Swan mussel question

[Anyanka]

There's no pump in my pond, so I'll definitely give the mussels a miss. I've got ramshorn snails though.

[coasty]

There is a large shallow park lake near me with a large population of mussels, The lake has no flow only some wind generated drift so they will survive in still water,,,,

Andy

[Waveney One]

Swan mussels certainly exist in many stillwaters. They do not need the flow of a river to survive. They put their 'foot' out and use that to move around on the bottom in the mud and silt. This is unlike a number of others mussels that use their 'beards' to cling together in bunches on a rock or structure of some sort.

They are filter feeders and therefore would make no impression on the debris build up on the bottom of a pond. You have made the correct decision Anyanka, leave them out of your garden pond.

[diggleken]

Just for interest - of the bigger freshwater mussels - Swan mussels are found in muddy bottomed water, including ponds, whilst duck mussels (slightly smaller) are found in sandy bottoms.
Ken

[bigwig]

Hi

I have 2 small terraced ponds, that were established in June and July of last year. Neither pond has a pump, just lots of oxygentators and surface floaters ( although these have died off now ). Both ponds have snails and a Swan Mussel in each and one pond has 2 goldfish. The ponds are 18 inch deep. Everything in both ponds seems to be doing well, despite the winter weather..

I feed the fish every day and I see the snails browsing about, unless the weather is very bad and then they stay down the bottom of the ponds..I have seen the Mussels feeding and they are moving about the ponds. I got the Mussels before being made aware of the potential problems with them, but ' touch wood ' mine seem to be doing ok.

[camo]

Originally Posted by Anyanka

My brother has recommended swan mussels to me as a method of dealing with the debris at the bottom of my pond, such as dead leaves etc. I am generally apprehensive of putting any living things in the pond, though, as it has a thriving newt population, tadpoles, snails, and all sorts of other pondlife, all of which arrived there without any help from me. I usually clear out debris manually in late autumn.

I'm curious to hear other people's opinion & comments on this. - The pond is middling size, by the way, perhaps 8-10 square metres, with a maximum depth of about 50-60cm, and sloping sides.

thanks!

hi Anyanka

I have some experience keeping Swan Mussels although it was along time ago and in an aquarium.

I kept about 6 alive for a period of about 4 months and eventually released them in the spot i collected them from. In my case I kept them in a coldwater tank and fed them on a liquid fry food. My reason for keeping them is that there is a cold water fish called a Bitterling which lays its eggs within a living Mussel. The eggs are fertilsed inside the mussel and the young leave the maussel when they are free swimming. I successfully bred about 12 young Bitterling however I wasn't able to repeat the success. Mussels should be fairly easy to keep in your pond but they will not eat or clear up rubbish. As has been said they are filter feeders and will feed on suspended micro organisms. They will not create a spectacle but they are interesting and will move about the pond using their single foot.

Roy

[Ben Rigsby]

hi,

just to echo Stewy.
i bought some swan mussels from a garden centre a few years ago, put them in the pond and had the same experience - they didnt last long.
however, Pea Mussels thrive. there are 100s of those!

Ben

[JohanJ]

Swan mussels are a bit of a con - you need something like 1 per litre for them to have an effect.