Fish love fresh little neck clams

jasonrusso · Jan 16, 2021

@Paul B always says one of the secrets of success is fresh clams. I've found that fresh little neck clams are the easiest and best for my tank. I've tried steamer clams (shells are too thin and shatter when opening), mussels (not enough meat and they are kind of gross, lol), cockles (supposedly the best, but the only place I know that has them doesn't inspire freshness), and cherry stones (too big).

I readily buy them by the bag (2 pounds) and freeze them. A few times a week I pull out 2 (the porky usually eats one and the other fish peck at the other one until he realizes there js another one), defrost for 20 minutes and the shell pops open. I open it up and chuck it in.

The fish go crazy for them. The foxface, tang, angel (when I had one), and tusk all go nuts over them. I also feed LRS Chunky food.

lapin · Jan 16, 2021

r2odie · Oct 19, 2021

Can I feed the little necks live or should they always be frozen first?

redfishbluefish · Oct 19, 2021

I also freeze them....makes opening them a breeze. Then I open and pull them out and slice them up. So you just throw the whole clam in the tank. Very interesting. I think I'm going to try that and see what happens.

jasonrusso · Oct 19, 2021

r2odie said:
Can I feed the little necks live or should they always be frozen first?

redfishbluefish said:
I also freeze them....makes opening them a breeze. Then I open and pull them out and slice them up. So you just throw the whole clam in the tank. Very interesting. I think I'm going to try that and see what happens

I buy them a few pounds at a time and throw them all in the freezer. It keeps them fresh imo. It also makes them easier to open. When they are still alive, their only muscle holds the shell closed and you end up shattering the shell. You can feed them live, but I think it's diminishing returns with the effort.

I freeze them, put a couple in a mug (inside a cabinet because my cats go after them), and after about an hour I can open them with my hands.

I throw them in whole. All the fish (even the "herbivores") take bites out of them. They clean the shells clean. My puffer is the glutton. I usually throw 2 in, one for the puffer and the others pick at the other one until he sees it!!

CanuckReefer · Oct 19, 2021

jasonrusso said:
I buy them a few pounds at a time and throw them all in the freezer. It keeps them fresh imo. It also makes them easier to open. When they are still alive, their only muscle holds the shell closed and you end up shattering the shell. You can feed them live, but I think it's diminishing returns with the effort.

I freeze them, put a couple in a mug (inside a cabinet because my cats go after them), and after about an hour I can open them with my hands.

I throw them in whole. All the fish (even the "herbivores") take bites out of them. They clean the shells clean. My puffer is the glutton. I usually throw 2 in, one for the puffer and the others pick at the other one until he sees it!!

Nice, I might try the little necks and freeze. I purchase 2 lb live mussels here weekly easy to get fresh out of PEI or Newfoundland on grocers shelf, eat pretty much all of em on Friday nights with the wife lol, and save the largest to crack raw, and give to The Long Tent Nem, and smaller bits chopped fine to the Duncan and large shrooms. The fish pick off the bits the corals miss, or maybe I miss. So good, and better than frozen LFS bought.