low light clams?

[piranhaking]

are there any clams that i could keep in a 10 gallon with 70 watts of NO lights? i realize photosynthetic clams wouldnt really be an option, but i havent found anything that wasnt so far. I thought about a flame scallop, but i was told they move around alot, and i need something that will more or less stay were i put it. thanks for the help.

 

[AngelReefer]

what do you mean by 70 watts of NO LIghts. Do you mean just plain flourescent lights? I wouldn't do a clam withoiut MH lights but thats just me

 

[Peabody]

There really aren't any. The flame scallops and the likehavehorrible track records in aquaria.

 

[piranhaking]

yea NO is normal output rather than VHO very high output or powercompact PC. also if you had read the post i said i knew photosynthetic clams wouldt work. If the clam wasnt photosynthetic then lights wouldnt matter. Thats kinda the point. Thats why i was asking about clams that arent photosynthetc.

 

[AngelReefer]

The only clam I can think of thats not photosynthetic is the plain cleaner clam. HAS NO COLOR. Its a cleaner basically. I don't know too much about them though

 

[piranhaking]

i didnt expect any color really because the color comes from the symbotic algae in the tissue, and i know that. A big part of the reason i want one is for the cleaning/filtering aspect of them.

 

[Peabody]

The whole "filtering" aspect of any clam is pretty minimal, at best. Unless you have a 300 lb. Gigas clam!

 

[Fridmani]

If you tank is not too tall then you could probably keep a squamosa or gigas with no problem, but the light the better. You would do much better with PC's.

A flame scallop will only live a short time. It does need light to survive but is more like a filter feeder.

 

[piranhaking]

it is a standard 10 gallon tank. I am going to upgrade to 150watts of VHO in about 4 or 5 months. I didnt look into them untill i had already bought my bulbs. It would have been cheaper too. I have 100 bucks worth of bulbs and the VHO's would have cost right at 100 bulbs and all, and it would only cost me 40 when i have to replace the bulbs. Thats what i get for not looking stuff up first. Any one else have anything to say about if it would work?

 

[critterkeeper]

I wouldn't put any tridacnid in a 10 gallon tank with any lights. Recipe for failure.

Just try to find some people that have done so sucessfully for a year... If you can do so, please let me know. It would be the first time.

 

[gussy]

Those live Manila Clams are filter feeds I have a bunch of them stored on a tank for feeding my Mantis. Although they may not be tropical they seem to be fine for months on the 78 degree tank. I usually get a dozen and a few will die in a day but the rest will survive until I feed them to the Mantis.

 

[Tunguska]

I don't know the type, but my local Publix sells "live clams." I bought a dozen just to test and the ones I haven't fed to my fish are still alive in my sand, 5-6 months later. Most or all of the "live mussels" I bought weren't alive, so I froze them for fish food. I assume several of these clams would make an effective filter in a 10 gal, provided the number needed to keep your tank clean wouldn't starve doing so. They are also pretty cheap.

 

[piranhaking]

isnt publix a grocery store?

 

[GroYurOwn]

how ya doin critterkeeper, nice ta meet ya, i have a almost 1 year old 10 gal. that i have been keepin a tridacna clam in under a 28w pc. here are some pics.

70 watts is more than enough, just keep your eye on your calcium, and all your params, its easy. i dose dts three times a week, you can see it can be done....

 

[piranhaking]

actually 28watts of pc and 70 watts of NO may not be as big a difference in lighting as you might think. pc lights have a much higher lumen per watt value per watt thatn NO lights. 70 watts of NO still wins out, but not by that big a margin when you compare the lumens.

 

[The steven liu]

Personally I think a 10 Gallon tank is not suitable for any photosynthetic clams regardless of the lighting. It is just too small to keep stable water temp and chemistry.

 

[GroYurOwn]

thats a great opinion, and i would agree if i wasnt aware of the need to take great care to maintain constants. my tank is at a constant 78 degrees, i top off twice a day, and as you can see by the picture, its a happy clam, so anyone out there wondering if it can be done the answer is yes, regardless of what others might say. the real question is are you up to it?

 

[The steven liu]

I agree, many people here can argue wheather something can be done with whatever equipment but the bottom line is if you are willing to spend time and effort to keep your tank in shape. Even the greatest equipment cannot keep clams alive if you don't keep up your maintainance.

 

[Fridmani]

Just to throw my 2 cents in, I've been keeping clams for over 12 years now. I've had them all. I was successfully keeping them before there were PC's and T-5's...in any case, it's not impossible to keep clams in a 10 gallon at all. Once you get a clam established they are pretty tough. I kept a clam in a 15 gallon tank under 65watts for a year before I took the clam out and put it into my main system. Anyways, an established clam, can handle a good of fluctuation too. My advice in the end...get a bigger tank then you won't have to worry about it.

 

[piranhaking]

My new tank is comming soon. It will be about 24 gallons, with about an 8 gallon refuge with some type of macro in it. By the way, what type of lighting was the 65 watt light on the the 15 gallon? pc, vho, no??