how long can a maxima go w/o light?

[Philip]

I'm setting up a new home for one, it'll have to go without MH light for a week, maybe more maybe less, do you think he'll be OK? he'll be in the same water, just no light for the little guy

 

[Peabody]

(sorry....double post)

 

[Peabody]

Hmmm, I'm no expert but I sure would do everything to avoid that. I would suspect death in a week or mabye less! (How would you be after a week without food, you know?) Why can't he have any light? What lights is he under now?

 

[Philip]

he's under a 250w MH (Ushio 10k)
in order to make the switch happen (see my thread here http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=137469 ) I need to move the existing 29g out of the way, move in the new stand, set the 29 under the stand and let it run for awhile while I plumb the new tank and get her ready to rock and roll. I guess I can shoehorn in the MH over the 29g in kind of a temporary setup, just so he has enough light to be happy, I'll figure something out, aluminum foil for a reflector or something like that
the new stand is going to have about 30" of inside height (huge, I know) so I guess I can work something out
the clam is all I have, no corals to speak of, so it's my #1 concern.

 

[Peabody]

Best of luck.....do what you can to give him some light and give him LOTS of DTs. (Check out the guy who unknowinly kept a clam alive for months that had fallen behind his rockwork, it just happened to be right where he poured his DTs!

 

[Palmetto]

Definately take the time to set him up a temporary light. Clams expel their symbiotic algae in response to lower light levels, and this can make them overly sensitive to the intense light when the Halide is back on. Although a week may not be long enough to cause much of this, it is a degenerative process that you do not wish to trigger in the clam.

Good luck!

 

[Philip]

thanks guys

 

[rpisces]

I once had a brown clam that has fallen behind the rock and dragged to somewhere I couldn't see. It's 1 1/2 inches big. A month or more later it reappeared out from nowhere. I think, must be pushed out by a crab. It is totally white! And now, 3 years later it is a healthy 4 inch adult!

I don't feed my tank any phyto or zooplankton but I believe there was something for it to filter out and also being small size it's requirements is less.