Description

The ornamental clam Scabies crispata from Asia continuously filters the aquarium water and eats the suspended matter in it. Soft substrate such as sand, fine gravel or mud is preferred because it likes to partially burrow. Scabies crispata reaches 5 to 6 cm in size. It has a dark green to black zigzag pattern on a golden yellow to orange-beige ground. While it is bisexual, there are no external characteristics that would allow the sexes to be distinguished with certainty.

The ornamental clam prefers water temperatures of 20 to 27 °C, and it likes a pH of 6.5 to 8 and relatively hard water. It socializes very well with filter feeders such as fan shrimp and snails of the Brotia and Taia genera, for example. It can also cope with currents in the aquarium, provided that there are also low-current zones at the bottom, where the mussels can retreat if necessary. The larvae of this mussel species attach themselves to the mucous membranes of fish, therefore socialization with several mussels is not necessarily recommended. A single animal cannot reproduce and can therefore be kept in a fish aquarium without hesitation. Ornamental clams are cracked and eaten by crabs and shrimps. Shrimps from the genus Neocaridina are also very suitable for keeping together with this mussel.

The ornamental clam sieves its food from the water. Since filtered aquariums are almost always too clean for this animal, we recommend feeding Scabies crispata once or twice a day with suitable microfine ground dust food. Without supplemental feeding, the mussels will not grow old in the aquarium because they will starve. Selective feeding with a pipette has proven effective. The filter should be turned off during feeding.