The Puffer Forum

Hello!
I was at the beach today and I found a ton of tiny mussels (about 1/2 an inch long) that would be perfect for Puffy. I collected a bunch of them and brought them back and I was wondering how long I should quarrantine them to just make sure that they're safe or if I should not even bother risking it. (They came out of the Puget Sound which is pretty gross...) If I can quarrantine them and then feed them to Puffs, how long should I do so and what's the best way to keep salt water mussels alive? Any info/advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

i would treat them with something but even then i would be worried about anything wild

What would you suggest treating them with? I'm also worried about them potentially carrying toxins.

Freeze the suckers for a week. Idk about the toxins/pollutants, but that'll take care of parasites!

Thanks! I would love to be able to feed these guys to Puffy. They're just small enough that I can drop the entire thing into the tank and let him take care of it. Does anybody know about the toxins maybe?

Personally I would avoid feeding anything caught locally (garden snails is one that comes up frequently, and garden worms for other types of fish). You can buy gamma treated mussles/cockles to feed for a reasonable price and if you prefer being safe than sorry that's the best bet.

Maybe the local fish/wildlife folks could tell you about water quality in your area. I've heard of people doing really well taking water right out of the sea in their area and using it in their tanks, and then of course there's beaches where you see garbage and nasty stuff everywhere.

Yeah, I looked it up and it's a no go. Apparently there is some sewage run off pretty close to the beach I got them from. Any chance I can find ones this small in a store?

I don't know about mussels but I have bought clams on the half shell that were about the size of a thumb print. I found them in the freezer dept. at the lfs.

Most LFSs will order whatever you want if you don't see it.

Ooh! Mini ones from the lfs? That sounds awesome. I'm gonna have to go check that out. Thanks guys!