Indian pearl oyster - Parreysia (Radiatula) pachysoma

The Indian pearl oyster Parreysia (Radiatula) pachysoma comes from stagnant and slow flowing waters in India, Bangladesh and Burma. It prefers soft substrate such as sand or mud. It gets its name from the fact that it produces pretty pink freshwater pearls when a foreign particle enters it. The Indian pearl oyster grows to a size of 4 to 7 cm. It is brown, green, yellow and golden in color.

The Indian pearl oyster likes water temperatures between 20 and 26 °C, a pH above 7.5 and medium to hard water.

In the aquarium the Indian pearl oyster can be well socialized with filter feeding snails such as piano snails or Brotia . They can also be kept together with peaceful, not too curious fish. Crabs and shrimps eat the mussels. With shrimps of the genus Neocaridina the socialization can also work well, because the demands on the water values are the same. Fan shr imp are not suitable partners, although they also filter feed because they need too much current.

Since the Indian pearl mussel filters its food from the water, it must be fed once or twice daily with a suitable, finely ground dust food . Without supplemental feeding, the mussel is doomed to starvation even in a filterless aquarium. It is best to feed the mussels selectively with an eyedropper and turn off the filter during feeding.

Nothing is known about breeding in the aquarium.

Our plant recommendation: Use for planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planaria and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.