The Puffer Forum

then smash it with a hammer(lol) tomorrow? should i rinse it well before i freeze it? its in the refrigerator in the bag it came in till i know what to do. winco finally had something other than oysters for once lol

Freeze it, then thaw it in vitachem or other vitamin and tankwater. The freezing should open the shell. You can further pry it open.

unfortunately i dont have any vitamins or money to buy some... so then after i pry it open, just scrape off most of the meat? freezing will kill it, right? i thought maybe its dead already cause they keep them on ice, but it doesnt smell bad and the shell is tightly shut.

edit: just called aqualife and the cheapest vitamins they have are $15! geez. should i just keep the clam in the freezer till i can buy some vitamins?

No, you can feed it without the vitamins, but get some when you can.

What I did was to take the fresh clams out on the deck while keeping them on ice, pry them open using a knife, and break up the shells using two pair of pliers. You could also do this at the sink, but sometimes little pieces of shell fly across the room. I placed the busted up pieces containing meat in the freezer, keeping them separated so I could pull them out one at a time.

Need to do it again, as I still have frozen clam bits, but all of the good pieces with shell attached have been eaten.