live clam

[emobile]

Hi All, my name is Elaine and I just got my first GSP two days ago. I am loving this guy already He came from our local petstore and is sick with Ick but he is responding well to treatment and seems really good otherwise. My immediate question is....today I bought him a live clam and dropped it in his tank. He is having a great time trying to get at it, and I get a kick out of watching him. Now I just read I am supposed to maybe "smash up" GROSS, lol, the clam? Is it bad to just leave the clam in there? Will it hurt him? Will it die in there? Will it pollute the tank? I am worried it shouldn't be in there? I just want to spoil this little guy. I have read a lot so far, I just don't want to make any mistakes. I am a very experienced fish keeper (25 years) But Puffers are new to me. Should I take the clam out? Also while I am asking silly newbie questions, lol, I put sand substrate on the bottom of his tank. Is this okay or should it be something different. I can just aobut see his brain smoking on how to get that clam open, he won't take his eyes off it. He is the funniest little thing. Thanks for your help and I plan to read everything I can on this forum and I am happy there is such a place to come and learn!

[Jivenjune]

If you want to actually feed it to him, just pry it open a bit. Otherwise, no, I would not crush it... You'd probably need a hammer for that, and that's just gross? You're suppose to smush snails if they're not eating them, though.

[pufferfreak]

I never crushed mine. I just fed them to him on the half shell.

[emobile]

Perfect! Thanks so much

[pufferfreak]

Any time .

[Dadof4]

The only issue with live clam is the possibility of them carrying parasites. The recommendation is to quarantine all food for a few weeks. I don't feed live seafood at all except for crabs and cherry shrimp, these I keep a tank of and breed myself so I know they are parasite free. With clams, mussels and shrimp, I freeze them for a week to make help keep the chances of passing on disease.

[marksrush]

Welcome to the forum!

Most clams, as far as I know, are saltwater creatures, not freshwater. They will die soon if placed in freshwater, and will quickly foul your tank in a very big way. (They usually die soon even in saltwater tanks.) If you put the clam in his tank and wait until it dies and opens on its own so he can eat it, you're risking fouling the tank since these sorts of things decompose very, very quickly - and I'm thinking that fish, like humans, should never eat seafood that has died on its own.

So, whether it's gross or not, the way you feed clams to anything but the largest puffers is to bash it open with a hammer or open it with an oyster knife, scoop most of the flesh out, lay it flat in a dish, and freeze it for a week or so, as Dadof4 says. It's good to leave some flesh on the shell, if you are left with a big enough fragment after bashing open the clam, because the puffer will scrape its teeth on the shell while it's trying to get all the flesh off, thereby helping to keep its teeth worn down. After a week in the freezer, take the flesh off, slice off a bit, let the slice thaw (ideally covered in the fridge) and give it to your puffer. This same procedure applies for most other bivalves. Of course, as the puffer ages and grows, you would adjust the size of the pieces you give it, and eventually, if your particular type of puffer grows big enough, you'll just let him have the whole thing and may eventually not even have to open it for him. After all, crushing mollusk shells is what those teeth of his are designed to do!

Sand is a fine substrate, although of course like many things in life, there are downsides like the formation of toxic gas pockets if the sand is too thick, or tiny grains getting stirred up for whatever reason and getting into your filter and stopping the impeller.

Thanks for caring about your puffer! Sounds like yours has a good chance at a happy, long life.

[mrgreen]

I just bought a couple fresh clams for my F8 and have put them in the freezer. Like my mussels, I will soak in tank water to thaw and then pry the rest of the way open with my fingers and place in the tank.

[pufferfreak]

Mussels are a great alternative to clams btw. They are much cheaper.

[mrgreen]

Mussels are a great alternative to clams btw. They are much cheaper.

True, but in my case, I'm trying to get him to eat like a horse again, not skip his meals! He's never had a big, nice clam before.

[marksrush]

Mussels are a great alternative to clams btw. They are much cheaper.

Yes indeed; they're a puffer staple at my house. I buy a half pound or so for maybe $3 and just put the whole bag in the freezer. My Ceylon especially loves them.

[pufferfreak]

I'm going to get a live clam for my reef tank. I''ll see how that works out.

[marksrush]

What type of clam? One of the exotic ones, or do you mean something like a cherrystone? Either way, supposedly they're hard to keep. I took a big risk and tried a couple of cherrystones in my reef tank (I know, stupid thing to do); the lived for about a week or so. I think my valentini was nipping at them, and plus I wasn't feeding them. I'm also thinking my water wasn't cold enough (76F).

[pufferfreak]

Regular grocery store clam. I'm not even ready for a maxima .

[emobile]

You guys are really great! Thanks for all the super advise I did as you all recommended with the clam (live from the grocery store). Puffy, (yes I know, not too original but called him that the first day and it stuck)loved the clam a lot and I appreciate your other hints of what to feed him. I plan on him being the most spoiled puffy ever! His ick is still pretty bad but he is doing way better than when I found him 1/2 dead at the petstore He is finally getting a little rounder body than the caved in mess he was. I can't tell you how much I just love this little monster. My husband caught me with my faced smushed up against his aquarium telling him how much I love him........, I got it bad, so I am glad you guys are around to ask advise. My next question...when is a good time to start going brackish. He is 1.5 inches tip to tip. Thanks, Elaine
Um...not sure if we are allowed to post a picture here or not???? YIkes should have looked at the rules better...but here is the little Puffster! Of course he ate like two nibbles before I took it away so he didn't blow up! Oh P.S. This is just his little sick tank, he is going to the 55 gallon soon and once the baby koi go to the pond he will get the 90 gallon for his life



okay one more