Freshwater clams in fish tanks?

[smm333]

Does anyone have experience keeping freshwater clams on a community tank? I found baby clams while looking through Ebay and they are so cute!!! It says they are great cleaners. They didn't have a lot of information,  so I put them on my watch list while I figure out if it's a possibility! 

[Pepere]

While they are alive they will help filter your tank.

 

The problem comes when one dies.  Especially as they burrow in substrate.

 

significant ammonia spike can happen, and finding it can be difficult especially if tank is heavily planted.

 

and despite how cute you find it, you wont see much of it.

[Biotope Biologist]

I attempted clams when I was a less experienced keeper and it did not go well. They didn’t die immediately, like people claim they actually lived for close to a year. But since they burrow I had no idea when they did die until I had a huge ammonia spike. Nasty and very smelly those bodies were.

 

They generally don’t seem to do well in aquaria. I presume on account that filter feeders such as these need large volumes of water moved constantly. Even in lab studying them we only kept them for a few days then released them back into the wild (native clams). 

Edited April 12 by Biotope Biologist

[The endler guy]

They are difficult (very limited experience with filter feeders) but feeding them is tricky, definitely more work than reward 

[smm333]

Darn it!! I was hoping for more positive feedback, lol! Oh, well. I'll take them off my watch list and stick to my next choice of neocaradina color. Those yellows have been calling out to me......  🥰

[Lennie]

On 4/12/2023 at 9:33 PM, smm333 said:

Those yellows have been calling out to me

Be careful with yellows. Couple days ago, I was talking to a breeder guy and he said generally yellow lines have problems. Even if everything goes good, he said they may have group of deaths out of nowhere. 

@JettsPapa also keeps a yellow line if I'm not wrong. Maybe they may share their experience on yellows compared to others.

[JettsPapa]

On 4/12/2023 at 1:43 PM, Lennie said:

Be careful with yellows. Couple days ago, I was talking to a breeder guy and he said generally yellow lines have problems. Even if everything goes good, he said they may have group of deaths out of nowhere. 

@JettsPapa also keeps a yellow line if I'm not wrong. Maybe they may share their experience on yellows compared to others.

I do have a tank inside and a tub outside with yellow shrimp (see below).  I haven't had them as long as my red and blue ones, but so far they have been at least as hardy as those varieties (and need less culling).  Maybe the guy you talked to had poor genetics?  Or maybe I've just been lucky.

Edited April 12 by JettsPapa

[Lennie]

On 4/12/2023 at 10:53 PM, JettsPapa said:

I do have a tank inside and a tub outside with yellow shrimp (see below).  I haven't had them as long as my red and blue ones, but so far they have been at least as hardy as those varieties (and need less culling).  Maybe the guy you talked to had poor genetics?  Or maybe I've just been lucky.

He was mainly mentioning caridinas, but also said yellow neocaridinas may have problems as well. He also mentioned that they almost never shoot different colors other than yellows as well. Do yours shoot yellows only?

Very cute btw!

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

I’ve always wondered about keeping clams inside my canister filter. Is there a point to keeping a clam inside a place I would only see once every couple of months when doing maintenance, no, but it does seem kind of ideal for them.

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

I have clams in two of my 3 gallon tanks. They've been there for a good long while. Some have died, but most actually have survived. I know this because I see their siphon tubes sticking out of the soil. Those two tanks have ugf and fairly good flow. There is no real filter. The pump is there more for water circulation. I feed heavy, and the kind of clam I have will do a thing called "pedal feeding" where they use their foot to pull food particles into their shells. I didn't get my clams off ebay though. I got mine from the water ways we have at my work. I'm not sure on the species though. I think they might be Asian golden clams. Mine are doing great 👍 

Edited April 13 by Expectorating_Aubergine

[JettsPapa]

On 4/12/2023 at 2:57 PM, Lennie said:

He was mainly mentioning caridinas, but also said yellow neocaridinas may have problems as well. He also mentioned that they almost never shoot different colors other than yellows as well. Do yours shoot yellows only?

Very cute btw!

Pretty much, yes.  I've culled one or two, but that's all, and that wasn't an off color, just not as dark yellow as I'd like.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Here’s Sheldon in my friend’s tank. He (she? -- idk) joined her community about 2 weeks ago. So far so good.

If you keep a clam you may want to pinch spirulina or Repashy powder under the water since the clam is a filter feeder.

 

Edited April 13 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea