# Freshwater clams?



## MattH (May 23, 2009)

Hey everyone in have a 56 gallon mbuna tank with about 9 species of malawi cichlids in it along with 3 yo yos, a freshwater puffer that is quite small and a pleco... i was curious if putting in some freshwater clams to help with filtration would be a good idea or if it is/is not doable with cichlids... thanks


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

im sure it wouldnt be a problem but id think the clams would starve if u keep up on good tank maintainance IMO


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## MattH (May 23, 2009)

well thats the thing, im going away to school and i will only be able to do water changes every month or so instead of biweekly so i wanted to get something that would help keep the tank cleaner for longer while i am gone. any other suggestions?


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

Ouch....every month?

Your biggest concern is going to be the buildup of nitrates...clams aren't going help with that. It is recommended that nitrates stay below 40 ppm...some people hit that in less than a week.

I would look into a nitrate removal system.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I don't know much about freshwater clams... but a quick read on clams in general tells me... yes clams will consume/lower nitrates... but nitrates are not good for clams... clams are sensitive to nitrates and higher levels will kill them...

Now bear in mind I was reading this about saltwater clams... freshwater clams might be different... Also keep in mind "high nitrates" in a slat water tank is MUCH lower than "typical nitrates" in a fresh water tank.

So if freshwater clams are even half as sensitive to nitrates as saltwater clams... it is likely they will die and rot only adding to your nitrate build up...

My guess would be if freshwater clams were a simple solution to lowering nitrates we would all be doing it


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

A sump with lots of fast growing plants in it would work.


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

Using clams have been brought up in past posts I have read here and the consensus in those was that it was not a good idea.

The most compelling reason I have read is that because they are filter feeders they would starve in most setups and from what I have read about saltwater tanks people who keep those clams do things do specifically feed them.

Adding any animal to the tank will only add to the bioload though.

Is there a family member willing to do water changes?

I like the sump idea though I am not sure how well it will work for getting rid of nitrates.


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

The problem that I see with plants is the danger they pose if they die.

If a light was to break in the sump, or something went and killed all your plants, you would suddenly add a huge amount of dead vegetation to your system. Under normal circumstances this wouldn't be a problem as anybody doing regular maintenance would discover this an take care of the problem. While he is away though, these type of things would go unnoticed.


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

vaypourus said:


> The problem that I see with plants is the danger they pose if they die.
> 
> If a light was to break in the sump, or something went and killed all your plants, you would suddenly add a huge amount of dead vegetation to your system. Under normal circumstances this wouldn't be a problem as anybody doing regular maintenance would discover this an take care of the problem. While he is away though, these type of things would go unnoticed.


If that is a problem, then what about the filters, maybe they will die too. Then everything will be dead. If I was going to be gone for that long I would sell the fish and buy new ones later on in life. When I go on vacation for a week I worry about my fish. Also on that note I am in VA if you want to sell them.


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## MattH (May 23, 2009)

haha no i dont think ill be selling them, my family will still be in the house, they arent going to be left ENTIRELY alone, but i wont be able to do BIG water changes as much i like but theyll keep it running and let me know if anything goes wrong so i can make an emergency trip if needed, i was just spit ballin ideas that might make the tank more self sustainable, but so much for that idea thanks guys


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## MattH (May 23, 2009)

well went ahead and did it any way... guy at my LFS said they would be fine and would be a nice addition since he uses them as well i was hesitant, by then my mother chimed in and said she would buy them, so i said whatever, and now i have three golden clams about three inches across each in my 56g so... we'll see what happends lol


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

I hope they work out great.

Are you planning on adding any sort of calcium supplements or do they not really need it?


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## MattH (May 23, 2009)

um no the guy didnt say anything about that he just said that my water conditions would be good for them (prolly cause of the calcium in the water already) due to the hardness of it from the crushed coral and lace rock i have in the tank, i trust this guy, its his fish store and he owns lotsa tanks and he actually got me started with my first cichlids which 3 of 4 are still alive (the one lab it seems buried himself under a rock while digging accidentaly cause i had to pry him out)... this is my first foray into the world of inverts so i have no idea what to expect, i mean they look... well like clams i guess and the fish dont pick at them to much, and the loaches cleaned em it seems... ill keep yall updated


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

Pics or shens. opcorn:


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

Is this the same guy that has you thinking that a puffer is a good idea in this tank?

yeah....


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## MattH (May 23, 2009)

yea its the same guy, and i still have the puffer who is doing just fine... so i guess he was right... aaaaanny way heres a screen shot of the clams along wtih some friends :fish: 








and


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

I can't speak for anyone else but I am also suspicious of the advice you were given for the following reasons: Some puffers eat clams, are risky when kept with other species because their powerful beaks can take a chunk of flesh from fish easily- though some are more peaceable when small, are mostly brackish though some species are fresh water and others will tolerate it.

Also it doesn't look like the species mix of mbuna alone is particularly cautious.

But still I hope everything works out, its certainly possible, just not something I think it likely.

Also to reiterate an earlier post, even though they are filter feeders they will only add to the bioload of your tank and produce more waste which seems to be counter to what your goal for when you were moving away.


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## MattH (May 23, 2009)

oh i know puffers eat clams, well aware... the one i have is no where near big enough to take a bite of the clams, but he was moved any way, separate tank right now and i know about the bioload, the purpose of them isnt really to filter feed at this point (it was just an idea i had)... like i said i got them as a gift basically, just seeing how it works out with them in there, theyre kinda cool and again, its my first venture into inverts... just seeing how it works out... if i did everything based on advise, then theres no room for exploration :thumb: things workout all the time even though most people say they wont, *** had this setup of mbuna for a while now, again id rather experiment and explore on my own then just do everything everyone else does (not saying the advise isnt well appriciated) thanks guys, again ill keep ya updated


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## locomotive282 (Jun 2, 2009)

by all means experiment all you want but putting clams in a mbuna tank is a waste of 5.99 per clam i know because i hade some and they died. if you run any mechanical filtration in your tanks then there wont be enought organics in the the water stream for the clams to eat. also when they open or the foot is out the fish will pick at it, it is just unforntunate that mbuna and invertebrates dont mix. i had a beutiful cray fish in there also once he was doing good too then as soon as my mbuna saw that he molted they tore him apart! how do they know that?


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## MattH (May 23, 2009)

yea like i said before i was hesitant but it wasnt my money! if it was i wouldnt of got them personally, but well see.. again, ill keep yall updated


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