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Cultivated Reef

Lighting Requirements for Clams


ezcompany

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You wont have to have a 10K t5ho to keep a clam....Hell aquablue's are like 3-4 points lower on PAR than the 10K's...

 

fraggle rockette - if you want to keep a crocea or maxima you should make sure your params are spot on and stable....Just cause you buy a high PAR light doesnt mean it will survive....especially if your calcium is at 100PPM in the tank...

Edited by proraptor2
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You wont have to have a 10K t5ho to keep a clam....Hell aquablue's are like 3-4 points lower on PAR than the 10K's...

 

fraggle rockette - if you want to keep a crocea or maxima you should make sure your params are spot on and stable....Just cause you buy a high PAR light doesnt mean it will survive....especially if your calcium is at 100PPM in the tank...

 

Agreed 100% Make sure your calcium and Alk are at the proper levels and stable before getting a clam.

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fraggle rockette

phix- you dont have mh yet? i wouldve thought for sure for some reason...

 

how do i test calcium/alk? i dont have those in my water test kit- is there a separate one i should get? reccomendations/favorited?

 

i definately am not planning on stocking my tank further with fish/clams until all the aquascaping is exact and water prefect :)

 

(p.s. nanoty, how's that for replies? haha... i'm just teasing... but really... i told u it was the tape)

Edited by fraggle rockette
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salifert calcium test

tetra alk test

salifert magnesium test

 

read the links in my signature below for a better understanding of their relationships :)

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fraggle rockette
salifert calcium test

tetra alk test

salifert magnesium test

 

read the links in my signature below for a better understanding of their relationships :)

 

wow... you are the scnr chemist... i have so much to learn!!! :bowdown:

Edited by fraggle rockette
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Whoa, why not Salifert alk? That's what I use, and then Read Sea and API Ca tests.

 

Anywho, nope no MH yet Veronica. I just have the stock 4x24w T5HO lighting my Finnex tank came with. I put individual reflectors on the daylights and recently added a pair of R2 moonlights to the fixture as well. Provides enough light for my croecea clam though which I actually got from EZ. It's like the LA community clam and about 3-4 years old, lol!

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  • 2 weeks later...
cuz the salifert alk tests are expensive !

 

Pfff, no way. The Salifert CA test is expensive!! :o I bought the Salifert Alk test because I thought the less than $20 price was reasonable, lol! Oh, I think I got mine for about $13 from some hobby shop online someone linked to many months ago on here. ;)

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Anyone try 70W of halides with 1" crocea or maxima in an ultra small tank?

 

I've kept 4 species of Crocoea clams before (crocea, derasa, maxima, squamosa, and even a Hippopus sp.), but never in such a small tank as I'm currently working with.

 

Clams can be kept under PC lighting as well. I used to keep the five above under PC lighting (4x96W over a 40 gallon tank).

Edited by Ebn
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  • 2 weeks later...
Anyone try 70W of halides with 1" crocea or maxima in an ultra small tank?

 

I've kept 4 species of Crocoea clams before (crocea, derasa, maxima, squamosa, and even a Hippopus sp.), but never in such a small tank as I'm currently working with.

 

Clams can be kept under PC lighting as well. I used to keep the five above under PC lighting (4x96W over a 40 gallon tank).

 

i'm not going to get into the whole PC lighting argument, but i would recommend you NOT get clams under 2.5 inches as they have a very high mortality rate.

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tropic marin regular with a touch of calcium (homemade)

So you're using both a 2 part solution, plus TM regular salt with a touch of calcium?

 

Which 2 part solution are you using? (Have you tried others?)

 

What are you adding for the 'touch of calicium'?

 

What calcium level are you maintaining? (in your 24g aquapod with all the sps)

 

My main interest is because I'll be setting up a JBJ 28g HQI and want to focus on mostly sps for the final stages. :)

Edited by Josza
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So you're using both a 2 part solution, plus TM regular salt with a touch of calcium?

 

Which 2 part solution are you using? (Have you tried others?)

 

What are you adding for the 'touch of calicium'?

 

What calcium level are you maintaining? (in your 24g aquapod with all the sps)

 

My main interest is because I'll be setting up a JBJ 28g HQI and want to focus on mostly sps for the final stages. :)

 

 

I'm using my own homemade 2-part solution using Randy's formula.

For the touch of calcium i'm using the calcium part of the 2-part.

calcium levels are 400-420.

 

Qwank, i make sure my clams get at least 9-10 hours of metal halide lighting.

