Muscles, clams and feeding

drakebuffie · Apr 22, 2022

So guy at my LFS told me is was ok to leave muscle shells in the tank after my puffer ate the meat. Turns out that at the very least the shells leach nitrates into the water.

I want my puffer to have something harder to eat besides thawed frozen raw shrimp.

Can I use clams and leave the shells in the tank? What else can I feed the puffer that will wear down its teeth? Besides hermit crabs

lapin · Apr 23, 2022

I buy fresh mussels at the store, 2 lb bag. Some of them have cracked shells. These I toss in the tank. After about a week I remove them when I get my next dinner batch. I do not have any issue with nitrate from the shells.
Are you getting fresh clams or are they all ready frozen?
If frozen they might have some sort of preservative coating that's causing your issue.

Paul B · Apr 23, 2022

Small snails. That is a big part of their diet in the sea

drakebuffie · Apr 23, 2022

Paul B said:
Small snails. That is a big part of their diet in the sea

Small snails like dwarf astrias?

vetteguy53081 · Apr 23, 2022

snail and crab shells - No problem. Clam shells also ok. Mussel- Nope.

TWYOUNG · Oct 4, 2022

lapin said:
I buy fresh mussels at the store, 2 lb bag. Some of them have cracked shells. These I toss in the tank. After about a week I remove them when I get my next dinner batch. I do not have any issue with nitrate from the shells.
Are you getting fresh clams or are they all ready frozen?
If frozen they might have some sort of preservative coating that's causing your issue.

I just bought some live muscles and am curious how to best feed them to my tank,(primarily Flame Hawk). I placed it in the sump and it opened up, then closed when picked up. Can I just throw it in the tank and let nature take it's course? I'm assuming it would not remain closed if/when it starts dying thus polluting the tank. Or do I need to break it open/kill it before adding it.

Paul B · Oct 5, 2022

You need to open the thing up and chop it up a little. Don't put it in your sump or your tank the way it is as it will just die and the fish won't be able to eat it. I also eat them, but I open them first because my teeth are old and can't crush mussel shells.

J1a · Oct 5, 2022

I bought live mussels and clams from the market. Rinse them out using tap/filtered water and then straight into the freezer.

The cold temp killed the mussels and clams, and also make them so much easier to open. I take them out and thaw them one day later, and chop/blend them up as needed.

Paul B · Oct 7, 2022

Thats the best food there is.

Also the cheapest.

Dburr1014 · Oct 7, 2022

drakebuffie said:
So guy at my LFS told me is was ok to leave muscle shells in the tank after my puffer ate the meat. Turns out that at the very least the shells leach nitrates into the water.

I want my puffer to have something harder to eat besides thawed frozen raw shrimp.

Can I use clams and leave the shells in the tank? What else can I feed the puffer that will wear down its teeth? Besides hermit crabs

It's phosphates they leach.
I used oyster shells when I made some rock. Years later had po4 go up to 1.2 ppm. After removing most(not all) of the rock, it's been steady at 0.08.