Buying my first Clam....looking for advice

[jdemarco]

Are Maxima's more hardy than Crocea?

I have 1yr old T5's (I know some people will say not enough light) and have had great luck with many corals) I know clams require lots of light but I know T5s are capabale of a lot more than they used to be. Anyone have clams under T5's....is it possible??? recommended???

In my research it seems that i pick up on the idea that Maximas would the clam for me to try. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[dawson]

What size tank?

 

[JayM]

IME, (and I have 9 clams currently), crocea clams are hardier than maxima clams.

The sundial fixture is a pretty solid T-5 unit, but if your bulbs are a year old, you might want to take a look at their output. Depending on how long you run them, they could be due for a swapout.

Also, the size of your tank isn't as important as the DEPTH.

 

[jdemarco]

My tank is 110g (same footprint as 90g but it IS the deeper design so that is somehting i need to deal with as well). I did plan on changing bulbs soon after 1 year of use. I run the actinic about 9-10hrs/day and the brights for about 6hrs/day. So i was thinking it was almost time to think about replacing the bulbs. I was going to put the clam mid to high in the tank to help combat the lighting shortfall. Do both types of clams take to the rock or does one prefer sand over the other? Thanks for you feedback

 

[SharkLover]

I've always known croceas to enjoy rubble rock and maximas to enjoy the sand bed. However... I have 3 clams of my own in a 58 with T5's and they're all on my sand bed living and happy for well over 6 months. About a foot and a half from sand bed to lights

 

[JayM]

you also might want to bump your daylight photoperiod past 6 hours if you get a clam. 7 out of my 9 clams, squamosa, crocea and maxima are on the sand, and do fine. The other 2 live in the rocks....and also do fine

 

[afboundguy]

I have a maxima and a crocea under T5's and they're growing and happy.

 

[jdemarco]

Do you spot feed them individually or do they pull enough nutrients from the water column? I am looking at 2 clams which are about 4inch each. Sounds like the smaller/youner they are the tougher they are to keep......I have read that I should plan on spot feeding as well as adding my roti/phyto/oyster to the water as I currently do a few times per week for all of my other corals/invert/filterfeeders.....etc. Thanks for the encouraging news regarding the ability to raise them with T-5 lighting.

 

[dawson]

I never feed mine they mostly can go off of the lighting and can pull micros out of the water.

 

[ReferReefer]

I've had a 110g in the past, it is 30" tall. With your lights I'd definetly agree that mid range or higher would be a good choice for the clam provided it doesn't mind its placement.

Regards,
Lee

 

[SharkLover]

Keep in mind that while you may be able to keep them under a T5 system, the color variation will be different. We bought a green crocea under metal halides that went into our T5 system and turned blue. ....clams still happy but not green. its tinted green/blue

 

[JayM]

that, however, might just be your specific bulb configuration. The green crocea I have was green under my T-5 and MH lights.....

 

[SharkLover]

that, however, might just be your specific bulb configuration. The green crocea I have was green under my T-5 and MH lights.....

5 bulb setup.

2 10ks
2 blue spectrum bulbs. actinic plus i believe or super actinic. I forget the naming scheme
1 420 bulb.


I'll be moving probably towards halides in the 120 but still interesting knowledge if i got the wrong bulb setup. LMK

 

[deynon09]

Good thread. I just got a 2-2.5" Maxima Ultra blue from Jeremy at the last meeting and it is in a 75 under 250w mh's and is really happy, I think. Out all the time, nice deep purple, and really responsive to stimuli. I do feed my tank phyto & roti as well as shavings of a small block of zooplankton, so I think it is getting plenty of food. Best of luck though...

 

[JayM]

5 bulb setup.

2 10ks
2 blue spectrum bulbs. actinic plus i believe or super actinic. I forget the naming scheme
1 420 bulb.


I'll be moving probably towards halides in the 120 but still interesting knowledge if i got the wrong bulb setup. LMK

I wasn't trying to dis your bulbs or fixture, just saying my clam looked pretty much the same on t5/mh. I run UVL 10k's, 1 true actinic, 1 actinic plus,