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rustyfromsouthie

now what if the clams you are referring to aren't the clams that i happen to have?

 

i believe since the rock is floridain that the clam is likewise, and it seems fine under PC but feedin if anyone knows may be different...

 

any suggestions?

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ezcompany
now what if the clams you are referring to aren't the clams that i happen to have?

 

i believe since the rock is floridain that the clam is likewise, and it seems fine under PC but feedin if anyone knows may be different...

 

any suggestions?

 

the clams i'm talking about are tridacnid clams, or the giant clam family and they are not found in the Atlantic.

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easterly81

Not to be stupid or repetitive, but I have a 24g NC with a light upgrade to 108 watts PC. I just got a crocea clam yesterday. I was really apprehensive but the guy at the LFS talked me into it and gave it to me at cost. Do you think my clam will be ok with 108 watts to PC if i put it almost 3/4 of the way to the top of my tank. The guy at the LFS told me to put it in the substrate, but I can only guess thats way to low.

Edited by easterly81
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Not to be stupid or repeditive I have a 24g NC with a light upgrade to 108 watts PC. I just got a crocea clam yesterday. I was really lerry but the guy at the LFS talked me into it and gave it to me at cost. Do you think my clam will be ok with 108 watts to PC if i put it almost 3/4 of the way to the top of my tank. The guy at the LFS told me to put it in the substraint I can only quess thats why to low.

 

it will probably die slowly, you can tell by the coloration fading away in the mantle area generally. it may also be reaching for more light with hyperextension of the mantle. who knows, you may get lucky, but stop visiting that LFS.

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I saw a post a ways back in this thread asking if the BC29 stock lighting was adequate for a clam (maxima?).

 

The BC29 stock lighting is:

36 watt True Actinic 03 blue straight pin

36 watt 10,000 K daylight straight pin

3 .75 watt lunar blue moon glow LED

 

I also have a BC29 and was wondering the same. I've been doing a lot of reading on this subject and it seems most everyone recommends MH. I've seen 150 watts MH 10K recommended a few times. How much would this cost and is anyone experienced with modifying their BC29 with this type of setup?

 

BTW, I dont quite understand what the 10,000 K actually means... :(

 

Also as a sidenote/question - someone at my LFS (who I've actually come to trust and have talked to many times on various subjects) advised me that if a clam is tank raised under average PC wattage or has "grown up" in that environment, that it will survive and can thrive in a tank with only PC lights, such as what the BC29 has... opinions?

Edited by vabchreef
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moonlightxpress825
i'm not going to get into the whole PC lighting argument, but i would recommend you NOT get clams under 2.5 inches as they have a very high mortality rate.

damn..just bought a one inch maxima at the lfs for 40bucks and now i read this

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I saw a post a ways back in this thread asking if the BC29 stock lighting was adequate for a clam (maxima?).

 

The BC29 stock lighting is:

36 watt True Actinic 03 blue straight pin

36 watt 10,000 K daylight straight pin

3 .75 watt lunar blue moon glow LED

 

I also have a BC29 and was wondering the same. I've been doing a lot of reading on this subject and it seems most everyone recommends MH. I've seen 150 watts MH 10K recommended a few times. How much would this cost and is anyone experienced with modifying their BC29 with this type of setup?

 

BTW, I dont quite understand what the 10,000 K actually means... :(

 

Also as a sidenote/question - someone at my LFS (who I've actually come to trust and have talked to many times on various subjects) advised me that if a clam is tank raised under average PC wattage or has "grown up" in that environment, that it will survive and can thrive in a tank with only PC lights, such as what the BC29 has... opinions?

 

that dude in the LFS doesn't know the natural habitat of giant clams in the wild. maximas and croceas are found in less than 15 feet of water in very clear and clean conditions.

 

10,000k is the color temperature of the bulb. the higher the kelvin, the bluer and less intensity. the lower, the whiter and more intense (par/lumen). 10ks are closer to natural sunlight and is white, but will give much more par than 14 or 20ks. you also have to compare bulbs, as quality 14k bulbs give off more par than some bad 10k bulbs. PAR = photosyntethic active radiation

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that dude in the LFS doesn't know the natural habitat of giant clams in the wild. maximas and croceas are found in less than 15 feet of water in very clear and clean conditions.

 

10,000k is the color temperature of the bulb. the higher the kelvin, the bluer and less intensity. the lower, the whiter and more intense (par/lumen). 10ks are closer to natural sunlight and is white, but will give much more par than 14 or 20ks. you also have to compare bulbs, as quality 14k bulbs give off more par than some bad 10k bulbs. PAR = photosyntethic active radiation

 

Cool, thx for the explanation :)

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I can add my experience – although I am still learning like the rest of us.

