I've hit a good number of the stores in Northern ATL at least, and haven't seen a single freshwater clam. Are they THAT undesirable? A high hard working filter feeder SEEMS like a good idea. What'm I missing folks? Surely it's not just that they are ugly?
Freshwater Clams?
- Thread starter jamsf
- Start date
I've done freshwater in the past and your reasoning seems sound. I travel all over the Southeast for work and I've never seen a freshwater clam in any of the stores I've visited. Admittedly, I'm paying closer attention to the saltwater side of things but I do browse freshwater. In the last 20 years the freshwater hobby has grown to include so many different species including a variety of shrimps and crayfish. It does make me wonder where the clams might be. My only thought it that there aren't any "outstanding" varieties that can be kept in captivity. I've heard of clams cleaning a crazy amount of water, maybe a relatively clean 55g freshwater setup can't support even a single one.
There is a species of freshwater clam that you can find around here, if you're up for collecting. Years ago I was walking a long a stream in Roswell and I happened to spot some small clams in the sand. I collected a bunch of them and put them in a nano tank with cherry shrimp. The clams lived for at least a couple years. They would bury themselves in the sand with just part of their mouth exposed to feed. They were kinda boring, but I guess they were doing a job filtering the water. I'm pretty sure they're an invasive species, so you'd be doing a service taking them out of the wild. I did some googling and I think they are "Corbicula fluminea". Here's a pic I found of what they look like.
Thanks for the feedback guys! Since my hubby tends to overload, I'd bet he'd keep a thirsty clam happy! lol Might have to hunt one down, heck if it got to out of hand I'm sure there's SOMETHING that would nibble on a clam or two to take them back a smidge...
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