pepetj

I did a huge water change in my Tiger Oscar-Heros Severum-Convicts-Kenyi tank as I was removing as many juvenile Kenyi and Convicts as I could. I ended up rearranging most inside that tank in order to ease introduction of new tankmates (Angelfish, Silverdollars).

So carefully I looked for and moved two FreshWater Clams (species yet to be confirmed) one next to the other so I wouldn't hurt them in my frantic fish-netting enterprise.

I stopped the juveniles forced tank extraction when I noticed the Clams were onto something. One of them went out of its way (presumably male) to reach out for the other (presumably female). I grabbed my camera and took some pics and vids. I'm sharing this one, that seems to catch the moment of sperm release (at least that's what it looks like to me).

Hope you enjoy it.

MeGustaUnaPez926

Thats neat. What are you going to do with the babies? What are clam kids even called

agabr123

great video! that's really interesting

Je55*e

Very cool! Where did you find these? I wasn't aware there WERE freshwater clams. Neat. =)
What is their role in the tank?

mjordan

cool and nice grafics unlike utube

charzar-g

wow!!
Thats so cool, it always amazes me seeing something like that for some reason.
What are you going to do with the babies, if it was sucsessful??
What are clam babies called Clamlets?? Clamites?? Lol!
What do freshwater clams do in the tank?? Do they clean up?
I saw some in my local shop, i wondered what they did

Je55*e

charzar-g: I had the same questions. I found them on liveaquaria.com and got a nice description:

"The Freshwater Clam is a living filter that helps keep aquarium water clear and clean. By removing uneaten food and detritus from the water column, the Freshwater Clam helps maintain water quality and lower nitrate levels. Like many freshwater bivalves, Corbicual sp. typically buries itself in the substrate. However, spotting its siphon protrude from the substrate is truly captivating to observe. This variety of the Corbiculidae family only reaches a length of about 2", which makes it a suitable addition to well-established aquariums of almost any size.
Though found in temperate freshwater rivers and lakes around the world, this species originates in Asia and has a brown shell, banded in black. For best care, house the Freshwater Clam in an aquarium of at least 10 gallons with medium to very fine substrate. The Freshwater Clam should not be housed with invertebrate-eating fish, such as freshwater puffers.

The Freshwater Clam obtains its nutrition from filtering food and detritus from the water column. If necessary, its diet can be supplemented with a quality invertebrate food. Keep in mind that the Freshwater Clam will not tolerate any copper-based medication. If treating the aquarium with medication containing copper, move the Freshwater Clam to another aquarium. Do not return the Freshwater Clam until the copper in the treated aquarium has been removed by means of chemical filtration.

Approximate Purchase Size: 1/2" to 1"

Neat =)

pepetj

I am posting on the info I have on FW clams in the FW Invertebrates forum.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

Iron waffle

interesting, i'm a big fan of FW clams, i've been looking for them.

Je55*e

Thanks, Pepe, I'll check it out.

mjordan

how would fw clams do in a south american habitat. would they look out of place.

im trying to duplicate south amarican habitats so im hoping they would not be seen much and are happy in these conditions.

would it be a good choice to have these guys from a personal opinion of looks.
base this opinoin from above off of general looks and those those looks in a south american tank.


no cuban plants

aquatic mouse

Wow! How cool is that?! Thanks for sharing!

pepetj

What exactly do you mean by South American tank? I figure FW clams do need some minimal levels of carbonate and general hardness, so I guess extremely acidic/soft water wouldn't be a good idea.

I think of Discus tanks, which seem to require extremely clean water and I just don't see FW clams surviving there.

FW clams are spread around the globe but by far diversity glows in America (as the whole Continent: North, Central, and South America), I figure some may look out of place, some don't. However most bury themselves in the substrate, not like you´ll be seeing them a lot.

Which species live in the Amazon as a whole, or in Rio Negro (tropical) or in Rio de la Plata (sub-tropical) I have no idea.

There must be a vast number of different bio-types (most bio-types exist in small areas) along many of the Amazon River affluents still to be studied, never mind pending publication, than being purist is almost impossible to achieve (you would need geographically specific wild substrate, plants, micro-flora and micro-fauna to do this).

I don't get the idea behind your statement of no Cuban plants. I am not in Cuba, but in Hispaniola, I would love to study their natural habitats though, and keep a few specimens of their endemic plants, inverts, maybe even fishes.

However, most wild flora in the Caribbean Basin came to be from the Continental land. What would be the difference, say in local water hyacinth or anacharis or swords? Maybe the growth size or number of leaves? What difference would that make even to wild caught fish who are adapting to an artificial non-self sustainable environment as our tanks and ponds?

Unless there's an idiomatic expression joke involved in your final phrase, I'm kind of lost here.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

mjordan

im sorry wat i mean be south american tank is that i am going to have south american plants.

and by the cuban plants saing they will not be in the tannk was a poor choice in words and that was my bad but wat i meant is that i really dont like the look of those lidwigia and others.
theres no ofence to the cuban plans it just my taste is not for them.

sorry bout all the confusion and would u no were to get these clams on this side of the world as in north, south, central american clams

fishpie

slightly creepy

mjordan

well i shure like to be called crepy.