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Clam Questions... Tridacnid lighting,
fdg.... 6/22/11 Could you help me shed some light on Par
levels recommended for clams/Clam Lighting 5/10/10 Re: Could you help me shed some light
<Hee> on Par levels recommended for clams 5/11/10 Nano Aquaria; General Care, Tridacnids and
Coral 1/20/10 Lighting for Maxima Clam How many hours per day of high intensity lighting does a 2-3 inch maxima clam need if it is placed in a 20 inch deep tank with 2-175W metal halide bulbs suspended 12 inches above the surface of the water? <<Probably not much more than eight... any more would probably be too much.>> Lighting for Maxima Clam How many hours per day of high intensity lighting does a 2-3 inch maxima clam need if it is placed in a 20 inch deep tank with 2-175W metal halide bulbs suspended 12 inches above the surface of the water ? <9-10 hours would be appropriate. Maintain good water clarity (prevent yellowing) by small weekly changes of carbon rather than once monthly. Daily skimming and regular water changes too of course. Best regards, Anthony> Clam lighting 9/28/04 Hello WWM Crew, Let me start by saying that I have read the FAQ about lighting and I came close to finding my answer. I am purchasing a 60x24x24 150 gallon aquarium which will house various Clams and SPS corals. The substrate will be 4 inches deep with a canopy of 12 inches. Lighting will be 2-250 watt MH 10k and 4-55 watt PC Blue Actinics for a total of 720 watts. Will this be enough? <Plenty! Absurd amounts of light are not required for most of these animals. There isn't an Acro out there that needs more light than will be provided by the upper 1/3 of your tank close to the lights. 99% will do very well just about anywhere in the tank with that lighting.> Or should I swap out the PC's for another HM (750 total watts) for the light intensity, PC's are at a distance.....possibly now 14k on the HM's for the blue that the PC's were going to supply......Thanks Steve <IMO, adding more halide will only waste electricity and leave you with no where to put corals that won't tolerate very high light. The PC's will be mostly for effect, so I wouldn't worry too much about the distance. Best Regards. AdamC.> Clam Lighting Query Hello, Great time reading pages of FAQs, but still think I should inquire directly. To sweeten the deal I would like to tell you, that I believe you (all) to be entirely responsible for any success I may claim in the hobby. I have a successful (so far) 65 gallon reef system. The dimensions are 36"L x 18"W x 24"H. I have 175w 10K MH and 226(total)w PC. I have felt confident with the amount of lighting, until I began researching for the care of a 1" Maxima Clam I have just purchased. While I am fairly certain I can keep it in the top 1/3-1/2 of the aquarium, I am set on keeping it on the sand floor. -- Is the current set-up sufficient or will I, reluctantly, have to upgrade my lighting? If so what amount and variety would you recommend? Finally, if more is required what would you consider the most appropriate acclimation technique for a system that currently houses a number of photosynthetic inverts both soft and hard? Thank you very much, Jason Paul >>>Howdy Jason! 175 watts is not enough light for the more colorful Maximas - at least if you want it to retain it's vibrant colors. Tridacna maxima is actually a very adaptable species, but under inadequate lighting, they tend to lose their vibrancy. He should live and grow in your setup though, and I would recommend you place him in the top third of the tank. Also keep in mind that these animals are filter feeders throughout their lives, despite what you may read to the contrary. Add phyto every other day or so. I've kept and grown T. Maximas with great success under 150 watt double ended fixtures, but those are brighter than your 175 watt single ended setup. Brown Maximas, or even T. squamosa should do fine with your light. Again, the blue ones will live, but it's not ideal. If you want a "can keep anything I want with no worries setup" go with a 250W double ended (HQI) fixture, or a 400 watt mogul setup. 20k looks better too, IMO. If you upgrade, you can simply start the fixture fairly high off of the water, and lower it a bit each week until it's 10" or so above the water. Cheers Jim<<< T. crocea Lighting and Placement 11/30/05 Hi, <Hi Dustin.> I have read though most of your articles and learned a ton of information for when I set up my next tank, but in the meantime, I have a few questions that I could not find answers to. <Ok.> I would like to purchase a T. Crocea Clam (~1-2'), <I would go for one in the 2+ range maybe even a little larger.> and have a question about the lighting. I currently have a 40g tank, that is 36'x18' x 12' deep, with a 175w 14000k MH light 5' from the surface of the water, along with 3 -- 24w 6500k mini-PC's, and a 65w 50/50 ( ½ 10000K, ½ Actinic) PC. The MH is in the back-right side of the tank, the 3 mini-PCs are in the back-left side, and the PC is along the front of the tank. I leave the MH and mini-PCs on for 11 hours a day, and the PC on for 15.5 hours a day. I currently have 2 hammer frags under the MH and 4 candy coral frags under the mini-PCs. The hammers open up more than they did at my LFS, and the candy coral seems to be doing OK, although the heads aren't opening as much. <I don't think the lights or to blame for that, the PC's are efficient enough for this specimen, maybe water flow?