 

I have kept a tear drop gold maxima clam in a 20H under PC lights for over a year now. The lighting fixture is a 2x65W PC mounted a couple of inches over the surface of the water. There is one 10K bulb and one Actinic bulb. The clam is in the sand directly under the 10K bulb. I maintain high CA (above 400) and alk and feed DTs Reef Phtyo blend daily. There are a few other soft and LPS corals in the tank along with one or two RBTA depending on when the RBTA split last. There are also two Ocelaris clowns. The color of the clam is a little browner than when I got it but still pretty good. The clam also has a nice white new growth edge on its shell and has always appeared healthy. It was about 2.5 to 3 inches long when I got it. I put it in the tank as an experiment expecting to need to move it to a MH tank if it did not do well but it has been fine. Nitrates are detectable in that tank but are only about 1~5. I do 5 gallon water changes on the tank each week since I feed the RBTAs heavily.

 

I just got a PAR meter so I will see what the reading is at the clam’s level. I suspect it is below 100 based on measurements that I have taken at other locations in the tank thus far.

 

In a 110G tank with 2x250W 20K MH and 4x55W of PC, I also have 3 clams. A deresa on the bottom which does well, a blue maxima about half way up that appears healthy but whose color has faded, and a blue crocea on the bottom that is doing well. I know the PAR reading near the blue clam is over 200 (Apogee Quantum meter on electric light source setting) but it still has faded a bit over its colors from when I purchased it. Perhaps it needs more light to brighten up? I feed that tank Phyto as well. It has a growth edge so it is growing, but I would like to see it brighten up. Is < 20 inches directly under one of the 20K 250W MH bulbs. Here is a bad picture of the clam, but you can see the faded colors. It was a bright pure blue when I purchased it. Anyone have any ideas?

4ptub2o.jpg

 

Does anyone know of a study/resource that gives ideal PAR readings for clams instead of bulb wattages, bulb types and water depths?

Edited by brshriver
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I can add my experience – although I am still learning like the rest of us.

 

I have kept a tear drop gold maxima clam in a 20H under PC lights for over a year now. The lighting fixture is a 2x65W PC mounted a couple of inches over the surface of the water. There is one 10K bulb and one Actinic bulb. The clam is in the sand directly under the 10K bulb. I maintain high CA (above 400) and alk and feed DTs Reef Phtyo blend daily. There are a few other soft and LPS corals in the tank along with one or two RBTA depending on when the RBTA split last. There are also two Ocelaris clowns. The color of the clam is a little browner than when I got it but still pretty good. The clam also has a nice white new growth edge on its shell and has always appeared healthy. It was about 2.5 to 3 inches long when I got it. I put it in the tank as an experiment expecting to need to move it to a MH tank if it did not do well but it has been fine. Nitrates are detectable in that tank but are only about 1~5. I do 5 gallon water changes on the tank each week since I feed the RBTAs heavily.

 

I just got a PAR meter so I will see what the reading is at the clam’s level. I suspect it is below 100 based on measurements that I have taken at other locations in the tank thus far.

 

In a 110G tank with 2x250W 20K MH and 4x55W of PC, I also have 3 clams. A deresa on the bottom which does well, a blue maxima about half way up that appears healthy but whose color has faded, and a blue crocea on the bottom that is doing well. I know the PAR reading near the blue clam is over 200 (Apogee Quantum meter on electric light source setting) but it still has faded a bit over its colors from when I purchased it. Perhaps it needs more light to brighten up? I feed that tank Phyto as well. It has a growth edge so it is growing, but I would like to see it brighten up. Is < 20 inches directly under one of the 20K 250W MH bulbs. Here is a bad picture of the clam, but you can see the faded colors. It was a bright pure blue when I purchased it. Anyone have any ideas?

4ptub2o.jpg

 

Does anyone know of a study/resource that gives ideal PAR readings for clams instead of bulb wattages, bulb types and water depths?

 

how old are your bulbs?

20k bulbs lose their intensity much faster than lower kelvin bulbs. some people say they should be replaced every 6 months.

eitherway, 20k bulbs i don't think are enough to bring your maxima to full color. i would switch at least to a 14k, try the phoenix 250, they will provide you a blue almost similar to your 20k but with higher par values. i keep my clams under the same depth as you, around 20 inches but under 14ks with no problems in color.

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