Picture of my Crocea

[Litespeeds]

I have it in a 10 gallon tank with 55 watts of PC lighting. I have heard that Maxima's need MH lighting. Should I have anything to worry about? I have heard that it is very important to keep my calcium levels up. Is there anything else that I should pay attention to?

 

[SeanT]

Feeding.
Do you feed phyto?

 

[Litespeeds]

I feed the tank with Kent Marine ChromaPlex. Anything else that I should be aware of?

 

[quantim0]

yes you have something to worry about. people say they need MH for a reason, because they don't survive without it. i would either get some MH lighting, probably tough on a tank that small, or bring it back to the store. feeding alone won't help it, it'll starve to death slower.

i also think you have a crocea which IME needs more light then a maxima.

 

[CTN1983]

From looking at the clam's mantle, it looks more like a crocea.

In my opinion, you don't have enough lighting to keep that clam healthy, long term, especially if it's a crocea...I would recommend getting metal halides, but because your tank is only ten gallon, the heat produced from these lights will probably cook your tank.

With your lighting, I would recommend trading the clam for a derasa, or squamosa...BUT beware, they will quickly out-grow your tank.

 

[Litespeeds]

I didn't purchase the clam from a store. A person was moving and had to take apart his tank and I purchased some live rocks and other things and the clam was part of the deal. He told me it was a Maxima but I am totally new to clams. I will take your word for it that it is a Crocea.

I actually placed it up as high as possible so it will be closer to the light. It looks like it is happy and is always opened. I know it is probably slowly deteriorating without the MH lighting but I am hoping that it will survive.

Maybe I will be one of the lucky ones that can keep this clam under pc lighting. Had it in my tank for about 2 months now and it looks happy. :eek1:

 

[Barry N.]

From looking at the clam's mantle, it looks more like a crocea.

I think it is a Tridacna crocea as well.

 

[Litespeeds]

So how long do you think it will survive given the conditions that I have it in?

 

[unicornis]

Its confirm a crocea..... hmm better pass the clam to soemone withbetter light condition

 

[Litespeeds]

Will there be any signs that I should look for right before it dies? Will it start to close up or not open as wide?
I have a friend that lives nearby that has a tank setup with MH and she would be more than happy to take it.
Maybe I can give it to her and leave it in her tank for 3 months and get it back from her to put into mine for 3 months and alternate like that.
Has anyone tried anything like that?

 

[epon]

Beautiful clam, hope you find it adequate lighting soon.

 

[Diehl]

I will take it off your hands

 

[john76]

You could put a 150 or 175 over that tank as long as you put some fans in there...... Or rig up a suspended pendant.

But, you're probably better off just trading the clam to someone local.

Nice clam too.

 

[irishbing]

you could get a 70W MH for 10 Gallon tank

 

[Azurel]

You will need more lighting but to say it needs MH is not really true either. 55 watts of any lighting is not enough plus adding lighting to such a small tank will be difficult because of space that is required for some more intense lighting. For all the money you would spend on lighting for a 10g to keep it you are better off selling it or trading it and upgrade your tank in the future and get more lighting by way of MH or VHO with a multiple bulb set up on a shallow tank like a 40g or a shallow custom tank would be ok.The deeper the tank the more likely hood you will need MH to keep these kind of clams.

 

[Julio]

great clam!!

 

[sealover113]

trading it every 3 months might stress it out a little. Croceas need alot of light, I don't know if it would survive 3 months in PCs.

 

[Scuba Dog]

Yeah sure looks like a crocea to me also, but a pick of the actual shell would really help out identification more......as for signs and symptoms that it isnt doing well.......yeah but usually by then its too late, look for the clam receding its mantle. and extreme gaping but thats hard to tell on croces becuase they tend to naturaly gape some........but its true they need lots of high intensity light.......and phytoplankton live is prefered......

 

[Project Reef]

I edited the title for you. Sweet looking crocea! Keep it high up in your tank until you can upgrade to halides. For a 10 gallon tank a 150 watt DE hqi set-up will work great. If you have a large sump that will act as a water reservoir you can then safely upgrade to a 250 DE hqi set up and not have to stress over heat issues too much. You will still need a small fan however.

 

[Litespeeds]

Probably not worth it for me to upgrade my lighting for such a small tank.
I have heard that if I can run about 5 watts or more per gallon, that would be very good so that is why I went with the 55 watts of PC lighting. It was the easiest thing for me to install in such a small canopy.
The Crocea is relatively high up in the tank and I also noticed that when I lined the top of my canopy with aluminum foil, it opened up more.
I guess there isn't much more I can do to intensify the lighting that I already have.