Help me design my clam tank

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Ok all, here's my project. I've got a small, approx. 20 G hex tank that is 18 inches tall. I want to set it up to house some clams. The tank will only have a HOB skimmer and one powerhead for flow. I want to use a pendant light set about a foot or more above the tank for the lighting.
Questions:
1. Can I set up the tank w/ LS only or will I need to add LR as well for the filter process?
2. What would be the best light to use considering the height of the pendant above the tank, MH or PC? I will be building a custom hex pendant for the lights.
3. What wattage of lights MH/PC?
4. Will I need some sort of UV filter glass on the lights? It's going in the livingroom next to the sofa.
5. What is the best HOB skimmer w/ room for a heater for this size tank.

This tank will be going in my living room so it has to be set up nice or the wife will throw it out. I'll be building the custom stand which will be open on the bottom for shelving so all equipment must be contained in the tank or HOB skimmer. There will be no top on it so it can be viewewd from the top as well as the sides. TIA for any advice/help.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Bump! Anybody got any ideas?
I have made one change in that I'm going to forgoe the pendant and build an open canopy so that there will not be as much light going into the room.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Back to the top. 35 views and no one has any ideas?

 

[culdublvd]

What type of clams? I'd go with a 175 mh maybe 250. Aqua-c makes a good hob skimmer. You might be able to get by with a sand bed only. Are there going to be any fish?

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I want to get a varity of clams so I guess maybe the 250 may be the way to go. I was wondering if I could use the 150 with the higher light demanding clams? There may be 1 or 2 small fish in the tank like a goby or something.

 

[Frisco]

No offense, but it honestly sounds like a recipe for disaster to me - you might be able to cram a variety of tiny clams into the tank temporarily, but it doesn't sound like a sustainable system.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Eli, no offense tanken. I'm new to the clam thing and am learning, that's why I'm here asking questions. The tank measures 18" across from one flat side to the other and 18" deep. The tank was a freebe and the wife and I thought it would make a nice little nano w/ clams in it. I've got a 45 G reef but the lights are not good enough to put clams in and my 190 will not be set up for another year or so. What would you recommend for stocking in a tank this size that would not outgrow the tank for say 2 years or so? Thanks for any input.
I got an answer back from Barry at Clamsdirect and I'm going to be using a 150W DE HQI 10K bulb on the tank w/ some PC atinics.

 

[Peabody]

A few thoughts:

#1 - You will likely want a calcium reactor. Clams are mindboggling in their uptake of CA/ALK. When I added a small squamosa and small maxima to my tank I couldn't keep up with dosign B-Ionic and kalk together (at far above the recocmended rate!) If you have a half a dozen clams or so, a reactor might be a must. This is also important because reactors give off good trace elements, and the clams could strip those from the water too.

#2 - You will want a fish or two. Clams need to have a little bit of ammonia nitrate and even a little phosphates to be healthy. People like Daniel Knop who keep clam tanks actually have to dose nitrate!

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Thanks peabody. I was thinking of putting a couple of small fish like a goby or jawfish. As for the reactor, no room since everything will be in the tank because the stand is an open stand. I guess I'll just have to keep up with the dosing.

 

[Peabody]

That's cool....be prepared for mondo dosing. I had to go over 5 times the maximum daily amount of B-Ionic to keep my levels up, and they barely stayed there. Hope you have more patience than I

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I've been using seachem reef builder and buffer in my reef when I add topoff water so I'm used to doing it. I only have LPS and softies in that tank w/out any major lights so the demand is not that high. I figure with the MH lights, I'll be topping off every day so I can add it in each day. If it gets to be too much work, then I'll see about changing tanks and putting them in the big reef when it's set up. I'm planning on running a reactor on that tank to make it easier to run. Plus that tank will have a sump on it.

 

[techdef]

Hey, i've got a 40 gallon clam tank & learned a few things.

1) no substrate at all. (that'd mean no jawfish for ya) If you ever get even one little pyramid snail in there you'll need to pull all the substrate back out to rid the tank of em. Pyramids a problem in a clam tank.

2) you cannot have too much light for a clam tank (within temperature range that is) & clams can tolerate a much wider range of temps & salinity than most other fish & corals.

3) with a clam tank IMO you've got no need for a skimmer, they'll take care of all that for you. Especially if you've got a low bio-load in the first place.

4) the calcium thing. you could (as i did) diy a kalk-reactor for not too much $$$

5) consider tankmates - 4,6,8 line wrasses to keep parasites at bay. No astrea snails, turbos & ceriths are ok. I've got one seahorse in there now & its working out great.

6) Get more light. My first clam tank experiment was a 10 gallon with 110 watts PC. They bleached & hated it. I put a 250MH with 10,000K over that same 10 gallon. Much happier. Now they're in a 12" tall tank w/ 2x150HQI (with UV glass) @ 20,000K and 2x39 watt T5HO 6500K. According to my buddie's light meter its putting about 12000fc at the water's surface which is about right. For an 28" deep tank you'll be needing at least 150, probably 250. I really am impressed with the HQI/DE stuff. Much better for your money IMO, also don't need a fan (good for the LR thing).

7) make sure you get a half-shell under each clam so that you can move 'em & lift em out for maintenance & cleaning or feeding.
Once a week I pull all my clams out & go over 'em with tweezers & a toothbrush to remove anything that's suspicious on the shells. Occasionally they also get a trip outside in a bowl of tankwater & like so sit in the real sun (everyone likes to work on their tan)

j-me

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Thanks for the info.