Description
Freshwater Clams are peaceful, friendly and non-aggressive filter feeders. Their filter feeding helps remove debris from tank water, and they are great conversation starters. Freshwater Clams make good tank mates with other calm choices like Amano Shrimp, Red Cherry Shrimp, Ghost Shrimp, Bamboo Shrimp and Vampire Shrimp. Freshwater Clams can also do well with snails such as Nerite Snails, Mystery Snails, Gold Inca Snails, Ivory Snails, Trumpet Snails, Japanese Trapdoor Snails, Rabbit Snails and Red Ramshorn Snails. Keeping Freshwater Clams with most community tank fish like Corys and Otocinclus Catfish can also work well.
Freshwater Clams are filter feeders subsisting on a diet of tiny bits of floating edible matter in the water column. The source of this “floating food” can be naturally occurring and from supplements.
Freshwater Clams like tanks that are not “too clean”. Aquarium water needs to have plenty of very tiny debris, detritus and decaying matter floating in it. This does not mean that the tank cannot be “aesthetically clean”, it simply means that aquarium water needs to contain sufficient levels of edible matter for the clam to eat. To this end, keeping Freshwater Clams in moderately or heavily planted tanks is a good idea. Live aquarium plants continuously shed edible plant matter into the water column.
In most cases, feeding a Freshwater Clam naturally occurring edible material is not enough. It may be necessary to supplement a clam’s diet with very finely ground Calcium enriched pellets or tablets, fish flakes or algae wafers. As these supplements dissolve, a Freshwater Clam will begin filter feeding them out. Keep in mind it’s important to avoid overfeeding as access organic matter in aquarium water will lead to water quality issues. Use common sense and test tank water for ammonia levels often.
Freshwater Clam shells can be between one and two inches in size. In some cases the clams may be a larger. Look for Freshwater Clam shells that appear thick with a ridged texture on the exterior. Also look for shells that are free from cracks, splits, pits and other deformities. Freshwater Clam shell color can range from dark brown to light brown or tan. Clam shells often have black stripes or other subtle designs. Freshwater Clam shells may also have areas that appear to be chalky-white. And it’s not uncommon for Freshwater Clam shells to be covered with small patches of green algae.
