Should my clam open more than this?

[RioReefr]

This is the fist time getting a clam and not sure if it should open more than this? (see photo).

I put him on a piece of relatively flat live-rock and he is placed directly under the LED light. Will he move around to find a better spot on the rock or do I need to help him out? I have no prior experience with clams, so not sure if I am doing something wrong.

 

[Mirror Pond]

It looks good for a newly placed clam. It will move on its own if it isn't happy but everything looks good at this point.

 

[MondoBongo]

having a bit of a hard time telling from the picture, but is that a crocea? if it is, you might want to move him up as high as possible. they're extremely light-greedy clams.

 

[NYCBOB]

looks fine.

 

[RioReefr]

Just an update, I have had this clam for a little over a week now. I have not touched him and he seems to re-position himself a little each day. Perhaps it is just subjective, but I think he has opened up more now.

I would like to move him up higher, but do not really have the rockwork to do this. I have upped my "blues" on the LED and lower the light a couple of inches close to the water.

And "yes", it is "crocea" -- very cool IMO.

 

[MondoBongo]

the blue lights aren't the ones that used as the primary frequencies for photosynthesis.

i would advise figuring out a way to raise him up as high as possible, or i would expect he will start to fade, and potentially die, in a few weeks to months.

my crocea wasn't getting enough light halfway up my 75 rock work with AI Vegas on 80%, i had to move him higher.

 

[RioReefr]

Like I have said, I have no prior experience with clams. The place I had bought it from was a distributor, not a retail store. The day I bought it, there was supposedly an "expert" on-site who said my light (AI Prime HD) and depth I was putting the Crocea Clam would be "fine". See attached light schedule.
I do not have a PAR meter, but according to the site AI they claim it should be around 100....the light is exactly above the clam...
"With a spread of 24" x 24", the AI Prime® HD has a peak PAR of 100µMol at a depth of 24 inches, more than enough for your hungriest of livestock."

I can try and build some other type of rock structure to elevate the clam, but what would be signs of the clam "fading"?

 

[RioReefr]

BTW, I think I just found the answer to my own question: "what would be signs of the clam fading? "

I had found this article:

https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/3/inverts

It states:

"Shell growth is a good indicator of health. If water quality and disease aren't issues, there should be some growth if the lights are bright enough. It's seen as the band, thick or thin, of light material at the shell's rim."

 

[Tripod1404]

BTW, I think I just found the answer to my own question: "what would be signs of the clam fading? "

I had found this article:

https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/3/inverts

It states:

"Shell growth is a good indicator of health. If water quality and disease aren't issues, there should be some growth if the lights are bright enough. It's seen as the band, thick or thin, of light material at the shell's rim."

PAR of 100 is way too low even for the deepest living clam species . Crocea is the shallowest living clam specie, for the article you posted, you can see it is never found in deeper water than 5 meters (~16feet). At that depth, I doubt PAR is lower than ~500.

 

[Tripod1404]

the blue lights aren't the ones that used as the primary frequencies for photosynthesis.

i would advise figuring out a way to raise him up as high as possible, or i would expect he will start to fade, and potentially die, in a few weeks to months.

my crocea wasn't getting enough light halfway up my 75 rock work with AI Vegas on 80%, i had to move him higher.

On the contrary, blue light (wavelengths below ~475nm) is used for photosynthesis the most. Below is the light absorption spectra of chlorophyll a and b.

 

[RioReefr]

PAR of 100 is way too low even for the deepest living clam species . Crocea is the shallowest living clam specie, for the article you posted, you can see it is never found in deeper water than 5 meters (~16feet). At that depth, I doubt PAR is lower than ~500.

You are correct...it looks like I will be doing some tank renovations this weekend to get him as high in the tank as possible.

(per the article
"This is important to remember because tridacnids can take months to slowly starve to death, and everything can look fine right up to that point."

 

[MondoBongo]

On the contrary, blue light (wavelengths below ~475nm) is used for photosynthesis the most. Below is the light absorption spectra of chlorophyll a and b.

i'll be damned, didn't realize that. thank you for pointing that out.

 

[Crooked Reef]

Also note that AI release their par readings as 100 at 24” or air, not water. I’ve been looking at one of these lights for sps in a biocube. Depending on your settings and depth you may or may not be near 100