Which light complements clams the best?

[Angel*Fish]

On impulse I bought a crocea the other day. Realized it was a huge mistake as I have only VHO lighting, so-o-o I dropped by the LFS on the way home from the gym to ask if I could get a store credit & walked out with 2 more croceas!!! :hmm2:

Anyway, since I now have a great excuse to invest in mhalides -- which bulbs are the prettiest?

I was gonna go with an icecap 250 ballast & my present lights are 2 actinic & 2 non actinic (440w total)



PS Why do they look so much better from the top of the tank?

 

[zombiereef]

i personally think that the clams look great under any MH bulbs i have ever seen. the lfs has some under 10k's, i have one under 20k's and it looks great too.

 

[Don Berry]

I'd go with 10K since you have VHO. Clams seem to prefer the higher kelvin bulbs. You really only get the best color from Clams from looking down on them from the waters surface.

 

[phlipper84]

How deep is your tank? I mean, I run the same system you are thinking of installing and my tank is 30" deep. Used to keep clams under just vhos at 24", although I probably could have used halides in that system for optimal success. Did keep my clams with no problems until I let the calcium levels drop. Heck 15 yrs ago I was keeping clams under NO bulbs, but my tank was only 18" deep. There are many variables to be aware of.

 

[Angel*Fish]

phlipper-
My tank is about 20 inches deep, but I have a 4 in. DSB - the VHO's are 8 inches above the water. Right now the clams are from 1-3 inches below the water line. For some reason they look dull purple up there compared to the brilliant neon blues & greens when they were sitting on the bottom (????)

Don, so why not 20,000k like mbunakeith?

 

[zombiereef]

clams do better under lower kelvin temp. bulbs. even though the clams look great under the 20k's, i am switching to a 10k to see if i can get better growth. my new 10k bulb should be on my doorstep today.

 

[yuhsuen]

I loved the look under 400W SE 14K Hamilton ran on PFO HQI ballast. The crocea and especially the squamosa really took off in terms of growth.

I have 15K XM on the same ballast now and the colors are brighter because of the calvin difference, but still growing very fast.

Bottom line, if you want growth...need 10-15K MH for the PAR rating and good Ca levels. If you just want cool colors, 20K is the spectrum to go with.

That's just my personal take

 

[Angel*Fish]

yuhsuen,
Thanks! That's very specific & very helpful ---- just what I wanted know. I gather from mbunakeith that whatever I choose they'll look tons better than they do right now. If I could put them down on the sand with my VHO's they look better, but that's not healthy for them

 

[JR719]

Mine are under XM 10K's and 2 URI super actinic R's VHO's. The actinics really add the "black light effect". Meaning, they really glow with those lights, even with the MH's turned on. I liked the look of the tank with my Ushio's prior to the XM's. Next bulbs will be Ushio 10K's again.
I have the IceCap 250W ballast's and an IceCap 660 for actinics. My squammy has incredible growth and my Crocea is going steady. Both the XM's and Ushio's are good bulbs, but I like the look of the Ushio's better.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Thanks JR,
My present lighting is VHO 660 with 2 URI actinic R's (wonder what the "R" stands for?) & 2 50/50's also URI

I think I'll go with the 10,000 k Ushio's, too! Time will tell if the pink from the 50/50's works out. I like the Icecap 660 ballast a bunch so, like you, I want there halide ballasts also.

For the record... if anyone is interested - as mentioned above my bulbs are 8 in from water and clam mantles are from 1- 3 inches under surface -- that seems to be ok - but when I moved one down to 5 inches, it started reaching upwards with its mantle - My lights are < 2 mo old. Maybe if they all were 10,000 k's it would be better.(?)

 

[twkenny]

I'm trying to decide on replacement bulbs now for my 3 x 250 setup. I have CoralVue 10KK's and am considering Ushio and XM 10KK's, or possibly Hamilton 14KK's.
I have a Crocea (on a rock) and that sits in the sand.
Any suggestions?

 

[mbbuna]

xm 10k