rig Posted March 7, 2003 Share Posted March 7, 2003 Hi, Would 2x18W PC be enough light in a 5.5 to keep a clam alive in the sand bed? Maybe not a maxima, but a squamosa or another earthy colored clam? What about sps? Thanks. Link to comment
Aggie05 Posted March 7, 2003 Share Posted March 7, 2003 I doubt it, but I'm no expert. When I was originally was going to do a 5.5 I had a 2x32 watt hood for it. Link to comment
MrConclusion Posted March 7, 2003 Share Posted March 7, 2003 Maybe a deepwater clam... maybe... if everything else is perfect. However the BIG problem (pun intended) is that the low-light clams grow too fast for a tiny tank fast. Link to comment
erik765 Posted March 7, 2003 Share Posted March 7, 2003 Hey, Mrconclusion is right. But if you can find a place to get rid of your clam once it gets too big I would try a Hippopus. They are cool looking and are very hardy. I'm going to put mine in my 2.5 w/ 3- 13w. I wouldn't try a squa. They, IMO, need more light than that. They are only third behind Crocea and Maxima as far as light requirment. As far as SPS. It's risky. I've heard of some guys keepin' Acropora under 36w before but this is definetly the exception here. If you REALLY want to do sps. Start w/ a M. Digitada Sp. frag. They seem to be the most forgiving and see how it does. E Link to comment
sjpresley Posted March 7, 2003 Share Posted March 7, 2003 36 W is still 36 W no matter the tanks size, I seriously doubt any Tridacna or Acropora would last. As for Hippopus...I don't know, they are supposed to be "easier", but I have never seen one that is very small, they are usually around 3". Link to comment
Crakeur Posted March 7, 2003 Share Posted March 7, 2003 I would think that a 36w pc over a 5.5 would be plenty of light for an acro, provided the frag was place high up in the tank. I had a 32w pc on my 7 and had two acros that did real well. One grew onto the base and started growing two more stalks. Sadly, I had an "incident" with too much salt (104 fever will make you do stupid things) and the tank all but died. I might have been lucky with my acros but, if I didn't upgrade to metal halides, I would have given it another shot. Link to comment
jackobox Posted March 8, 2003 Share Posted March 8, 2003 I'm planning on putting 72 watts ver my 5.5 gallon, would this be enough for SPS?? I don't think the clam is a good idea in such a small tank. I've heard as young specimens they do a lot for filter feeding and when larger do more photosynthetic. I'm not saying it's true, just what I've read at another board. -Jonathan Link to comment
erik765 Posted March 8, 2003 Share Posted March 8, 2003 Still, I think you should start w/ a digitata. See if it does good. THEN, try something else. SPS is a risk w/o MH. But digitata is hardy and forgiving and, again, there are guys who keep acro. under pc. E Link to comment
jackobox Posted March 8, 2003 Share Posted March 8, 2003 I don't plan on putting a clam into the tank or jump into SPS right away, I just wanted to see what my options will be for stocking in the future when I'm ready. I had heard that clams and SPS need (using that silly gauge) 10-13 watts per gallon. Someone needs to figure out a better way to judge lighting over tanks. -Jonathan Link to comment
erik765 Posted March 8, 2003 Share Posted March 8, 2003 sigh, tell me about it. WPG is completly usless IMO. You should have seen the nasty threads I started on RC about it!!! You should definitely look into keeping a hippopus clam. They are like the lowest light demanding clam. and you shouldn't have a problem w/ them. Especially if you have a little mini fuge. Like just some macro algae in a HOB would work. You could feed it very small doses of DT's. E Link to comment
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