> My questions are: 1) Is 14000k MH okay for a T. Crocea clam, or should I buy a 10000k replacement bulb? <I would rather see 10,000K for this specimen.> 2) Where would the best placement for this clam be (which area of the tank, and at what elevation)? I would be inclined to say at mid-depth under the MH, but I hear they need a more full spectrum (mixture of my bulbs). <I would place it in the rockwork, upper ½ of the tank as close to the MH bulb as possible. T. Crocea is the most light demanding of Tridacnids. Also as far as spectrum, most animals hosting zooxanthellae prefer Kelvin ratings of 6,500K to 10,000K. Actinics and bulbs in the 15,000K to 20,000K are mainly for aesthetics.> 3) Is my MH lights left on too long (11 hr/day) for this clam? (I read here that some people leave theirs on for 6-8 hours per day) <11 hours is a bit long, I won't say that it will hurt the clam but it is unnecessary.> <<Where did these clams evolve? The equatorial tropics. Anyone know what the photoperiod of equatorial regions is? 12 hours of light, 12 of dark. The goal is to mimic natural conditions. Marina>><Mmm, gets "dark" much quicker underwater than above... due to angles of refraction, and reflection. RMF> 4) What lighting is best for the candy coral? I have read that they do not like direct MH lighting, so I placed them under the mini-PCs, IYO, what is best? <There placement as far as lighting needs appears fine.> Thanks, and keep up the good work <You are welcome and thank you.> Dustin <Adam J.> Clams and Overflow box question? 2/17/06 Good morning to you- I love this site and have been using it faithfully for a year. But alas... I now need to ask a few questions. I have had a 38 gal. tank for over a year. I am now getting ready to build a 135 gal. 72L x 24W x 18H w/ a plenum and 3 in. LS, 155 lb. LR, 2000 gal. an hour filtration. I have been reading all the articles on Clams and Lighting in reference to water depth, among others. But I am not sure I can do what I am thinking (I may have missed something). I would like to know if w/ a 520w Compact light (6700K/10000k, 420/460nm) in 14 in. of water depth if a Tridacna Crocea would be happy and healthy or would I need to still have a MH? <Should work> Next... I am planning on putting the skimmer box in my tank like in Anthony's diagram. I am putting in 4 bulkheads 1.5 in. ea., the box will be 48 in.'s long centered. I want to leave the sides open for water flow from the manifold around the top. Is this enough bulkheads for the 2000 gal. rate of flow I want to get? <Should be, yes... If it were me/mine, I'd make two (the outside ones), 2" ID, put the bottoms near the same level as the 1 1/2"s> And will I get my flow rate if I use y connecters and plumb 2 an 2 together or should they be plumbed separately for better flow? <Can be linked together... need (likely) to be aspirated to speed flow, reduce noise and "bubbliness"> Thank You for your time-Deanna- <And you for your sharing. Bob Fenner> - Crocea Clam Lighting and Quarantine 6/16/06 - Hi Crew, I looked through the FAQs on clams and lighting, but want to get a personalized opinion in this case, as they seem to vary a bit. I have a 12 gal NanoCube DX for my quarantine tank. It's got two 24W 50/50 PC lights, and I put in a colonized sponge filter, carbon, and a poly-filter. I plan to add a 3-4in T. crocea clam as its first inhabitant, which will then be moved to my display tank. I want to make sure the lighting and filtration in the quarantine is sufficient for such a clam. <The lighting is not... but if the clam is only passing through, then it really won't matter so much.> My intent was to elevate it so to be closer to the light, since they are not terribly bright. <Or strong/intense.> My display tank is 58gal with a 400W 20k MH. Will I have to photoacclimate the clam upon moving it to the display? <It won't hurt, but clams, unlike corals can close almost completely to get a break if they need it.> Thanks for any advice! Jason <Cheers, J -- > Tridacna Crocea Lighting 2/5/08 Hey there! <Hello Jaime.> I have just recently bought a Tridacna crocea clam. I have a 40 gallon tank that's is about 14 inches deep. I'm running 2 36" 78 Watt T5HO's (10,000k daylight and 460nm actinic) I was wondering if this is sufficient lighting to keep a Tridacna crocea clam alive and healthy and if so how high up on the rock work should I put him? <You really need more light, perhaps another two or three bulbs in the 10,000K spectrum. I'd move him as close to the existing light as possible. Changing out the actinic for another daylight (10,000K) bulb would help, but will still be insufficient light for this clam.> Thanks for your help! --Jamie <I highly recommend you research all your future livestock wants and desires regarding their suitability/compatibility in your system. For more information on Tridacna clam lighting check out the FAQ's http://wetwebmedia.com/tridaclgtgfaqs.htm. Good luck, Scott V.