So why did my 1.5 yr old teardrop die?

[zanemoseley]

I have a 2 yr old 75 with 250w halides. I had this maxima for 1.5 years, it was attached to a flat rock and had been in the same spot for probably a year. One day I came home and found the clam had fallen off the rock. I put it back and it just fell off later again. I tried it on the sand but it didn't like that much either. On the bottom where there's like a small opening I guess where it attaches from didn't seem to have any tissue in it. A couple days ago I notice a discolored patch on the top between the mantle sides, then I noticed that if I looked through the large mouth opening you could see straight through the clam to the rock through that opening on the bottom of the clam, then I knew I was in trouble. It died last night and my hermits ate it up. It was about 1/3 up the tank in the middle. I hadn't fed phyto for about 8 months and it was about 3" or so.

 

[mbbuna]

15k is out of the ideal spectrum for clams and XM 15k are very low in PAR

 

[The steven liu]

I think your clam has starved to death. It fell off because it was too weak to hang on with its muscle. IMO regardless of your lighting you should still suppliment with phyto, they have the filter organ for a reason, that is to eat phyto. Imaging us eating KFC everyday we might have enough calories but we'd get malnutrition sooner or later. By the way Mbbuna, what's the ideal spectrum for clams?

 

[mbbuna]

Maximas and Croceas get 90% or more of there food from light. all the phyto in the world wont do anything if they can physically use it. they do have a fully functioning digestive tract, but its used for processing there zoox and the small amount that they get from the water. they feed off the waste of the zoox and the zoox themselves. strong full spectrum light (6500k to 10k) is needed for the zoox to be able to reproduce fast enough to supply the clam with the food it needs.

 

[Opcn]

90% or more still leaves 10% or less. What is the ideal light spectrum BTW? I had always heard 10K.

 

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6720017#post6720017 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Opcn
90% or more still leaves 10% or less. What is the ideal light spectrum BTW? I had always heard 10K.

in my last post i said 6500 to 10k

if the lighting is very intense and of the right spectrum clams can sustain themselves from 100% light alone. if Croceas and Maximas get less then 90% of the light they need then they will slowly starve to death. this can take up to a year or more to do. its there heterotrophic ability that they loose a majority of when they get 3" and over and they can only physically feed on so much.
Gigas and Derasa have about a 70%light 30% hetero and Squamosa falls in between .

 

[zanemoseley]

Well that sucks but I kinda guessed that. I figured since it seemed to do so well for so long that he was ok, he was growing VERY slow though. I would have tried to find a better spot for him if I suspected a problem.

 

[johnvu713]

so 14K 400watt MH bulb is out of the question?

 

[djperezo]

?? Really, I have my max, and crocea under 20k 250 DE for over a year, and they seem to thrive, especially the max, got it at 2", its now over 4" and still growing, and thats with no phyto.

 

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6727059#post6727059 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by johnvu713
so 14K 400watt MH bulb is out of the question?

i didn't say out of the question, i said not ideal. some clams seem to have trouble with high K lights.

look at it this way, where are clams found in the wild? shallow water. what spectrum of light is in these shallow waters? full spectrum light.

 

[cuong]

I have my 2" maxima under 2x250w 10k and 2x110w vho actinic. I keep mh on for 4 hrs and 6hrs for the actinic. Is it going to be enough for my clam and some sps corals ?