, since they are not sold with this information. I don't understand why they available in the pet trade to start with.

They do have a legitimate use as feeders for some fish, they just make useless pets because of the work keeping them alive. They aren't entirely unsuitable like iridescent sharks or such. It is possible to keep them alive indefinitely if you're prepared for the workload of periodically removing them to a greenwater tank to feed, I just don't see them being at all rewarding enough to be worth it.

 

[pippoodle]

I kept Golden swam mussles in my community tank for about 3 weeks as i got them for a present for my nan and grandads pond
They were great fun to watch and very often moved themselves round the tank

I used to put crushed spirulina , crushed brineshrimp eggs and crushed bloodworm and left the filter off for a good 20 mins so it sank to the bottom of the tank , they do filter the water well but what they eject can make your water cloudy
They did grow while they were in the tank so i think they were getting enough food from the spirulina etc

After transferring them to the pond i decided not to get any more until i get a soil/sand bottom for my tank cos they love digging themselves into the soil bottom of my grandads pond so i'm sure they would love that in a tank

Cheers Sarah xx

 

[raptorrex]

I kept Golden swam mussles in my community tank for about 3 weeks as i got them for a present for my nan and grandads pond
They were great fun to watch and very often moved themselves round the tank

I used to put crushed spirulina , crushed brineshrimp eggs and crushed bloodworm and left the filter off for a good 20 mins so it sank to the bottom of the tank , they do filter the water well but what they eject can make your water cloudy
They did grow while they were in the tank so i think they were getting enough food from the spirulina etc

After transferring them to the pond i decided not to get any more until i get a soil/sand bottom for my tank cos they love digging themselves into the soil bottom of my grandads pond so i'm sure they would love that in a tank

Cheers Sarah xx

it will be interesting to see how they do in the pool!

some of the facts on these guys i have learnt are:

if thy move around they are unhappy!
if one dies, it will cause major problems in the tank, very very quickly.
if they are happy they will, virtually, disappear and stay that way.
it is impossible, with the exception of movement, to gauge the health and well being of the clam.
most importantly, it can take a clam a year or more to starve, so until it dies. you have no idea if it is in trouble.