Light For Clam

[psycho-killer]

will i be able to have a clam in my nano with 2x 12000k 24 watt T 5's and 2x atinic 24 watt t'5s ? total = 96 watt

 

[ben1987]

i wouldnt like to say lighting wise. It depends on the type of clam you have your eye on??

usually the small ones arent very efficient with their photosynthesis so need silly amounts of light aswel as filter feeding. They also need perfect water conditions and use up a lot of calcium.

 

[psycho-killer]

just a little crocea clam and some sps

 

[Crazy fishes]

How big is our nano and what are the dimensions?
Tridacna clams require huge amounts of light and the little one, those smaller than 4 inches, are really difficult to keep alive. As ben said they are inefficient at photosynthesis because their vascular systems are not mature. They therefore require really stupid levels of lighting and phytoplankton in abundance. Ski once was telling me that tridacna clams are culture in about an inch or two of water under the full strenght of the sun in places like Hawaii. There are several species of Tridacna that are available to aquarist and they have very different light requirements. T. Crocea and T. Maxima require the most lighting and I would err on the side of cautious when placing them under 96 watts of T5 light, I have never hear of anyone keeping them under that little lighting. Generally it is accepted they require halides. The next on the list a T. Squamousa which does very well in lower lighting conditions than aforementioned species but again halides are very much beneficial. T. Gigas generally gets to big for a nano although we are talking about an exceptional slow grower but it will live potentially for hundreds of years as will the others. T. deresa is the clam requiring the least lighting and has been known to survive under T5s but lots of them. I think by now the message is quite clear Tridacna clams require halides. If you are thinking of SPS corals as well then certainly a halide will be beneficial in this area too. However if you forget the clam they is no reason why you couldn't keep certain specimens of SPS under your current lighting.

I hope this helps

Kindest regards

 

[Buddyboy67]

I attempted a deresa under those lights and it lasted about two months before really suffering, think crazy hit it in one...best hold back til halides can be added.

 

[psycho-killer]

thanks for the info, the little crocea is under a 250 watt halide at the moment and doing very well, i will be changing that light to a 8x39 watt T5 unit wich would be 320 watt so that should be a bit more..

the nano is only 50cm high and the clam would be about 5-10 cm from the light ? wouldnt the par be good enough.. at this moment he sits on the side of the bigger tank 60cm deep under the 250 halide

 

[ben1987]

i would wait til you got the new light unit.

You could probably keep some less demanding SPS corals under your current ones. Like some montiporas. But anything else would be pushing it imo

Smaller clams need silly amounts of light

 

[Crazy fishes]

Stick with halides for the clams as this is tried and tested. Some people believe that T. Crocea require more light than T. Maxima. If he is under 250W halide then that is what you should leave him under at least until he is greater than 4 inches.

Regards

 

[psycho-killer]

shot... thanks for all the info