Mussel Question?

[proton]

Hi guys, does anyone have any experience with freshwater mussels? I want to get myself a few. Do I just chuck them into the tank and they make their way to where they want to settle? Or do I have to put them somewhere in the tank and they can settle there (I am assuming they lie where I drop/place them)? I have tetra's, clown/khuli loaches, gourami's (gold + blue), angel fish and a ruby shark.

 

[Mr Miagi]

Mussels are filter feeders, and hard to keep in clean aquaria which are well filtered, which I assume is the case with your tank, considering your stock. Id also be weary that a number of those fish might pick at your clams, causing them to close, starve, and die. And when a clam dies, its nasty.

 

[Boxa]

What size Mussel/s are you talking about, if they are the Tropical Pea Mussels then forget it as even the Tetras would spank them about the tank. I have 10 of the Pea Mussels in my Tetra Tank and they lasted just under a week before the Tetras whacked them and I'm talking Neon Tetras too. I got another 10 and put them in my Guppy & Endler Fry tank thinking they would be ok, they again got whacked within a few days. The only Mussel that has survived the tanks is the Giant Swan mussel which is probably to do with it having a hard shell and being slightly too big for a Neon or Guppy.

Mussels move about like snails and are funny to watch, I used to watch the Pea Mussels climbing up the tank glass just like Snails but on more a tiny scale, your choice of course but I doubt they would last the week with those fish you have.