New clam and par question

[ksicard]

I picked up this clam the other week and it is quickly becoming my favorite piece in the tank. I did want to ask about par for clams. I know they like intense lighting but I'm wondering why does everybody seem to put them on the sand bed then? At max my lights will put 300 par on the sand bed but then there is to much light at the middle and top levels so I have the sandbed around 200 par now. Is 200 par on the sandbed enough for this maxima in the long term?

 

[mlew]

Some clams prefer the sand, but it's probably so we can view the clam from a higher angle where they look the best.

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[Brieninsac]

Your clam looks cool. I bought one over the weekend myself.

As for the lights I was told to go by how the clam is doing. So in my case I set him on a rock on the sand bed. He's been slowly opening and closing but not open nearly as much as yours. So that would tell me your's is wanting more light. So maybe try moving him up a little higher and see if he recedes or continues to open up.

 

[jda]

Maxima will want to be attached to a rock. I would look for as high of PAR as possible. 500+ would be ideal for a maxima.

If in a few months you are not seeing new growth and scutes - like actual growth and not just the white part of the shell where the mantle rubs against it - then you might consider moving it along to a higher light tank.

Clams are the ultimate in false positive and can look great right until the day that they die. New growth is the only way to tell a positive positive.

 

[ca1ore]

Probably people put clams on the sand-bed because they don't know any better. Lower light species like deresa, squamosa and gigas (if you could even find one) will generally do fine on the sand. My squamosa is on the sand-bed at 28" under LED and has grown from 4" to almost 14" in 3 1/2 years (PAR is about 250). Wouldn't think of putting a maxima or crocea down there. They belong as high up as possible. My maxima is actually in my frag tank directly under the LED.

Keep in mind also that as a clam grow it put enormous demand on your system for calcium. Though I haven't lifted it in a while, my squammy was easily 5 lbs when I last did.