MM WI
New member
these lighting requirement guidelines discourage too many aquarists from buying clams. I do not believe that croceas need MH or even T-5. I purchased four crocea and two maxima clams between three and four years ago that have been under a battery of 26 Watt 65K spiral bulbs available at walmart or menards- no balast required, and one vho actinic. Alright this may actually be as much or more light than a T5 setup but the point is still valid. I have only lost one clam in this period, in fact one of the maximas has grown from less than inch to over three fat inches. Water chemistry is more difficult, the clams seem to grow in spurts, a month or two of quick growth and then a month or two without much. I suspect that when the growth slows it is me not doing as good a job keeping up with the chemitry. If you know how to keep your water chemistry in line and have decent flourescent daylight and actinic or other specialty reef lights you can keep clams quite successfully. Give one a try and if you do well try another. Croceas are currently inexpensive and easy to find. In my experience the croceas are hardier than the maximas and do better under the CF bulbs. - Mark
