Freshwater claims...good idea or bad?

[Ceasarsmom]

Can anyone give me advice on freshwater clams? I have considered adding to my 90 gal tank. Any advice on pros/cons/care would be appreciated.

Thanx

[oscarbartoni]

I do not think that they do well in warm (over 75degree water), plus it is hard to tell if they are dead or alive unless you pick them up and examine them. They are great in keeping green water algae down (that is their favorite food). If you only have one or two in your 90 gallon tank then even if one should die it would not cause a major collapse of your tank (or should not). Another thing is that they dig into the gravel and will ot be seen much if at all.

[Ceasarsmom]

Thank you, the tank is consistently in the low 70's, no heater. I have about 1/4" of pea-sized or smaller gravel in the tank now. I have read that thats is enough for clams. Do you think I would be overloading between the three snails and a few clams?

[oscarbartoni]

That should not be overloaded with that many snails and clams but you should have some deeper sand /gravel for the clams to dig down into. The like to bury themselves completely. Maybe you could put a small container that will hole two or three inches of sand/gravel to allow the clams to completely bury themselves in. Or maybe even slope the gravel in th ea ck so that it is deeper in the back than in the front. This will also allow material to come to the front of the tank where it is easier to pick up while syphoning.