Derasa and Squamosa, Can They Be Placed On Rocks

[Mekong]

I am considering moving them from my fuge to my display.

In the fuge they are getting 220VHO (10,000k and 6,500k bulbs), but I think they would be happier under the lights I have in my display, 2x54watt T5s w/ SLS reflectors and 4x65watt PCs.

The only problem is to keep them at the same distance from the surface I would have to put them up on the live rock to keep them 12" or less from the surface.

Would this be okay for them or should I leave them in the fuge?

 

[kfisc]

my vote's for getting them under the display lights, if you have the room- both varieties move quite a bit until happily situated, as you probably know- good luck-

 

[Mekong]

So it would be fine just to kinda cradel it in between some rocks?

I assume epoxy is not okay?

If I do move them to the display I plan on phasing out the PCs for another 4 T5s.

Thanks

Its either phase out the T5s or get a cheap 150/175 pendant for the fuge

 

[Leviathan]

Personally I think anything less than Halides is not sufficent for ANY clams and would not do it myself.

That being said remember the Squamosa ( under ideal circumstances ) will grow large fast. This may or may not cause you a problem if you put it up on the rocks. I have one that I wouldnt even try on the rocks in my 90, he could move VERY large pieces easily if he was unhappy. Not to mention the amount of water he is able to squirt out of his siphon. Id be worried it could hit the bulbs.

You are correct,,,NEVER epoxy of force them to stay in position using glues, etc....

 

[kfisc]

If you have a large and flat enough rock piece, and depending on the size of your clams, they may anchor themselves, but they'll move while doing so, and likely fall off if they don't have enough wiggle room- ime the derasa more so. i'd agree with getting halides if possible, let them roam on the tank bottom, and avoid glue in any event.

 

[Mekong]

A ton of people here and in the reef forum told me back in december that keeping a squamosa or derasa under 220 VHO with thoes bulbs would be just fine. I belive I had at least 10 people who told me this.

I guess just like the LFS there are lot of people who are full of ****.

I am just bummed that I paid 40$ for the squa thinking that the clam would be fine. People here even told me that phyto wasnt needed in clams 3" or bigger. I bet thats a crock of **** too...

The LFS wont give a damn penny for the clam. I almost rather eat it! Joking....

Sorry, just frusterated...

 

[Biscutz]

The people that told you that you can keep Derasa and Squamosa clams under VHO are correct. I have two derasa under 660 watts of VHO, one in the sand and one on the rocks, with no problems at all. I would agree that most clams do need the halides to thrive but not all. I get the same thing with SPS...YOU CAN'T HAVE SPS WITHOUT HALIDES, and that's a bunch of crap as well. Water quality is the key. Because you only have 220 watts of VHO I would put your squamosa higher up, as said above make sure that he is not wedged in a crevice he will move and will also get big pretty fast. I dose DT's to both my clams 3 times a week. One is 2" and the other is 6". I would agree that the smaller of the two needs the supplement feeding more that the larger, but I dose all my LPS and SPS so its no trouble for me to spray a little phyto on the bigger guy as well.

 

[Mekong]

I thought you were supposed to just slowly pour in the phyto into the tank rather than directly squirting it at them. Is that true?

I am considering getting another 220 VHO so I can keep the derasa but I really dont want to end up wasting the cash just to find out that the clam isnt gonna do well.

My nitrates are undectable on my seachem test and my phos is undectable on the red sea test. Ph is 8.2 and calcium is 420-440. All my other corals look really great, xenia pulsing away more and more feather dusters, scores of pods, even damn flat worms (doing exit soon)

 

[Biscutz]

I dust my corals and clams, I don't like to turn off my circulation when I add my phyto, that's why I dust them directly. Has worked for me for almost 3 years now.

 

[Leviathan]

I dust my corals and clams, I don't like to turn off my circulation when I add my phyto, that's why I dust them directly. Has worked for me for almost 3 years now.

Depending on the clams size you can also cut the top off a 2 or 3 liter and place it over the clam and feed it without being blasted by the current. This also works well when spot feeding corals ( if you choose to do so )

 

[calvin415]

Flame away, but here's a gorgeous tank running just 4 t-5's with clams at the bottom... I too have had great success with my Derasa, Squamosa, and Hippo on my sand bed running just t-5's.

 

[Leviathan]

Flame away, but here's a gorgeous tank running just 4 t-5's with clams at the bottom... I too have had great success with my Derasa, Squamosa, and Hippo on my sand bed running just t-5's

There is a difference between CANT be done & NOT recomended!

Just about the same difference there is between living & thriving!

 

[Mekong]

Two things

#1) Would upgrading to another 220VHO (440 total) make the clam happy? I really dont want to add the light to just find out that its not gonna work.

#2) So should I try and squirt phyto on to my clams? How much I have been using 2ml of phyto feast that I add to a 15ml beaker and then dilutre with tank water and then slowly pour it in two my powerhead. Should I instead give little squirts of the diluted phyto on to the clams intake?

I guess 3 things...

#3) Calvin how long have you had the clams? And how far are they from the surface?

 

[calvin415]

-Mekong
I've had my Derasa, Squamosa, and Hippo a few months and they are about 20 inches from the surface (4 inches of sand), the lights are about an inch from the water so about 21 inches total from the lights. They are doing great and adding about 1/4" of new shell per month. I'm using the Tek reflectors and I think that is the difference. I've read that with the Tek's you can get the equivalent of 300% of the total wattage, so that calculates to about 420 watts on a 3 ft tank. I recently (last month) got a Crocea which is up on the rock work, about 12 inches from the top and it's doing great so far, I can see new shell growth already. The person in the picture even has a Maxima on the bottom, but last I read was considering moving it up to the rock work.

The things I love most about the T-5's is the bulbs are good for 12-18 months instead of 6, the power they consume is minimal compared to the light that they throw, and with less energy comes cooler temperatures. With the bulbs 1 inch from the surface, I still run a heater, not a chiller. As for Living -vs- Thriving, personally if these lights slow the growth rate of these clams a little, that's probably a good thing as they can get quite large. All my other corals, softies, and LPS are growing like crazy, I know of others using T-5's for SPS, I'm just not interested in SPS corals.

 

[calvin415]

-Mekong
I asked rjwilson37 how his clams were doing and over a year later his maxima on the sand floor is doing great too!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=529659

 

[Mekong]

Well I have been trying to save this clam while I have been trying to find a buyer with a good home. I moved it up on the rocks on the 15th and didnt tiuch it. Every day I have been sharing 2ml of phyto feast between the derasa and squa and a little squirt to some feather dusters. I did a 32 gallon water change and completely cleaned out my skimmer and trimmed all the algae. Even though my phos was less than one I put in a bag of phosgaurd and some carbon. The clam is looking killer once again. I guess the flatworms were ****ing it off, and the exit really stressed them. They are back and I guess I am gonna try and keep them.

Thanks people, I was scared I was gonna lose the clam.