lyndatu

Hello

We saw some little clams in the market that we're being sold as food. I'm thinking of getting one to help reduce the nitrates in the tank(we're using bioballs, and we can't find live plants.....). I think they are the ones that can be found in rice fields. The market is quite dirty, so I posted a thread here to ask if they were safe in the tank, but they say that they carry huge toxic wastes that are harmful to fish.

I read a thread here about keeping clams and they say that they should be in a separate tank for several months to "flush" out all the harmful wastes and bacteria, after that they are now safe to be placed in the main tank. Is this true? Thanks in advance!

Dino

I would doubt this advice.

I would be VERY LEERY of adding clam/mussels to any tank.

COBettaCouple

I wouldn't put clams in a tank. It's not safe and live plants will do way more to reduce nitrates. There isn't anywhere that you could buy or order aquarium plants like watersprite or java fern? If not, the best thing to reduce nitrates is water changes.

sirdarksol

I somewhat disagree with BettaCouple and Dino here. I've had clams in a tank before, and they are probably the most efficient water cleaners out there. They actively suck water in, clean out the extra bio-matter (and I believe nitrites/nitrates specifically) and spit the clean water out.

BUT

I would be very leery about adding any clam that you didn't buy specifically from an aquarium supply source. Even with the toxins taken out of the system, there is still a chance of them carrying disease.
Aside from that, there's no guarantee about the kind of clam/mussel you'd get. You might end up with something that will grow large quickly, be unable to bury itself in the substrate, and die off, mucking up the water in the tank.
Further, as I think about it, there are certain toxins that will not leave an animal's system until death. For example, mercury cannot be flushed from an animal's system. It stays in the fat until the animal dies, then is released as the animal decomposes.
Lastly, there is some concern that, in an aquarium, the larvae released by clams might be concentrated enough to cause harm to aquarium fish (they live on the gills of fish for awhile before building a shell).