Freshwater clam

[Emperios]

Question about Freshwater clam that LFS sells.

what about the pros and cons of adding clam into your aquarium.
Will it ruin your aquascape ?

[Urban Aquaria]

Freshwater clams are filter feeders, so they will help to eat up any suspended food particles or algae in the water column... but they do add to the overall tank bio-load too, as they still produce waste like any other livestock.

As for aquascaping, if you just place them on the substrate, they will tend to move around and burrow into the sand or soil, which creates trenches and holes in the substrate that may uproot plants and look abit unsightly. They may also die while hidden unnoticed inside the substrate, which could cause toxic ammonia spikes.

The better method is to place them in a separate cage or container (either positioned on the substrate or attached to the tank glass) so that they don't dig around and mess up the aquascape, yet they can still receive ample flow and circulation to feed properly, and you can observe them easily.

[seudzar]

I have many of them in my 3ft tank. If you are not doing carpeting, it will be okay to have them in your tank. they will just burrow into your substrate and stay there till they decide to move to another location. Quite interesting, i have a few died and my other live stocks are not affected. My shrimps happily eating up the dead clams, leaving the shell untouched.

[Emperios]

Oops....
i think I left some clams on my Monte Carlo/HC bed.
Been gone for 2 weeks for BMT recourse��
wonder if my carpets are overturned now ....

[Allesgut]

Is it possible to get to know the exact sceintific name of those clams? I had a kind of fingernail clam, their moving activity is really minimal.

[Urban Aquaria]

Is it possible to get to know the exact sceintific name of those clams? I had a kind of fingernail clam, their moving activity is really minimal.

Looks like you got the asian golden clams too... their scientific name is Corbicula fluminea.

Here is some info on them: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corbicula_fluminea

Yeah, they move very slowly... though i notice they can move all over the tank if they need to (can see their tracks all over the sand substrate). I guess they are searching for good locations to position themselves to filter food.

[Emperios]

Oh yeah . That is the clam that I bought. Quite cheap at only 50cents bag.
does this clam prove to be destructive to aquascape ?
wikipedia mentioned that they can spawn quite frequently... Wondering if the eggs or the babies spawn out as little floating white dots that can be eaten by fishes ?

[seudzar]

50cents is cheap... The price I paid is 1.50 - 2 bucks

[Allesgut]

wikipedia mentioned that they can spawn quite frequently... Wondering if the eggs or the babies spawn out as little floating white dots that can be eaten by fishes ?

never seen reports on their spawning in tanks.

[Urban Aquaria]

does this clam prove to be destructive to aquascape ?

Well, i wouldn't consider them "destructive" to aquascapes... at most just pushing up or displacing small clumps of plants if they decide to burrow into a spot. Its more that they tend to disappear into the substrate and you don't get to see them much.

So far, the best method i've found to keep them in a tank with carpet plants (while still being able to observe them), is to put them into a feeding dish with sand bed and attaching it to the tank glass:



Thread Link: http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...890#post769890

wikipedia mentioned that they can spawn quite frequently... Wondering if the eggs or the babies spawn out as little floating white dots that can be eaten by fishes ?

I guess that requires fully grown adult clams which are around 3-4cm in size (like the large ones sold at Aquatic Avenue, not the small 1-2cm juvenile ones we tend to get in bags at LFS). I suppose if you have a group of healthy adult sized golden clams in your tank and the conditions are ideal for them with plenty of food to eat, they might exhibit some breeding, though so far i haven't read about anyone observing that occurring in their tanks yet. Would be interesting to see that happening though.

[felix_fx2]

never seen reports on their spawning in tanks.

Mind did spawn , when I kept those cheaper black ones I bought from c328.

Now having another type, zero spawn.

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[Urban Aquaria]

Mind did spawn , when I kept those cheaper black ones I bought from c328.

Now having another type, zero spawn.

Cool... what did the baby clam offspring look like? ie. just tiny versions of the adult clams?

[felix_fx2]

Very Tiny versions... But they were not black until much larger

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[Emperios]

Hmmm. I am thinking. Does Assassin snail feed on shrimplets and clams?
My tank suddenly became infested with snails
Not sure if i should add in one assassin snail or not.
Afraid the snail i added in to kill off other snails will breed too...

[Jimmy]

Hmmm. I am thinking. Does Assassin snail feed on shrimplets and clams?
My tank suddenly became infested with snails
Not sure if i should add in one assassin snail or not.
Afraid the snail i added in to kill off other snails will breed too...

If you are only adding one assassin snail, how it will breed? It won't disturb others, had rcs then, but one alone may not be effective. I tried before and also manually remove the snails, just too many and reproduce too fast. In the end, I just reset the tank to clear them. So try to clear them ASAP, remove any snails you see now yourself and hope the assassin snail do the job. good luck.

[Urban Aquaria]

Hmmm. I am thinking. Does Assassin snail feed on shrimplets and clams?
My tank suddenly became infested with snails
Not sure if i should add in one assassin snail or not.
Afraid the snail i added in to kill off other snails will breed too...

Assassin snails will feed on clams as they as they are not very mobile creatures, can't escape as easily. They attack the clams the same way (injecting neurotoxin to kill the clam and then drink the liquified remains). I've seen it happen before, only left the clean empty clam shell.

As for shrimps and shrimplets, assassin snails may be able to ambush and catch the weak or slow ones (which are probably already ill or dying anyways), but the majority of healthy quick ones will usually be able to escape easily.

Breeding-wise, if you keep just one assassin snail, its unlikely to reproduce (unless it already mated at the LFS tank before you bought it). Even if they do reproduce, its not as fast as the other pest snails, still easy to manage.

[Emperios]

Alright ! Thanks !
I heard some snails have 2 gender so was worried haha

[Urban Aquaria]

Alright ! Thanks !
I heard some snails have 2 gender so was worried haha

Yeah, assassin snails have separate genders, so if you do happen to get a male one, then there'll be zero chance of it laying any eggs.

[felix_fx2]

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[felix_fx2]

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Found 3, after I had thought they all died.
I have a bunch of assassin snails with them, it's in a tank infested by mts last time.

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