home aquarium

[Nalcolmjean]

How hard would it be to grow cultured pearls in a home aquarium?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Impossible, I would think.

 

[pattye]

Nalcolmjean,

Welcome,

Lots of good youtube videos available that talk about pearl farming; you can watch and imagine trying to do any of it in even a very large aquarium~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmC_kxvS334

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIBlEeKJxDw

Both these videos are done by Jeremy Shepherd of Pearl Paradise, and a founder of this forum. Lots of other videos there on this subject also.

 

[Caitlin]

The Chinese used to cultivate those rice krispie pearls in ditches and puddles. I think it is more a matter of feeding them in a tank. They filter the water for food constantly but I don't see how that could be provided, easily. You'd need really green water full of algae and whatall.

 

[DerekJ]

Not impossible, but incredible difficult. As someone who works at a Marine pet store and has keep an aquarium running for years. It would be an incredible amount of work with little reward for your effort.

 

[pattye]

Plus you would need a skilled technician to do the nucleating. And even then it wouldn't necessarily result in a pearl.

 

[GemGeek]

If it was feasible, a whole lot of people here would have "home farms" for fun!

 

[Cyril Roger Brossard]

If it was feasible, a whole lot of people here would have "home farms" for fun!

It is being done, not just for commercial purposes. Satmar developed the idea back in the 80's for extensive study of specific endemic species.
This said saltwater aquarium may be divided into two categories, filtered saltwater or artificial saltwater. Although low pressure would result into good coating, you'll have to consider temperature, food, lux levels, enrichment of the water on specific seasons, renewal of water and normal recovery.

 

[Daddys Little Pearl]

Wow, what fun it would be to raise a pearl! I assume you just wish to raise the oysters / mussels? Or learn the surgical skills for inserting the medium for culturing? That would be so fascinating. Now to throw a wet blanket on this, When I was younger and more foolish I had five large aquariums in my home, stocked with exotic African cichlids, Japanese goldfish, and some Discus (no not all of these were in the same tank, it would have been a blood bath! ). The amount of work to maintian these was enormous. Then consider that these were freshwater tanks. Mainting a saltwater tank if very tricky, even if one is wealthy enough to afford the finest equipment. Then there is the issue of power failures during storms, etc, when your whole tank can crash. Wow it would be fabulous to be able to do this, might tempt me to get a tank again, but remembering the work involved gives me nightmares. (and also memories of a few fish flopping on the floor occasionally) LOL

Daddys Little Pearl

 

[DerekJ]

I always liked the idea of raising a Melo Melo, as it is something that we can order at the pet store. But its food requirements are costly to maintain. It makes me wish I worked in a university to do research on culturing gastropod pearls for commercial purposes.

 

[Cyril Roger Brossard]

I always liked the idea of raising a Melo Melo, as it is something that we can order at the pet store. But its food requirements are costly to maintain. It makes me wish I worked in a university to do research on culturing gastropod pearls for commercial purposes.

You'll need to make a muddy bottom tank with a simulated pressure of up to 3 bar, make sure that your anaerobic biome doesn't become over acidic and eventually ensure that food (mostly gastropods) is readily available.
Maybe not the best project for a first aquarium...

 

[codylee]

Depending on what the purpose of the in-home cultured pearl aquarium, it could be quite a bit of fun. Especially if you have someone to do it with. The hardest part of the entire process (which could exceed 2 years to culture a single pearl) is going to be maintaining a healthy and stable environment for the mollusk(s) (oyster or mussel). Mollusks are hyper sensitive when it comes to their environment and if one thing goes wrong, you run the risk of having to start all over. In short, in would be the coolest self constructed science project ever or the worst investment you ever made. If you have the time and the money I would love to watch how it all turned out. Either way.... Its a great/interesting/fun idea!
~Codylee

How hard would it be to grow cultured pearls in a home aquarium?

 

[Cyril Roger Brossard]

... (which could exceed 2 years to culture a single pearl) ...
~Codylee

Interesting, may I ask what species are you thinking about for a 24 months cultivation period? This is purely an academic question. Thanks.