I am interested in a maxima but...

[BullBeef]

I'm not sure what kind of maxima. What kinds of maximas are out there?

 

[capt. insano]

blues, teardrops, etc

 

[Don Berry]

Make sure you have sufficient lighting for a Maxima. They require intense MH to thrive. They are the most light demanding of the Tridacnid clams.

 

[capt. insano]

actually, I think crocea are the most light demanding, followed by maximas and gigas, then squamosa, hippopus, and deresa

 

[Don Berry]

From what I've read it's 1) Maxima, 2) Crocea, 3) Deresa, 4)Squamosa, and 5) Gigas

 

[inlandreef]

Hey Don
What do you think of your BakPak 2?

 

[mbbuna]

crocea,maxima,squamosa,hippopus,gigas,derasa. but in reality they all have the same lighting requirements,it's just that gigas,hippopus and derasa retain there hetertrophic ability,where as the others rely on there zoo solely for there food.

 

[capt. insano]

general rule of thumb:

the more colorful the clams mantle, the more light demanding it is.

Deresas and Squamosas generally have brownish colored mantles and are sand dwelling clams.....they do not demand as much light as other tridacna clams

Gigas clams demand quite a bit of light. I don't know where you read that they are the least demanding. It is also generally excepted that croceas and maximas, the rock dwelling tridacna clams, demand the most intense lighting.

here are some very good reads on T. Clams

http://www.animal-world.com/encyclo/fishnchips/aug99/fnc0899.htm#Critter Corner
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/jf/feature/index.php

 

[fishypets]

I have a friend running pc lighting on a 75 gal and he has two crocea clams. Both with great color and both have shown great growth over the last year. He tried two maximas and both did not do very well. He took them back to the lfs before they died.

 

[organism]

fishypets, I'm really surprised any of those clams are still alive, do the croceas hyperextend their mantles? if so then they're not happy...

also, to the original question, I've found that gold maximas need less light than blue ones, and overall croceas seem to need more light to retain color than maximas, in my experience

 

[fishypets]

organism,

I would not believe it but I saw it myself. They were very happy and showed good growth. I would not recommend it though.