pc lights

[kristofer]

hey all. im new here. I have a quesrtion. is it posible to keep clams healthy and happy under pc lighting. The tank depth will be 24inches. Also befor i go and pick up a clam, what books could any of you recomend.

cheers

 

[Robert Hoeck]

Hi, The book "Giant Clams" by Daniel Knop is really good and highly regarded. Keeping clams under compacts is not really ideal. You'll be limited to the less colorful species. I have kept Derasa sp. in a 30 gallon w/96watt.(2) for about 6 months. The clam did fine and was growing some. The Crocea and Maxima's won't do too well, though. I'm going to get a 250hqi pendant and suspend it over a 40 breeder tank. If you can look at clams from above it's nice. Good luck, Rob.

 

[toptank]

Robert is right one about the lighting. The book as well

Barry

 

[kristofer]

thanks, i will go read that book for starters

 

[Robert Hoeck]

Another good book to read is "Natural Reef Aquariums" written by John Tullock. He's got some good examples of biotope aquariums and a nice 50g. clam tank.

 

[INNOVATOR]

Do place more light requiring clams higher in your tank if you wish to try Pc's. I have a 125 gallon, 24" deep tank with 4x96 Pc's and a maxima clam just over halfway up in my tank doing very nicely!

 

[Robert Hoeck]

125 gallon w/3 watts a gallon is kind of low. My clam was under 6+watts of pc lighting. I agree that putting them closer to the light source is important. The long term sucess rate will be higher with the metal halides. I'd go with the 6-96 watt on a 6 foot tank. Good luck, Rob.

 

[ClamLover]

It is extremely difficult to keep clams alive for the long term with PCs.

PCs need replacement and are not cheap, IMO MH gives more lumens/watt ratio and is cheaper.

If you are serious to have healthy and living clams, as the Knopp book says, go for MH. In that book, the 1st point mentioned about keeping clams in an aquarium is ... Illumination.

Nothing more important than Illumination for clams because it is their source of food. Clams may depend on reserve energy, so they may still look good for the 1st few months, then suddenly die off... clams may try to adapt to poorer lightning before that.

We are responsible for these animals. Sorry, but I just need to share this IMO.

 

[INNOVATOR]

Depends on where you go to get the replacements, here they are cheap to get, much cheaper than halide bulbs, in Cali.

 

[INNOVATOR]

Oh and by the way, I realize 3 watts per gallon is the least one should do for clams, however with proper care it can be done. I have had my clam healthy for 1 1/2-2 yrs now

 

[kristofer]

thanks every one. i have knops book. im going to read it befor i do anything. thanks again


cheers!

 

[toptank]

kristofer I know you will find the book educational but if you are like me, you will have to read it a few times. I still refer to from time to time.

Enjoy.

Barry

 

[MiNdErAsR]

Oh and by the way, I realize 3 watts per gallon is the least one should do for clams, however with proper care it can be done. I have had my clam healthy for 1 1/2-2 yrs now

As much as I hate to use the "watts per gallon" thing, I'm going to throw this out there. I believe the minimum should be 10 watts/gallon for all the light loving creatures we keep including Tridacnids. Three watts per gallon would be considered very weak lighting. Of course this is VERY old school standards, which nobody really uses anymore.

I too highly recommend Daniel Knop's book Giant Clams. Very enLIGHTening reading.

 

[INNOVATOR]

IMO 10 watts on anything is really overkill and not needed, especially over that amount. It can even tend to do more harm than good in most instances. But whatever makes you happy I guess, is all that matters

 

[Robert Hoeck]

The issue with lighting is that in Knop's book he focuses on MH lighting and doesn't use VHO or CF. If my memory is correct he states something about VHO not being available in Germany. At the time of this book being written the CF's may not have been used on aquariums either. My problem with the CF's is that it takes so many to light a large aquarium that it becomes cheaper to go with the MH's. I'd like to find one of those angled front tanks he showed for viewing clams from top and sides. The clams really look awesome from top and a MH pendant makes that much easier. Happy clamming, Rob.