Can i keep a clam?

[BlAcK_PeRcUlA]

I have a 12 gallon that has been set up for about 5 months. It has 2 36 watt pc's over it one atinic and one regular. WOuld a clam live in my tank? should i place in ont he top so i can get more light? or should i place it in the sand like a lot of people do. I plan on getting a 3" or 4" one.

 

[BlAcK_PeRcUlA]

o yea and what species? i heard squamosa was easy...

 

[yrureefing]

Yeah. You could get a squamosa. Just remember to keeep yor calcium up and feed dt's phytoplankton.

 

[MiNdErAsR]

IMO your lighting is not intense enough to support a Tridacnid. I would wait until you can upgrade your lights before trying.

 

[Squidman]

what Minderaser said.

 

[holeinone1972]

Above and beyond what Minderaser said about lighting, I would not put a Tridacna Clam of any species in such a small system. Lighting is a big issue but, ph, calcium and salinity stability can be very hard to keep stable in such a small system. In my 240 reef at home, if I lose a couple gallons of water through evaporation it does not really change my parameters. If you lose a half gallon of water if will drastically change your water parameters, in such a small system.

I am not saying it cannot be done, I just would advise against it, unless you are the most dedicated aquarist to make sure all parameters stay in accepted ranges, and then of course you upgrade your lighting.

best of luck, Rob

 

[BlAcK_PeRcUlA]

I do keep the parameters fairly stable because for some reason nothing changes in my tank! I only have two tiny clownfish and a seaclone skimmer(even though it doesn't do much it'll take out some stuff). So my nitrates are always 0 same with ammonia and nitrite. My salinity don't change much for some reason i dont know. I have to add about one cup of Freshwater everyday 2 days to keep the sg at 1.025 and the temp stays a steady 83. I use buffer which keeps the tank at 8.3 or near there always.

So i could keep a squamosa or not at all? DOnt they require the least lighting of all?

 

[MiNdErAsR]

Some quotes from Daniel Knop's book Giant Clams (P131)....

As a "minimal light source" for an aquarium populated with invertebrates, fluorescent tubes of different colour types may suffice....However, for the well-being of clams of the genus Tridacnidae such a light source may not provide the necessary light intensity.

He goes on to say...

I recommend metal halide "TS" lamps of 250 Watt (Osram TS 250W/D) and tube shaped lamps with the socket E27 or E40 (Osram T 250W/D). I also used halide lamps with 400, 1000, and 2000 Watt with no apparent negative effect on clams, traced back to the light source....250 Watt are used for tanks 60 cm high, 400 Watt with tanks of 80, and 1000 Watt with tanks of 100 cm water column. Lamps of 2000 Watt should only be used on tanks more than one meter high with a safety distance of at least 70 cm.

 

[yrureefing]

MindEraser knows alot more about clams than I do. But people succesfully keep maximas with that lighting. I am not saying you should keep a maxima. But I still say you can keep a squamosa.
P.S I am an EXTREMELY big fan of mh. I plan on mh for my 15. But I do not discriminate against pc's.