> Clam question, sys./lambda reading 3/12/08 Hi Crew, I need your in opinion as to whether or not I can get a clam. I have a 55 gallon FOWLR system running for almost 2 years now. It is 4 feet long and 18' deep with 1.5 inches of live sand/ <I'd increase the depth here... at least to four inches. See WWM re> aragonite with live rock. The current inhabitants are Magnificent Foxface, <Needs more room> Yellow tang, sleeper goby, cleaner shrimp, 5 Chromis <Ditto> and some turbo snails. We feed them Formula 2 flakes, Hikari frozen brine or mysis everyday and New Life Spectrum Sinking pellets/ Green Marine Algae occasionally. We have a protein skimmer, Fluval 404 for filtration and some powerheads. For lighting, we have Nova Extreme and it has 2 actinics 54 watt and 2 white 10 000k, also 54 watt. We also run 2 Corallife bulbs, one actinic <Switch these actinics out for more white> and one white 10 000k, both 28 watts. <Not enough light intensity for a Tridacnid> Both the Nova Extreme and Corallife run T-5 high output bulbs. The actinic bulbs go on 3 hours before the white ones and run for 7 hours in total simultaneously. We do 15- 20% water change bi-weekly with RO water and Kent sea salt. The salinity is set at 1.024, Ph= 8.4, ammonia is 0 - very low, nitrate=0, nitrite=0, phosphate =0, calcium = 450 ppm, temperature is about 74- 76 degrees Fahrenheit (winter) and 84-88 degrees Fahrenheit (summer). (Chiller is not an option due to budget....we use a fan during the summer) I have done some research and found out that T-5's can be used for clams also, and not only Metal halides, if placed high up on the rock work but want to make sure if it is true. <Marginally> If so, is it possible for our current tank condition to have an addition of either a Crocea or Maxima clam (only these two species found in LFS). If we are able to, do we need to add any other additives/ supplements or food for the clam other than doing water changes and the occasional use of Tropic Marin Bio- Calcium? Does the amount of time the light is on need to be increased? After reading, I am still confused about light acclimation. The clam at the LFS is exposed to metal halides, how do we get it to slowly adapt to t-5s? <Placing high up... in a system with more light than this> Thank you for your time! <Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marind5_5.htm the articles, FAQs files on Giant Clams. Bob Fenner> Maxima Clam lighting and water flow 04/09/2008 Hello Crew, <<G'Morning, Andrew today>> Long time reader first time writer. I have been searching through the multitude of pages and information on the site, but have not found the specific information that I am looking for. I am currently running a 20H with a Rena XP2, Red Sea Wavemaster Pro running two MaxiJet 600's on the reef turbulent setting and a SeaClone 100 skimmer. I follow the GARF.org sites recommendations for supplements and have a good growth of coralline algae. <<Supplements? Which ones?>> In the tank I have assorted button and clove polyps, a bull's-eye mushroom, a devils hand leather , a cabbage leather, a feather duster, a branching torch coral, and an evergreen starburst polyp. I have two false Perculas, two black and white damsels and a yellow tang <<Yellow tang needs a bigger home, at least 75gallon>>. My clean up crew consists of 5 turbo Astrea snails, 5 scarlet hermits, 1 peppermint shrimp and a sand sifting star. I have 15 lbs of Fiji premium live rock from DrsFosterSmith.com arranged in a patch reef arrangement in the center of the tank with a minimum of two inches of clearance from the sides all the way around. The sand bed is 2" deep. I am running 2X65W PC's with 10,000k and Actinic and two blue moon led's. The photoperiod is 8a to 8p actinic, 9:30a to 6:30p white light, and led's all other. <<8 Hours of white light is more than adequate>> The tank has been running for seven months and the polyps have done amazing in spreading and all of the corals have new growth and open fully. I have ordered a maxima from ORA and would like to know where in the tank to place him and if my lighting is sufficient. <<In my opinion, your lighting is not sufficient to support a maxima clam as these are a more light intensive SP. Couple hundred watts of T5 or metal halides are more suited. Placement wise, place on the substrate to start with, while its getting used to a tank for a week, and then moved to a suitable location on the rockwork>> I have read that they do not like a lot of water flow and I want to ensure that it opens up and thrives. <<Clams, as a norm, do not like high flowing tanks, however, the maxima can tolerate this to a certain degree>> Thanks for listening (reading) my long winded dissertation. Dave <<Hope this helps Dave, Good luck in what you chose. A Nixon>> Derasa Clam Lighting -- 04/10/08 Dear all knowing WWM crew, <<Eric here today'¦ Hardly 'all knowing''¦but I am learning more every day thanks to my association here at WWM! [grin] >> Your website is very helpful, and I have gotten many answers from it