Fresh Water Clam's or Mussel's

[Justice]

I am wondering if anyone here has had clams or mussels in one of their tanks and what the upside or downside to having them were as I am considering placing some in a non discus planted tank.

[jball1125]

Here is a thread that was started about clams.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=76394&highlight=clams

[Fons_van_der_Hart]

I never used them in my tanks.

It seems they die easy without the owner to notice that. When they're dead your water will be heavely polluted withing hours which can lead to losses in your tanks.

[Foxfire]

I had a clam and it died very easily - my girlfriend sprayed polish in the room for a table and both the clam and my small shrimp died. They do not handle chemicals (very small traces) in the water very well. Luckily, I caught it early.

[Pardal]

Just be careful keep tracking of the clam at all time as if you have a deep substrate she can died on your tank and if you don't notice it could foul your water really bad. I won't risk it with my discus.

[GrayLadyPat]

I know this thread is a bit older, but I wanted to tell you about my experiences with freshwater mussels.

A number of years ago, I had a small tank with a few random fish I had caught at the lake. I had a few small bluegill (less than 3" fry) a rock bass, and a handful of minnows. I also had a 2" dia. freshwater mussel/clam that happened to be caught in the mud when the lake level lowered a bit faster than he could "walk" away. I couldn't even tell you what species it is, because they were so common at the time, that we really didn't take notice.

The good:
With no heat, and an underpowered corner air-driven filter, I still had crystal clear water. The mussel/clam filtered the impurities out of the water like nothing I have ever seen before. It would open, and its mantle would come out of its shells and wave gently in the slight current. When he needed to move, he crawled somewhat like a snail to his new place, and then opened and began filtering again.

The bad:
When it died almost a year later, it fouled the tank in about an hour. It was so toxic that I lost literally everything in the tank. The bad part of filtering everything in order to eat is that all those impurities have to go somewhere. With clams/mussels, it goes into their flesh.

The only time I would put one into a tank is if I were putting it into one that had fish from its native habitat. As I said, mine was put in with fish from the same local lake. There is no way I would add one to a tropical tank, unless you want to spend all day wondering if you were coming home to a dead clam and a fouled tank.

Good luck to you, and I wish you well if you decide to add one to your tank.

Cheers!