Zebra Mussels as puffer food?

[Keeg]

Not too long ago, @Guppysnail mentioned zebra mussels as possible culprits to one of my current problems. That got me thinking that since they're so invasive, could they be a good source of hard shelled food for puffers. With being so adaptable, I feel like a farm of mussels would be much better than a messy snail farm. 

Any thoughts?

Also lets say I got my hands on a few mussels and I find that they aren't great and are not attempting to take over my tank, would a copper medication take care of my problem. I know invertebrates are very susceptible to copper medication so rather than treating a disease, it would treat an outbreak. 

[lefty o]

dont even mess with zebra mussels.

[DSH OUTDOORS]

In theory? Yes... Legally? Not a chance. Any invasive species is illegal to keep and transport. Not worth the risk.

[Streetwise]

Please do not mess with zebra mussels! They reproduce at astronomical rates, impact other mollusks, outcompete beneficial algae, and more.

[Biotope Biologist]

As @DSH OUTDOORS has pointed out these are an extremely invasive species and cultivation of them is considered a felony. Not worth the potential swat team breaking down your door.

 

That might be a bit of an exaggeration but their offspring are very prolific and all you would have to do to introduce them is not dispose of aquarium water properly.

[Tihshho]

On 9/21/2021 at 11:39 PM, Biotope Biologist said:

As @DSH OUTDOORS has pointed out these are an extremely invasive species and cultivation of them is considered a felony. Not worth the potential swat team breaking down your door.

 

That might be a bit of an exaggeration but their offspring are very prolific and all you would have to do to introduce them is not dispose of aquarium water properly.

I know some states have these restricted, but is this a Federal thing as well?

[Keeg]

Oh geez, didnt realize it was illegal to keep and cultivate them. Thank you all for your help!

[Biotope Biologist]

On 9/21/2021 at 8:43 PM, Tihshho said:

I know some states have these restricted, but is this a Federal thing as well?

I think so.  Washington state was looking to upgrade it to a federal law in 2013 I believe. We don't mess around with them at all over here. 

 

But I cannot find it on the DNR website. I want to say the Lacey act has it included on the "injurious wildlife" clause. Don't quote me on it though I am vaguely remembering this from my training at a federal agency.

[Streetwise]

Wikipedia: The lifespan of a zebra mussel is four to five years.^[6] A female zebra mussel begins to reproduce within 6–7 weeks of settling.^[12] An adult female zebra mussel can produce 30,000 to 40,000 eggs in each reproductive cycle, and over 1 million each year.^[13] Free-swimming microscopic larvae, called veligers, drift in the water for several weeks and then settle onto any hard surface they can find. Zebra mussels also can tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions, and adults can even survive out of water for about 7 days.^{[citation needed]}

[Streetwise]

I collected plants from Lake Champlain, but even though I kept a bucket quarantined for a couple of months, I could not take the risk of introducing zebra mussels. Free plants were not worth it.

[Tihshho]

On 9/22/2021 at 10:48 PM, Streetwise said:

I collected plants from Lake Champlain, but even though I kept a bucket quarantined for a couple of months, I could not take the risk of introducing zebra mussels. Free plants were not worth it.

Maybe the Seattle water ways need eco puffers to take care of this infestation. Folks do it with goats. 

 

BTW, just to make sure I don't get yelled at, this was a joke... Introduction of non native species to take care of another non native species is always a poor solution. 

[Keeg]

On 9/22/2021 at 8:59 PM, Tihshho said:

Maybe the Seattle water ways need eco puffers to take care of this infestation. Folks do it with goats. 

 

BTW, just to make sure I don't get yelled at, this was a joke... Introduction of non native species to take care of another non native species is always a poor solution. 

Also kind of a joke but also not, it would be cool to have a natural puffer here, one that can't bit your fingers off at least. 

 

Most of the time, ive heard theres a ton of success with removing giant salvinia with salvinia beetles and then removing those beetles with other native species of beetles. 

[Biotope Biologist]

Some predators are specialized so extremely that they only predate one species of organism. In these cases I don't think it is deleterious to introduce them as they naturally die off once the invasive species has been eradicated.

 

It really is too bad this does not exist for zebra mussels. I hope that I am alive for the day that conspecific pathogens are safe for scientists to wield for eradicating invasives.

[NanoNano]