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Supermarket Clams

post #1 of 6
2/4/11 at 2:11pm
Thread Starter 

I'm teaching a Zoology class.  I've got four tanks set up and cycled for invertebrates.  They're only 10gal, but carefully managed so they've cycled and balanced out OK.  Lit by floursecents, good water flow, chemical and physical filters, heated.

The students will be dissecting store bought marine molluscs form the fish market, i.e., scallops or mussles.

I'd LIKE to keep the clams alive before dissection, but have no knowledge of clams that are fished for as opposed to reef clams.

Any ideas about species that are commonly sold as food?  I could chill the tank if I need to, as the tank is 67F without the heater on.

I've prepped a 4inch deep sand bed, and can toss in some zooplankton if they need it.

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post #2 of 6
2/4/11 at 2:12pm
Thread Starter 

...And it's crushed coral sand and crushed shells for high Ca--forgot to mention that.

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post #3 of 6
2/5/11 at 12:54pm

this place had a post on store bought clams that lasted a good year. But it was about keeping them alive to reduce nitrates. But I guess its the same concept only you wont be keeping them a while. Let me find the post for you.

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post #4 of 6
2/5/11 at 12:56pm

i couldnt find the exact post but go the search bar for the forums and type in "Store Bought Clams"

 

You should get about 3000 threads about people asking about this

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post #5 of 6
2/5/11 at 9:52pm

Many reef aquarists have tried using the storebought littleneck clams for nitrate reduction, myself included.  IMO it's not really as effective as, say, a well maintained DSB or macroalgae refugium, but it's still feasable as PART of a nitrate-reduction plan.

 

That, however, is not why you're here. 

 

In answer to your question: yes, I think you could keep a few scallops and clams alive for a while in the setups you mentioned.  Probably not for long, however.....at max 6 months.  Minimum would probably be a month.   Many of our food harvested clams come from colder water than the average aquarium, but they will still live a little while in the relatively warm tank environment.  I believe it would be long enough for your class to observe some of the life functions of the animals, and as you say, keep them ticking until it comes time to put the tasty little morsels out of their misery in the name of Science.

 

The trouble I've observed with using littleneck clams for nitrate reduction is precisely due to their lifespan in aquariums -- they bury themselves in the sand, and you forget about them.  6-7 months down the road, they kick the bucket...and decompose, unnoticed, under the sand.  Suddenly your nitrate-soaking clam is now an ammonia source, and whatever benefits you may have gotten while it was alive have pretty much gone out the window. 

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post #6 of 6
2/5/11 at 10:08pm

In my animal biology class my proff's did the same disection. We also disected a saxom-something clam, and the store bought ones were more to show how food particles run down the gill and into the palyps (mouth) of the mollusk.

 

Kind of boring to be honest, the best part of that class was disecting the dogfish shark!

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