light requirement ?

[Geoff]

ok, what is the order of light requirements for clams. i know the heavy hitters are croceas then maximas. who brings up the rear? how much light do they need?

the reason i am asking is i have a nice sized hole in the LR that a clam would fit nicely in for a while, really big hole. i do not think it will be getting direct lighting, but plenty of indirect. i run 400w MH's so the total amount of light in the tank is enough for clams.

Thanks,

G~

[SouthernReefer]

t. crocea would love that spot in the tank!

[aliendomain]

IMO go for a maxima in a spot that gets good light and put a crocea in the areas that are super bright.

[jeepjon]

Just in response to your questions regarding the light requirements...I got my clams from a local guy here who keeps his croceas under VHO lighting only. Granted, his tanks are only 18" deep and he runs as many VHO bulbs as he can fit over the tank, but this guy propagates Acros (some really rare/beautiful ones, too) and gets some ok captive bred croceas...and he has always just run VHO. I konw you guys all say MH only for clams, but I bought two Croceas from him (they were 4" on sale for $25 a piece...granted they're no electric colored...but it was a great deal) They're purple, blue, and electric teal/royal blue accented. They've been doing great under the PC lights, and I had a local hobbyist with MH's ready to take them from me if they weren't doing well, but they've been loving life, and seem to be even gaining a little color in my tank (is that possible?) I have a 15 gallon tank (the 24"*12"*12"), with 166watts of PC lighting. They're open really nice, and they seem to be just basking in the rays! Granted, they're 6" from the lights, but I found it funny that I hear a lot of Metal Halide ONLY for clams...I just wondered how much you guys thought about the different setups of tanks before throwing out a blanket statement like MH only. I am not criticizing, so don't get me wrong here, I'm just trying to learn more. I mean, with medium sized, shallow tanks, wouldn't a good reflector-PC or VHO setup put out nearly as much light as a MH on deeper tanks? I don't want to sound argumentative at all, and I know I've been having this discussion on this board for a while now, but I now have the clams, and they're doing well....I just wondered about what you guys thought about my experiences...or if you've had any experiences like that of your own? Sorry for the really long post...but I've been wanting to discuss this issue of lighting for a while, and I thought this thread would be a good place to do it.

[Phishnoob]

The only LFS I trust Jeepjon has clams under flourescents but I am too scared to try one. He said it would work under my PC's but there is a time to just sit on your hands and do some research.

Do these guys really need MH?

What if you have a ton of PC lighting going?

Phishnoob

[jeepjon]

Again, my clams are doing wonderfully under PC lighting and they were doing well under VHO at the tanks where I bought them. I think you need to look at your exact setup before saying that MH's are the only way to go. For most tanks, they probably are, but if you have a shallow (12-16") tank and use the upper half of the tank, then clams should do fine, in my opinion, from my experiences...I may be wrong, and I don't want to lead you astray, but I'm telling you my experiences.

[aliendomain]

jeepjon,
How long have you had your croceas and do you feed them any phyto?

[jeepjon]

I've had them about a month now...I don't feed any phyto as I was advised against it for adult clams...they're about 4-5" clams. They seem to be really happy so far, they open up a lot and have a lot of mantle extension. They aren't anything super fancy, but they are croceas.

[Geoff]

do you really need MH's?

NO.

it is an intensity thing. it is easier to get the intensity needed from a MH bulb than it is using flourescents. also intensity decreases dramatically the deeper you go.

if you put as many bulbs as can fit in a hood and your tank is under 18" deep than you should be fine. the should part comes from the fact that a lot also has to do with the spectrum you are pumping into the tank. there will need to be enough light for the zoax to function well enough to feed both it and the clam. if you plan on going deeper than an 18" tank than MH's become more practical for getting enough light down into the tank for the clams/corals. this is why most of the time when MH's are recommended they are recommended with tank depth values also to help. like <18" 175w, >18" but <30" 250w, and >30" 400w. MH's are a pretty efficient way to get a lot of light into a tank. i can not find the values right now, but even a 400w iwasaki is not equal to the intensity of the sun at the equator. i do not even think a 1000w MH is that strong either. the reason we are even able to keep corals/clams is the fact that we are keeping these critters in a shallower environment than they are found in the wild.

G~

[Phishnoob]

Good to hear that Jeep and Geoff. We went to our favorite LFS 45 minutes away (lol no business cards and the store is just called "Fish"). Everything from that store has lived, but I was nervous this time. Jimmy the owner said we should be fine and he really has good advice in comparison to the other two LFS's that sort of give us a box of something and ask us if we are ready to ring up our purchase.

We looked at a clam and he had just VHO going without MH. Since Mrs. Phish's tank is just a 29g our CustomSeaLife 65 W combo might be enough. The tank is not deep and her polyps are happy happy.

We said no (see...even I can finally get something through my thick skull and not rush) pending further research so I need to see where clams are with lighting requirements in relation to polyps.

Phishnoob

[jeepjon]

well, a 65W on a 29 gallon probably wouldn't be enough...if you had about four of those over the tank, than in the center, up high, you'd have enough light. I'm keeping my clams under 165 watts of PC light on a 12" tank, and the clams are only 8" away from the lights. Polyps require little light to be happy, from what I know. I would advise trying to cram in as many lights as possible over the tank, and then go from there...try four PC bulbs over the tank, and then try some of the clams!
that's just my opinion...I could be wrong, lets see the concensus here.

[jeepjon]

in response to the original statement, Geoff, I would say you should be fine, but I think you've got a little more reef experience than I do....

[Phishnoob]

Reason I asked Jeep....I thought it was a bit low. This is just a little 29g and we want it pretty but not crazy. If we add those lights we will be looking at a new hood, fans and maybe a chiller and it is too much for now. A 29g Wallyworld tank with 1000 dollars worth of stuff would be more than we planned for a nightlight. About 500 bucks though might be reasonable.

We can do all that stuff in the MT and live without a clam for a bit.

I don't want to derail this thread but it looks like time to research lower light pretty stuff now. Someday a clam can live in the MT when the water quality is correct (about a year seems to be good to get a tank mature).

Phishnoob

[jeepjon]

I'm glad you've done your research and didn't let an animal die needlessly!
Good job!

[Geoff]

Originally posted by jeepjon
in response to the original statement, Geoff, I would say you should be fine, but I think you've got a little more reef experience than I do....

i was hoping to fish out someones experiences with clam placement. i think i will be fine also, but i am having problems finding out which clam is found in the deepest water. i think this would be the clam that would work the best.

G~