Those with 175W MH & Tridacna sp.

[Foreverlearnin]

I have been reading a LOT of Knopp's Giant Clam book and in his opinion there is a very small range of lighting acceptable to clams. IE 250W HQI are the best. I know there are people with clams that do not have such lighting, so I would like to know what thier sucess is like.

This Q goes out to all those people keeping Tridacna clams in tanks using 175W MH.

I would like to know:

What species of clam you keep, how long you have had it, what size it is, and what color it is.

I would like to know if you feed it, what and how often, as well as do you get a green dusty algae on your glass.

Also what K the lights are, depth of tank, clam hieght in tank, light hieght from tank, age of bulbs.

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!!!!!!! :reading:

 

[Peabody]

I've kept maximas, squamosas, and derasas in a 15 gallon (12")with a 175 Ushio for a year and a 29 gallon (16" and 2 bulbs) for a year. If I had to do it over again, I'd get 250w...in fact...I'm considering sellign my 175s and getting 250s.

What size tank do you have? That will help you make your decision, or at least help us reccomend

 

[RalphP]

Hi
I first had my purple max in a 8 gallon nano with 3 28 watt pcs.In that tank for a year.I upgraded to a 30 gal with a 10k 175.I added a gold max and around the same time I added 2 30 watt actinics.I just changed my 175 to a 250 xm 10k bulb.The purple has been with me for 4 ish years,the gold 2.I feed my tank a combination of golden pearls and bioplankton.I do also get a small amount of algae on the glass,I clean it off easilly with a magnet.
RalphP

 

[Foreverlearnin]

Thanks guys!

I currently have a 46G Bow with 250W of PC. I have a 4" Squamosa, 2x 2" Gold Maximas and a 2" Black Maxima. Just got the black one, but everyone else seems VERY happy... Feeding DT's currently, as well as that dusty green algae I scrape off the glass every week or so... The clams I have are doing much better now then they were in the dealers holding tanks, which had 20k 250W. I guess it's the feeding.. In the dealers tank the mantle seems thin and transparent. After a few weeks in my tank the mantle is no longer transparent, seems much more full & healthy.

I was really hoping to stay away from anything that gives off a lot of heat, as it's about to be the hottest summer in 80 years where I live. No central AC, but I will be in a basement suite. In the next couple weeks when I move I am going to switch to a 75G. I have 2x175W MH, Hamilton 10K's. I hope the 175W suspended roughly 6" off the surface can punch enough light to keep the clams happy and not overheat the tank.

The rest of the components on the 75G tank are:

Tunze 7400 Turbelle w/ single controler
Tunze 230/2 Skimmer
Blueline 30HD return pump
Ebojager 200W heater
Top up is Tunze 3155 Osmolator w/ Kalkwasser reactor.

Not really sure if these components will cause a signifigant heating issue though....

So what does everyone think? Thanks SOO much for your time guys!

 

[Meisen]

I think you should be fine with your clams if the heat issue doesnt hurt ya. As long as you arent trying to keep Croceas, that light should be enough. I have a few clams in my tank and they seem just fine (growing, good color and decent but not excessive mantle extension). I have had one of them 2+ years.

Can you get a window AC unit just in case? I am in a basement apartment with 3 X 175 halides and 265 watts PC on a 75 gallon and I have already seen 85 degrees in the tank before I got the AC going. Put a window unit ($25 at a garage sale) in last week and the tank is pegged at 82 degrees where I want it. I think its a better option than a 500.00 chiller and it keeps me cool too.

 

[Foreverlearnin]

Wow that's a lot of lights. Why not just go 250W? Could you keep T. crocea with that light setup?

Anyone think I just bite the bullit and get a 2x250W fixture?

I would love to keep T. crocea....

 

[Meisen]

I imagine I could keep croceas under the 175s if I put them up top. There are two small ledges that are right at the surface in my tank. Almost nothing can withstand the light there and I bet they'd be OK.

My lighting is a silly combination of leftovers and such.
The next upgrade will probably be to 3 X 250 HQIs with 2 X110 Watt VHOs but I am really cheap and this setup happened to come together for a lot less than thats going to run. Plus, the three bulbs allow a better spread in the tank than just two over 48" (I can aim one right under the brace!!!).

 

[Scuba Dog]

Im runing at the moment a 75 gallon with 10k hamilton 175s, I have 4 clams one baby max, and three croacias, one big grand dad coracia about 5 inches beneath the turface and two other croacias about 8 inchers beneath the surface, all have done well thus far, and i have had them for about 6 months now, I also keep a heavy bio load in my tank, and feed the tank every other day with DT's and cyclopseeze and bruch the glass from the aglae it produces, ALthough its a moot pont im scraping the 175 and bumping up to 250 HQI's double end bulbs 10k ushios, mostly because i like Acros the best and want better growth and coloration, the clams are cool but they are in my tank for one reason to keep the nitrates way way down to near zero ppm,