a maxima q? and an observation

[a4twenty]

after seeing all the new clams everyone is getting, i caught the bug and went to the LFS today. i knew they got a maxima shipment in just before Xmas. when i checked before they were all brown or golden ( not that there is anything wrong with that but i was hopping for more color as i already have a derasa with that coloration ). when i was there today i opened the door on top of the tank and took a peek in from above and one of them is a nice light green. not like a crocea but a more subtle green like a squamie green. they keep their clams under 175w MH in a 12" deep tank which i would figure would be fine. oh yeah and he is about 3".

after all that here is the question finally. the remaining clams all appear to be a little white in the middle of the mantle. i know that is usually not a good sign but i also remember reading here before that sometimes maxima's look this way. so the question is, am i making that up to convince myself it will be ok to buy him or is it true? other than that they all look great and react well to shadows. once acclimatized to my system he will not be looking for extra light as i run 400w 10K lights. i am going for the clam 'royal flush' ( one of each ) and have a nice crocea and derasa so far.

the observation is: i placed both of my clams so i could see in there incurrent siphon and both have turned ( one went 90 deg. and the other went 270 deg. ) so their exhalent siphon is pointing towards the light. is this common or did i maybe leave the cap of the PVC glue for to long?

[ezcompany]

as long as the mantle extension is fine and the inhalant siphon isn't stretched too wide, reacts well to light, it should be okay. make sure you acclimate him to your light though, 175 to 400 is a big jump, not to mention 10ks. my maxima is white in the middle but seems to be perfectly healthy so far.

[mbbuna]

alot of Maximas seem to be opaque in the center, but its not bleaching. if it reacts well in all other ways and you like it then i would get it.

[a4twenty]

i already did :D

i was there at opening and put a hold on him while i went to finish a job. i almost bought all three, they were going to give a better deal. i paid $60 CAN ( about $48 - $50 US ) which is about normal up here.

i poked my head right inside this time and they are under 250W MH ( i don't understand why if an employee doesn't know would just make something up???? ) in a 12" deep tank. i would guess that would be comparable to 24" deep under 400W's. but i will still acclimatize him to the new lights. i usually decrease the photo period and cover them with a piece of Tupperware ( with holes in the side for flow ) for the first week or so.

he's currently floating around in the dark in my sump and has passed the first inspection. i'm so tempted to bypass QT but dread the thought of hurting my other babies :sad2:

the more i looked at him the less it looked like bleaching and the more it started looking like part of the pattern. ( probably just trying to convince myself )

thanks for the responses

[jmaneyapanda]

Under a 400 watt 10K, you might be able to get that green to pop a little maore. I've recently seen some nice fatigue green maximas. There are lovely.

[a4twenty]

i am very happy with the color, i just didn't want to have two clams with very similar colors ( at least until i give up on only have 1 of each ) i really like the pale green color, like i said above it looks like a squamie green. which is good because all the squamies i've seen up here are quite bland. i have taken pics in the QT but i can't get the F'ing card to read in my computer.

[a4twenty]

so i got a card reader yesterday because the built in wouldn't work. needless to say 8 beers later i still couldn't get it to read. :mad2:

so today i looked at it again, pulled out the card , flipped it over and pushed it back in. i'm such a loser some times :eek:

here's the best pic i could get so far. had him out of QT floating in a Tupperware in my fuge for inspection. light is a 27w 6.5k CF ( no flash ). he's only 2 1/2" too, i think i said 3" before.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/109536newmax.jpg

[slojmn]

Very nice camo green you got there. Sweet :D.