Local freshwater clams?

[krisw]

I was walking the dogs down by the Little Patuxent in Columbia this weekend, and noticed a bunch of tiny clams mixed in the shallow water at the bank. The largest I saw where only about quarter sized...

So, this got me to thinking. Has anyone ever tried to keep these local freshwater clams in their tank? If so, any negative experiences? Would they stay alive? Would they disturb the plants with their burrowing?

-Kris

[John K]

I have also found several opened shells in a creek near my house. I'm thinking that there are probably live ones in there and that some kind of animal has been digging them up and eating them (racoon, maybe?).

Are clams burrowers? I think they would be a cool addition to my tank.

What exactly do they do? Eat?

I also took home a crayfish from the same creek, and it has nearly doubled in size in a little over a month. It hasn't eaten any of my fish or my plants.

I think he is a scavenger and might eat snails since I have noticed a decrease in Trumpet Snails late at night.

Aside from digging up my plants, he has actually helped the plants as everything has been growing like mad, maybe because of the digging around in there.

I emailed Frank Greco and he identified it.

I also noticed Frank sells Freshwater Clams sometimes so maybe he could give us a better explanation on the Clams.

I'll post to the message board and see what he says.

JK

[krisw]

Good info John! Yes, clams are burrowers, and filter feeders. I believe they have a couple tubes that suck water in/out, filtering it for small particles. I imagine that in an established tank, you wouldn't have to feed them per se. Just a guess tho.

I'm looking forward to what responses you get back on the message board.

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

They're filter feeders and do a great job at it too! If you have enough
of them they'll even clear up a case of green water. However,
when they spawn, the larvae attach themselves to the sides of fish, and
form cysts, which makes it look like ick but the damage is permanent
for the most part and the fish will be scarred for life.

IMO they're not really that interesting - unless you can teach one to
perform on queue. Maybe do the robot?

[krisw]

Ghazanfar, are you sure about the larvae thing. I've read a bunch of conflicting reports on this online. Some folks say it's only mussels that do this. Others, say only certain clams. I guess there's not really any way to tell without trying them, huh?

[Cristy Keister]

There was and artical in AFM (?) about crayfish. I'll look it up if you like. It said that they are omnivores and it's very important that they get enough veg in their diet. Feed them just about any veggie (not iceburg lettuce), and some protein. They eat everything including detritus on the bottom.

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

If you can get the species name, we can lookup research on it's life-cycle
and figure out it's viability in home aquaria.

[krisw]

With as many species as there are, I'm guessing it'll be hard to determine for sure. But looking around, they kind of look like Musculium securis. See pictures here:

http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/zebra/zmi ... riidae.htm

If this is the case, I believe these Sphaeriidae are hermaphroditic, bearing young with shells and all. If they're not of the Sphaeriidae family, it looks like they would be Unionidae's, which are the parasitic ones. I'll try and get some pictures, to see if you guys can help me identify.

So far, I'm leaning toward the Sphaeriidae family because not a single one turned up much larger then 1.5-2cm in diameter, whereas the Unionidae tend to grow larger, according to some websites I've read.

[krisw]

ok... Did some more research. I came across a biological assessment of the streams in Howard County. One of the only clams on the list of organisms found in the county is in the Sphaeriidae family listed as: Pisidium Sp. This might be it. Like I said, I'll get pictures soon.

[SCMurphy]

If it is a clam then this is worth reading.

http://www.pnl.gov/ecology/Rivers/Aquarium/Clam.html

Safe for your fish.

I'd avoid all of the mussels, they all have the parasitic veligers.