Clams and non MH lights

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Charlie

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jun 30, 2006
Messages
295
I have a 46gal tank with a Coralife Lunar Aqua light which contains 1-96w 10k & 1-96w actinic bulb.

I'd really like to get a small clam if it will live in this light level.

Your thoughts????
 
WOW - That sucker grows to nearly 2 feet!

How about if I affixed a clam onto the top of my rocks so its right under the lights?
 
I wouldn't go with any clam now. I really think all the others really need MH all together. I cant wait to upgrade my tank and lights because I want one some day.

This clam grows huge for sure. I think I have actually seen this clam at one of my LFS's and it was very thick as well. Way to big IMO unless I had a huge tank.
 
Have to agree with the others. While the Deresa sp. is the ONLY clam that will live in non-MH lighted tanks, I still would not suggest it simply for the fact that it grows large and IMHO really should have the higher lighting.
 
I agree that size is a hinderance. I was merely pointing out that that was the only one you could consider by your light classification. I guess I should haved checked out your tank size. Sorry.
 
Devilishturtles said:
the Deresa sp. is the ONLY clam that will live in non-MH lighted tanks
Dose this mean that my croceas and squamosa are really Deresa sp. because they have been in my NO fluorescent lit tanks for many years now?
 
As for colour, the squamosa hasn't changed other than going from about 3" to it's present size of close to 11".
One crocea hasn't changed at all colour wise but it never did have fancy patterns in it, just the purple with varigated markings.
The other crocea used to have gold markings but now just has the blue varigated markings on the purple mantle, the same as the first crocea.
Both croceas have grown much larger but nowhere near like the squamosa.
As for feeding, in almost 13 years, I've never fed my corals, anemones, or my clams directly. I feed the fish and whatever gets by the fish the other inhabitants are welcome to.
There are pics on my web site from a few years back, of the clams in one tank, spawning both at the same time, one squamosa the other a crocea. I thought that was weird.
 
Cool. Do you have pics of them? I'm just curious. I am taking my information directly from MACNA and the owner of clamsdirect.com who said that the Deresa is one of the only species that will do okay under something besides MH lights. The fact that you are keeping them under NO lights is weird. Thanks for sharing.
 
For pics, click on my house with the WWW and when my main page comes up, scroll down to the page "My Clam Page" and click on it.
They aren't great pictures but at least you get to see clams under NO lighting, as all of my tanks are lit with NO lighting. (10 tanks so far)
 
I keep a small gigas clam under 9.6 WPG of CF lighting and it is doing just fine. Wouldnt do it with some of the other species though!

Make sure you get a low light species though, and put it on a small peice of acrylic under the sand in case it trys to attach itself and you need to move it!
 
I agree that you can keep more than just the derasa's under lighting other than MH's. MH's are better for the clams but not all require MH's. Gigas, Squamosa and derasa's IME do fine under CF. Yes, some of the clams grow huge but it can take a few years to get that way. By that time I'm sure you would have gone through MTS and aquired a few bigger tanks! ;)
 
You don't NEED MH to keep SPS and Clams. I've seen many sucessfully keep a SPS dominant reef w/ only T5. Also, from what I've read, you CAN keep SPS and Clams under PC. Just gotta get high WPG.

HTH
 
I agree you can keep SOME sps and clams under PC lights. But not all of them. Knowing how delicate clams are, I would personally only attempt the deresa under PC lights, but if you can get it to grow in other lights, then more power to you. I know many people myself who keep sps and clams under PC lights. I also know some who keep them under MH lights, and I can say the growth and color is much better under the higher wattage lights.
 
Back
Top Bottom