giant clam

[beast man]

I’m thinking of getting a 6 to 7 inch giant clam do you have any advice or any thing?

I have a 110g tall it is 30’’tall by 48’’ wide by 18’’deep
And I have a metal halide light with two 150bulbs

 

[kfisc]

Do lots of reading in the clam forum. If all your parameters are in good shape, the only thing that may stand out is the lighting intensity; you might need more at that depth, but likely you're fine.

Clams are both easy and hard; they're not as touchy as SPS, but seem not to do well in anything less than very well-established (a year or more) and very stable tanks. They have all kinds of things that can go wrong- pinched mantles, pyramid snails, and suck calcium right out of your wallet.

I also think the selection has become slim in the last several years; if you can find a good 7" squamosa, gigas or derasa for less than a ridiculous price, good for you- the bigger they are, the more hardy.

 

[nikon187]

What kind of clam are you thinking about? At 30" deep i would be running 250-400w halides for penetration. If maxima or crocea I would place the clam up high because of the 150w.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

plus 1 on the lighting. depending on what clam you are getting. How are your parameters? are they pretty stable?

 

[beast man]

thanks for the advice

 

[returnofsid]

I have a single 150W MH bulb over an 18" tall tank. It's not near enough lighting, even in that shallow of a tank, for a T. crocea or T. maxima, on the bottom. I do have a T. derasa on the bottom, that's doing just fine. I'd look into T5HO lighting, or 250 MH. Either of these will allow you to keep a T. derasa at the bottom. T. crocea, T. squamosa or T. maxima will still need to be at least 6" off the bottom, or 24" from top.

 

[nfoster187]

+1 on the lighting, depends on clam and placement. I have kept T. crocea under 150w but they had to be kept high and if they do not like the spot they have a tendency kick themselves from it which will sometimes land them right into the sand mantel down.

Nick

 

[DSR]

I have a maxima and a derasa in my nano with a 150W MH and they both do fine. They are both on the bottom (maxima is on a large frag plug). YOu should be fine putting the maxima mid level or so.

 

[EnglishRebel]

If no one has said it yet......

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central beast man</b></i></big></big>

Good luck with the clam.