Clams?

[stumpyfish]

This may sound like a silly question, but I dont know the answer. A person I work with wants to know if you could put clams from the grocery store in a SW tank. He figures since they are still alive when you buy them, as long as they are still closed when you buy them and therefore alive, they should be able to survive in the home aquarium, is this true? I've never heard of anyone doing before and I'm fairly new to the hobby myself so I'm not sure.

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by stumpyfish
This may sound like a silly question, but I dont know the answer. A person I work with wants to know if you could put clams from the grocery store in a SW tank. He figures since they are still alive when you buy them, as long as they are still closed when you buy them and therefore alive, they should be able to survive in the home aquarium, is this true? I've never heard of anyone doing before and I'm fairly new to the hobby myself so I'm not sure.
This has been done sucessfully with littleneck clams, they help tremendously with lowering nitrates. BUT they must be 'burped" and acclimated very slowly! Are they littleneck clams?

 

[stumpyfish]

Originally Posted by MiaHeatLvr
This has been done sucessfully with littleneck clams, they help tremendously with lowering nitrates. BUT they must be 'burped" and acclimated very slowly! Are they littleneck clams?
I'm fairly sure he was talking about little necks since they are the most popular, it was more of a hypothetical question than anything I think. By "burping", is that where you soak the clam in milk to flush it out?

 

[1journeyman]

Many of us have done it successfully.
You burp them by allowing them to warm up to room temp then place them in a bowl of tank water. The ones that are alive will puke out the waste they have been accumulating.

 

[adroitmind]

There is a Chinese grocery store near my house and they have some cool looking stuff in there. Lots of crazy eels, snails, and clams. I've always thought about picking some livestock up there. I might try it now.

 

[stumpyfish]

Originally Posted by AdroitMind
There is a Chinese grocery store near my house and they have some cool looking stuff in there. Lots of crazy eels, snails, and clams. I've always thought about picking some livestock up there. I might try it now.

Thats what I was thinking now, I wonder if anyone has tried it with bigger species like mahoganys or something, or oysters or mussels, might be a fun experiment

 

[skeletoncowboy]

i work at a albertsons and i have done this many times with the clams and mussels from the seafood department. i have 3 smaller clams and one huge one in my tank. the big one is the size of my fist. i didnt acclimate or anything i did let them "burp" before i put them in though. i dont believe they will die from not acclimating i just dropped them in...they were supposed to be food for my puffers but instead they just ignored them and i noticed that they are doing just fine. they have been in there for about 5 months now. no problems. they do like do move alot at night through your sand bed and will knock over rockwork thats not good and tight...i've dont the same thing with oytsters and mussels.

 

[ric maniac]

im going to try this with a little neck. however, explain to me how to burp them please

 

[brandon7491]

steam them and eat them?

 

[skeletoncowboy]

just fill a bowl with your tank water and put the clam in it. after 24 hours it should be ok to place in your tank.

 

[1journeyman]

Much less then 24 hours. They usually burp within 30 minutes or so.

 

[stumpyfish]

I can only imagine the look I'll get at the grocery store tonight when I go in and ask for 4 clams!

 

[stumpyfish]

ok, so I got the wild hair up my butt to try this. The seafood store I went to was out of littlenecks due to the holiday, but I got a dozen mahagony clams, burped them, and they are in my tank right now. They have not burrowed into the substrate, however you can see them sucking in and blowing out water. I put a dozen in just in case not all of them made it and one has died, but I'm pretty sure it was on its way out as it never opened a little bit like the others did. I hope they really take to the water and make themselves at home!

 

[smartorl]

At my store when I ask for one or two of something, usually for making food for my fish, the guy gives it to me at no charge. I am starting to feel guilty because I am in there every few days, the cashiers are starting to look at me funny. I guess the moral is, send you wife, lol.
Good luck on the clams, keep us posted, I have wanted to try it for a while.
I once tried to save a sad lobster that was the last one and I felt bad but he croaked.

 

[stumpyfish]

I woke up this morning and another one must have died during the night....the water was a little cloudy.