Feeding Live

[YHSublime]

Anybody feed live clams or muscles?

 

I feed a very large variety, Jans, Rodgers, Scott's, Mysis, Pellets, Nori. I tried throwing in a fresh shucked clam once in my 57 and none of my fish looked at it. They also didn't eat black worms till recently.

 

I recently stopped at my local grocery store and picked up a fresh live clam and a muscle. I was planing on rinsing in RO water tomorrow, and then shucking and throwing one or both into the tank. I recently picked up a bag of muscles, and threw one in my sump for my Mantis, and it's happily living down there (also washed in RO) Is this bad pracitce? Who else does it?

[davelin315]

You can introduce a lot of different parasites, bacterial infections, and viruses into your system by adding live clams and mussels... but, I do it myself on occasion.  There's always a risk with introducing any sort of live food but the benefits are also there.  It's good practice to give a saltwater animal a freshwater dip and run it through some QT before using it as food for your tank (clams and mussels) but this is no guarantee that you won't pollute your tank.  Also, keep in mind that if shellfish are wild harvested, there's a chance they could contain some levels of mercury, but then again, the same can be said of many wild caught fish as well that you might use for food for yourself or your animals.

 

That said, I am surprised your animals don't go nuts over the food you introduce.

[YHSublime]

Thanks for the quick reply. My question would have been better worded with "Are there any risks, or is it just benifits!?" That was a great answer. I did rinse my muscle in tapwater, and then ro water, however, I can't imagine that would kill everything and anything I guess.

 

I like the idea of feeding live every once in a while, but I also might just settle on frozen clams on the halfshell every now and then. I figure the cold will kill the bad and the ugly?

[smallreef]

I have fed fresh clams before when I had a fowlr with triggers...

That being said I never noticed anything bad, not that it wasn't there though....

[Hubbard42]

I buy a scallop once and a while, cut it into small pcs and feed, freeze the rest. They all love it, I recommend small pcs to start

[paul b]

 

You can introduce a lot of different parasites, bacterial infections, and viruses into your system by adding live clams and mussels

I feed live clams to my tank every day, then I eat some myself, then I feed the tank, then I eat some more.  I don't usualy feed them live because after you open them, they are not really live any more.  And if they are, they are not in a good mood at all.  I usually freeze them first and shave off paper thing slices as I can buy a chowder clam for fifty cents and it lasts me 2 months.  As for the bacterial infections, viruses and paracites, did I mention I have been doing this for over fifty years and some of my fish are 20 years old?

My tank is over forty now, so far no paracites, infections, viruses, hoof and mouth disease, plague, malaria, white spots, black spots, velvet, crushed velvet,

simulated leather, nothing.  But I still eat live clams and oysters a couple of times a week.

 

MMMnn, Lunch.  I can't wait to bite into those paracites and bacterial infections.

 

Edited December 19, 2013 by paul b

[wade]

Freezing will not kill most bacteria and probably not many viruses.  It will, however, kill most larger parasites.  

 

Rinsing with RO will certainly help to rupture anything that is adapted to sw that is on the surface, but it'll also kill the clam/muscle (not really an issue since you are feeding it anyway).

 

That said, I doubt the odds of introducing something particularly bad are very high. Most public aquariums feed wild caught fish and such to their fish too.

 

And even prepared foods generally use wild caught materials - although they are often freeze dried or powdered and ground/baked.

[davelin315]

That said, I doubt the odds of introducing something particularly bad are very high. Most public aquariums feed wild caught fish and such to their fish too.

I wouldn't say that most of it is wild caught, per se, but most aquariums purchase seafood through the same outlets that provide it to restaurants so it's high quality seafood that has passed through FDA standards for human consumption.  There are certainly pros and cons to wild caught versus farmed, but in perusing our freezers here, there's a mix of different foods (seafood gumbo!).

[wade]

I wouldn't say that most of it is wild caught, per se, but most aquariums purchase seafood through the same outlets that provide it to restaurants so it's high quality seafood that has passed through FDA standards for human consumption.  There are certainly pros and cons to wild caught versus farmed, but in perusing our freezers here, there's a mix of different foods (seafood gumbo!).

 

Really?  That is news to me.  I recall a conversation with some of the personnel at the NC aquarium where we talked about getting sardines, menhaden, and other small fishes by the ton (frozen) that came straight out of the ocean.  I wouldn't expect that to need FDA approval?  Guess thats an assumption I made.

[davelin315]

We purchase some of our food through profish and other seafood supply companies. Funny, sometimes they make a delivery to us, then our cafeteria, then the Reagan Building across the street. They may do it differently in North Carolina, but I would say many go the same route as us depending on the size of the operation.

 

I wonder if they are getting theirs from bait companies instead... We do purchase some of it through those as well, but usually that is live feeders.