before. <<Ah, good>> I am hoping you can help with this question... <<Will try>> My tank is a 50 gallon reef, 48" long 13" wide 20" high. I have a 29 gallon sump/ fuge and an ASM G-1x skimmer. The tank is primarily LPS, and is lit by a 250-watt PFO HQI with a USHIO 20k bulb. Is this enough light for a Derasa clam? <<The short answer is, yes'¦ But even though Tridacna derasa is considered a lesser light-demanding species, it would benefit from some lighting in the 'longer' spectrums not provided by the 20K bulb (i.e. -- a lower a bulb with a lower Kelvin rating), in my opinion>> I had 2 65 watt PC actinics running before, but with the 20k, <<A lot of 'blue'>> I stopped using them. I was thinking of possibly using 50/50s or 10ks instead along with the 250. <<I would rather see this the other way around'¦use 10K for the higher output MH bulb, and supplement with Actinic fluorescent for reasons of personal aesthetics>> Would this be a good light addition, or am I fine without them? <<The clam will probably fine as is>> What is the best K rating for these clams? <<Lamps in the 10K range probably provide the overall 'best' spectrum sampling>> I do have a 14k if that would be better. <<Give it a try and see what the clam thinks>> I appreciate any and all input! Thanks, Jarod <<Happy to share. EricR>> Yet another T5 lighting question 6/27/08 Good evening WWM crew. <Hi Jo Anne, Pufferpunk/Jeni here with you tonight.> I wrote a few days ago about my two maxima clams. Just a quick recap: We have had them for approximately 6 weeks. They seem to gape slightly after the lights have been on for about one hour. The tank is 125g Acrylic tank. (60X24X18 if I remember correctly) We currently have 4 80w T5, 2-10 or 11K AquaBlue and 2-Actinic plus. The brand of light is Giesemann. A. Nixon felt the problem was our lighting. Being they were under T5's at the store and from reading about the clams, I learned that although MH is preferred but T5's can work. I believe WWM's recommendation is 4w/gallon of light, which we fall short of. I want to remedy the situation and give these clams a fighting chance. Our tank was originally a FO tank, so it is in a cabinet with a matching wooden hood. My husband decided he wanted a reef tank and we've slowly made changes. I have since become what he calls obsessed with this tank. I am not sure how I could modify this for MH lights economically. I also am not sure I how I can jam at the least 500w of T5's as this would be the minimum to meet the 4w/gallon rule, without starting all over with lighting. (And possibly being served divorce papers) Any ideas? Also I read in Dana Riddle's book that T5's actually have higher PAR than MH. Is that true? If that is the case is can 500w of MH be compared to 500w T5 or PC for that matter. <It is my experience that T5s are just as good as MH. I am a big fan of T5s & keep clams & SPS under them. I do think you need more of them though. You need at least 1 Daylight bulb. I would think with a DIY kit, you should be able to fit several more bulbs under that canopy than 4. I have 6 bulbs over my 90g & probably room for 1 more. Be sure though that each bulb has an individual reflector above it.> One more quick question, I read that keeping the cover over the top of the aquarium also can decrease lighting. I would pull them but I do have a blue tang. I read they can be jumpy. I want to do what is best for my charges. <If you're speaking of a glass cover, then yes, remove it--the canopy should prevent your fish from jumping. Not only will it diffuse the light but it will cause your tank to overheat. You can screen in the open back of your canopy if you wish with nylon screening, although I haven't heard of tangs being common jumpers. Don't forget to dose calcium for the clams. ~PP> Thank you for your time, Jo Anne Lighting for 120 gallon reef with clams
8/15/08 I am in the process of setting up a 120 (4' x 12"
x 12"). I would like to keep clams. I have been looking at the
Nova Extreme T5 lighting fixture with 8x54 W bulbs. Four of them are
10,000 K daylight bulbs, and the other four SlimPaq 460nm Actinic for a
total of 432 W. <A nice fixture.> Will this be sufficient
lighting to keep clams, and just about anything else in the line of
coral that I may want to keep down the road? <Yes and no. It greatly
depends on the individual species of clam/coral you wish to keep and
where in your tank. Personally, I would swap out two of the actinics
for 10000K bulbs. Having two vs. four actinics will not change your
look too much. The nice thing about the fluorescent fixtures, T5
included, is that the placement of the actinics can have a huge impact.
Placing the actinic bulbs at the front of the fixture will give the
look that most want while allowing you to run the balance in daylight
bulbs. Even then it will be a bit weak for a Crocea clam near the
bottom, half way up or higher will be fine, where such a clam should be
anyhow (on the rockwork). For the end all, be all lighting to keep the
critter wherever you want I would think about adding a couple more
bulbs.> Thank you for your help. Jeff |
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