Maxima and lighting??

[Biodragen]

I have a Maxima right now under Actinics and MH lighting.

I would like to keep this during a rebuild of my reef set up.
I have a prop tank set up that is 48"L x 12"H x 18"W

I currently have 4 110w bulbs 2 are Actinic whites and 2 are daylights.

Will this be enough light for the Maxima clam to sustain life for about 4 months??

Thanks
Brian

 

[Reefcherie]

I honestly doubt it. Maximas are light loving Tridacnids. Your clam would be much better off if you can find a friend or LFS that has MH lighting, no clam-nipping fish and a nice stable system and is willing to clam-sit for those four months.

If you know of no one that fits that category, perhaps you either rig up a used MH pendant for the prop tank or could check within your nearest marine club for a clam-sitter. You list your location as Harvard, IL... so the Chicagoland Marine Aquarium Society (CMAS) folks aren't too far away. They have a forum here on RC under the Reef Club Forums section that you could post to.

Cheri

 

[Biodragen]

Thanks for the input. I figured I post here in this forum for this topic.

The prop tan is established, it is just the show tank being taken down.

As for the lighting I would have thought it would be enough.
My MH are 250w and with these VHO there is 440w of lighting.
Basically I have close if not more than what my show tank has just with VHO's.

Bummer I would hate to move it to a whole new system.

Brian

 

[Reefcherie]

I don't pretend to be either a clam or lighting expert, but it is my understanding that Maxima and Crocea clams do require MH lighting and that VHO would not be sufficient, even with lots of it. Maybe someone else will chime in here and have another opinion. My understanding is that Maximas come from shallow water areas with lots of water clarity, so they have adapted to thrive on a lot of light intensity - such as would be best for SPS corals.

Cheri

 

[firechild]

As Cheri suggested, it is more to do with lighting intensity than total watts. VHO just don't cut it for maximas. I had to move all my clams to my 2x2x2 during a tank upgrade and for about 4 months they were under 150W MH. Over this short period all the maximas lost colour and even the squamosas didn't look anywhere near as nice. You may be able to get the clams to stay somewhat healthy over that period but I think you would be doing them a serious injustice and it could take you quite a while to get them to colour up again.

 

[rspar]

It would seem to me raising them a close to the surface as possible would suffice.

 

[Biodragen]

That is what I was thinking since the light is 18" away from the clam.

Far much closer than the MH lighting which by the time it gets to the botton it is about 28" away.

I guess I will have to figure out something for MH then.