Maxima under power compacts in a 3 gallon

[evan484]

Hey everybody,

 

A couple days ago a got my first clam (a maxima) and put it in my 3 gallon JBJ picotope. As of now I am using an 18 watt coralife power compact fixture as well as the 9 watt stock lighting that came with the tank. The maxima seems pretty happy under the lighting. I dont know too much about clams just because of a lack of experience, but from what I read it looks good. It is very responsive to shadows, and is open pretty wide. After i put it in the tank its syphon was way to wide open, but now it looks good.

 

Anyway, I also have another coralife 18 watt on the way. The one I currently have never seemed to put out as much light as I thought it should. I contacted coralife about it and they are sending me another one. You certainly cant argue with that kind of service. My plan is to put both 18 watt lights on the tank. Should this be enough light for the maxima?

 

Thanks in advance

[Rockfish]

in a word......no.

 

Has it been done and been successful......probably

 

 

what you should have done is read as much as you could before you dove in and bought a clam that demands very high intensity lighting.....I have my 2 maximas under 250 watts of metal halide lighting

 

PC bulbs are (IMO) a dead technology for saltwater (except if you're using them over a refugium (i have 2 18 watt PC's to help my macroalgae grow) I would say in your case T5's are a minimum for a maxima clam......your clam will probably do well for a time......and then lose color and fall victim to unsatisfactory conditions.......do yourself a favor.......get better lighting or return the clam

 

 

just my .02

[evan484]

in a word......no.

 

Has it been done and been successful......probably

 

 

what you should have done is read as much as you could before you dove in and bought a clam that demands very high intensity lighting.....I have my 2 maximas under 250 watts of metal halide lighting

 

PC bulbs are (IMO) a dead technology for saltwater (except if you're using them over a refugium (i have 2 18 watt PC's to help my macroalgae grow) I would say in your case T5's are a minimum for a maxima clam......your clam will probably do well for a time......and then lose color and fall victim to unsatisfactory conditions.......do yourself a favor.......get better lighting or return the clam

 

 

just my .02

 

Thanks for the imput. I do want to make it clear that I did read a ton of information before I bought him. I have three other salt water tanks so I do have some sw experience. I am wondering how big you tank is. After doing a lot of research and talking to a fair amount of people I did get the impression that 12 watts per gallon for a clam 11 inches from the light would be sufficent, but I was interested in whether i should upgrade my lighting. So if you could get back to me about the size of your tank and your clam's placement Id appreciate it.

Thanks again

[nanoreefnate]

you should also know the water chemistry requirements for a clam. it needs MASSIVE amounts of calcium and magnesium. and if any of these elements deplete too much you will have a very hard time getting it back to normal. and since you have 2 other tanks. DO NOT use water from those tank to do a water change. the calcium will probably be depleted and will contain too much DOC for it to be good for your clam.

[Rockfish]

you should also know the water chemistry requirements for a clam. it needs MASSIVE amounts of calcium and magnesium. and if any of these elements deplete too much you will have a very hard time getting it back to normal. and since you have 2 other tanks. DO NOT use water from those tank to do a water change. the calcium will probably be depleted and will contain too much DOC for it to be good for your clam.

 

 

+!

 

 

and watts per gallons is something to disregard when it comes to reef tanks and here's why

 

b/c 36 watts of PC

36 watts of T5

or 36 watts of MH are all the same amount of wattage but completely different types of light with diffrent PAR values.......

[evan484]

you should also know the water chemistry requirements for a clam. it needs MASSIVE amounts of calcium and magnesium. and if any of these elements deplete too much you will have a very hard time getting it back to normal. and since you have 2 other tanks. DO NOT use water from those tank to do a water change. the calcium will probably be depleted and will contain too much DOC for it to be good for your clam.

 

I am aware of the nessisary amount of calcium. I have some three step system from DT that regulates calcium, magnesium and alkalenity. What do you use for calcium and magnesium?

[Rockfish]

you completly disregarded my point.......watts per gallon means nothing when it comes to reef tanks and quite frankly you do not have enough light to support a clam

[Rockfish]

ohhh and my tank is 33 gallons HOWEVER it's 13 inches high and the lights only sit about 8 inches over the tank itself.....and i use like i said 250 watts of MH.....now if i had 250 watts of PC at 8 inches about that tank would it be enough light?? maybe.....but not definatly.......you get what i'm trying to say??

[octoman]

rockfish has a very valid point, and you should return the clam. And if you are about to get pissy and think I'm an idiot without a tank, my tank is a 28 gallon with 14k 250w metal halides 4 inches above the water, the clams are placed on the sand bed, and I maintain a calcium level of 500ppm. In my experience clams do perfectly fine without high levels of magnesium.

[Rockfish]

well put

[matty0206]

in a word......no.

[jm82792]

WPG is a terrible method.

