So around a year ago i bought a couple of freshwater mussels from the pet store and have been told its illegal to sell them now. anyone know where to find some locally? im in top of the south island iv heard thers heaps up north but that dosent help me down here

They will die just like the last ones did. They are filter feeders and need massive amounts of water to filter to get enough food to survive.They also live in cold water

They are a threatened species, I recommend you don't collect them from the wild.

one died soon after i got it but the other is still fine

at a guess, the average sized one that were in the petshops could beas old as 20-50 years old... yes they can be that slow growing.

have a search in the forum for some of the other threads to learn why we wont recommend keeping them.

Then again I had them in my old goldfish tank and they never died. Had them for years before moving the tank on and they are still alive to date.