feeding clams

[maxxy]

My fish love clams. I've been buying the already frozen ones from my lfs. Does anyone know can you buy the fresh and just freeze them? Idf anybody knows if you can and how you do it please let me know.

 

[ledzep fan]

I just go to any grocery store and buy some mussels with the shells still on(live ones) and crack them open. And i place it in the tank and everybody feasts!!
Also, this is a lot cheaper then buying through the lfs. just my .02$

 

[geridoc]

Since I QT everything that goes into my tanks, I would never put a fresh feeder clam into one of my tanks. I do buy them, though, and freeze them. What a treat for the fish when they get one.

 

[maxxy]

Thanks for the info. I figured it would be alot cheaper than the lfs. I'm going to give it a try. Thanks again.

 

[psusocr1]

i puit lots of live clams into my tanks so my fish can earn their meals and eat whenever they want,, all you have to do is "burp" the clams

 

[hatessushi]

I make my own fish food now, thanks to Beth's recipe in the Disease and Treatment forum. Thanks a million Beth

At this point I have done the following; Bought frozen clams, fresh shrimp (the big kind), squid, scallops, can't find octopus yet but that mussel idea from LedZep fan sounds good. I use a blender and blended the shrimp with the scallops and added fine grated brocolli, carrots and peas (not a lot), also added freshed minced garlic, and vita-chem. Poured it out on a flat square pan and froze just until able to cut it in squares then put each square in a zuplock bag and set in freezer. for less then $10 I have enough for about 6 months and mix new batch in 3 months since I don't like to keep it longer then that. The other recipe I mix all the same stuff except I switch the shrimp and scallops with the clams and squid so I can alternate feeding. I still give then some pellet, mysis shrimp, cyclops, and dried seaweed. The fish just love this stuff and they are all really healthy and they eat every bit of it.

 

[maxxy]

I never thought of mixing all the stuff together thanks HatesSushi. I do have a question for Psusocr1 though or anyone else that might know. What does burp the clams mean? Getting fresh seafood form the grocery store is alot cheaper than buying stuff from the lfs. I would like to hear any other ideas.

 

[geridoc]

You can do very well at a fish (food, not pet type) by buying your scallops and shrimp, etc., and then asking for the heads and tails. Many people ask the fish monger to remove the heads and tails from the fish they buy, and they are usually are thrown out. However, if you are a customer (after all, you bought the scallops, shrimp, etc.) they will usually give these parts to you for free. There is lots of meat in these parts, and you can use it to complete your recipe. I don't like the recipe given above because it will tend to disintegrate in the tank, and too much waste is left behind (unless you have some pretty good filter feeders). I mix my homemade fish food with Knox gelatin, which acts as a nutritious binder (it is protein) that holds the food together.
Jay

 

[psusocr1]

take some of your tabk water, take the clams out of the bag and place them in a bucket of your tank water,, then wait for them to open up and "burp" once they do that then you can safely add them to your tank

 

[maxxy]

Thanks again I'll give it a try. I have alot of really goodf eaters. Food rarely ever hits the bottom of my tanks. I have only been able to find alot of clams in a bag. If I freeze the rest do I take them out of the shell of freeze them in the shell?