I don't care if you have 65 watts of PC,

it won't support a clam.

They need an intense source of light.

MH and T5.

[nanoreefnate]

+1 to all the things just said about your light.

with what i have seen people are only able to put clams in picos that have 70w metal halides over them. in fact this is the exact setup one of my local club members use.

[5881]

Just watching this post as it goes along it seems to me that you guys are being a bit harsh with this forumite. Isn't the forum supposed to be a community of people helping each other as opposed to a bully pulpit? You can get your point across without beating the guy up.

[Rockfish]

not bulling at all.....just being honest......obviously since he hasn't written back he's still not getting our very valid points.....if anything we're trying to suede him to not make a mistake that will be bad for the clam and possibly ruin his pico

 

 

bottom line......do not put a maxima clam under PC lighting.....

[evan484]

not bulling at all.....just being honest......obviously since he hasn't written back he's still not getting our very valid points.....if anything we're trying to suede him to not make a mistake that will be bad for the clam and possibly ruin his pico

 

 

bottom line......do not put a maxima clam under PC lighting.....

 

I am getting your very valid points and I do appreciate them. However, the LPS I got the clam from will not take returns. I am going to keep the clam under the PC lighting because getting another fixture is out of the question. Hopefully SOME of you guys will wish me luck even if I am not in the best position.

[Rockfish]

Then sell it.....some one one here will buy it i'm sure......do not torture an animal b/c you're too lazy to do anything about providing a proper home for it

[evan484]

Then sell it.....some one one here will buy it i'm sure......do not torture an animal b/c you're too lazy to do anything about providing a proper home for it

 

I think it is a little unfair to call me lazy because I cant afford a 150 dollar MH fixture. It is also unfair to call this tourture. At this point I have gotten the idea that you dont think that a clam can be put under PC lighting and I due appreciate this opinion. However, it is my opinion that 40 watts of PC in a three gallon tank where the clam is 11 inches from the light is sufficent. Currently the clam is look quite good. If the clam is showing signs of declining health and isnt looking as good I'll give it away and you can be right. So thank you for your input Rockfish, but I think at this point you have said as much as you can.

 

If anyone does have experience putting clams under PC lighting I would really like to hear about it

Thanks

[Deleted User 6]

However, it is my opinion that 40 watts of PC in a three gallon tank where the clam is 11 inches from the light is sufficent. Currently the clam is look quite good.

Thanks

 

Picture of the clam, please.

[Rockfish]

I smell a FAIL in the works here.....you're right though.....keeping an animal under lighting that's not strong enough until it withers away isn't torture.......oh wait....yes it is......

 

 

why do you even post anything on this site?? it just seems like all the advice that we try to give you to make sure you don't kill an animal, possibly turn your pico tank in to a sewer, and save you some time and money....and yet you still do what you want......

 

 

ohhh and BTW....your opinion is wrong....

[Deleted User 6]

Should this be enough light for the maxima?

 

Also, I'm not sure why you asked your original question if your mind was made up that 40w of PC is sufficient. Perhaps someone knowledgable about PAR can chime in on the PAR requirements of maxima, but most experiences are that PC lighting simply does not put out enough PAR to meet the clam's requirements.

[evan484]

Picture of the clam, please.

 

Keep in mind I'm not a photographer, here you go though let me know what you think

 

[psykobowler]

Keeping the clam would cost more than what he paid for it. It will die and $50 down the drain.

[Rockfish]

he's not going to listen.....he wanted some one to justify that what he is doing isn't totally dunb and he's not getting the validation he wants so he's still going to do what he pleases even if it means killing the clam

 

pathetic really.....

 

this is from ezcompany's write up in the lighting section on "lighting requirements for clams"

 

 

T. Maxima

 

These clams require almost as much light as Croceas if not as much. In the wild they have a maximum depth of occurrence slightly deeper than Croceas, but are again mostly found in very clean and shallow waters. The best bet is to place them in the same lighting conditions as you would light a Crocea. The “safe” amount of lighting would be under a 100 watt metal halide if they existed, so I’m going to say 150 watt 14k metal halide under 20 inches or less as well

 

 

Exceptions to the Rule

 

Many people claim that Croceas and Maximas can survive under power compact lighting. These cases are far and few between, but there are certain individuals that are able to tolerate lower lightings, at which most of their counterparts would not be able to survive. Nevertheless, you should not take the risk and hope to get lucky, it is better to be prepared to give them what they will surely thrive in. It is always good to provide at least enough light of the given species to thrive in, and NOT the bare minimum you think you can get by with. Plus, it is the least we can do for our animal, as well as our responsibility as hobbyist.

[psykobowler]

I know. I am not even trying to convince him to change. Even if the clam do thrive no way it will fit in a 3 gallon pico. If he cannot afford better lights he can't afford the clam's dosing requirement.

 

Pathetic very true but it is his money.