Planning New Clam Tank Thread!!! HELP ME!

[nudilove]

Hi! Nudilove here.
Well, Henry the Gigas has been growing at a rather fantastically alarming rate I must say.... And so has Bucky the Sqaumie. I'm literally having panic attacks keeping them in the 24 clam garden, and frantically testing salinity and such three times a day to make sure its as stable as it can be. Anyway, they deserve better!

Basically my mom works for a big corporation that moved and then got sold in a merger, so, they cleaned out the storage and I got the massive display tank FREE WITH CABINET, SUMP, UV STERILIZER, CHILLER, AND PUMPS. Omg match made in heaven right?

Well....Not so much. Its a pentagon corner, and its TALL I mean TAAAAAAALLLLLLL. Its about 36" on the side walls and AT LEAST 36 tall...ITS A BEAST...Im a medium sized gal and I know I will be paying for lifting that thing into my truck with the help of a guy friend tomorrow! Im thinking its between 90 and 120 gallons, since the normal corners that arent as tall are about 90.

The good thing points are that is it pre drilled has a nice overflow, and all the accessories a girl could want... Except...dun dun dun, lighting. ACK. I am prepared to invest in lighting, delighted to even to make a wonderful home for my clams!
How on EARTH am I supposed to get enough wattage to my gigas and squamies at the bottom with out toasting everybody else! I'd like to mix some 14k Halides with some 20's for the nice blue touch, but honestly I think I will have to have two side by side in the front and one in the back since I will be having a BIG sandbed for the gigas!

Anyway, I dont mind selling the tank and buying something more appropriate, I will attempt to post pics if I can even wedge it out of my poor suburban (it was crammed to the ceiling and bottomed out my offroading airshocks ALLLLL the way home)

Can someone help me out with how to get enough light to my clams? Without spending $600 a month powering the chiller???

HELP!

[mbbuna]

for 36" depth your going to need 400w MH to reach the sand bed. if you use 10k reeflux bulbs they will give you the blue you are looking for and all the intensity of a 10k. with some creative rock work and this (http://www.reefexotics.com/lumenarc.htm) reflector you should be able to cover most of the tank with just one 400w MH and maybe a few T5's on the side to fill in

[hebdo27]

Yup...mbbuna's suggestion is right up my ally...400W would be perfect and it won't be that bad for heat.

[nudilove]

How far from the water's surface should I place it? The hood is SUPER thin, it was initially a Fish Only tank with basically a flourescent light slapped in there, I have to remove the hood obviously, but I'm not sure how I can make this look good in my living room!

Also, for the croceas and maximas dont you want 7-10w per gallon?

[loosbrew]

is it Reef Ready? If not you can always modify the idea by filling it 2/3's the way up, through a few mangroves in the back so they dont shade the clams, you can get creative with aquascaping, making making shelfs and covering them with sand to look and feel natural to raise the clams close to the lights. Alomst like a true mangrove tank... then you can plumb it to your existing tank and reap the benefits of all that extra volume and "filtration"...

just a few thoughts of the top of my head...

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9653356#post9653356 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nudilove
How far from the water's surface should I place it? The hood is SUPER thin, it was initially a Fish Only tank with basically a flourescent light slapped in there, I have to remove the hood obviously, but I'm not sure how I can make this look good in my living room!

Also, for the croceas and maximas dont you want 7-10w per gallon?

i think most people run 400's at about 12" off the water.

watts per gal is an old outdated way of trying to determine lighting needs. what you really need to look at is the ability of the light source to drive light to the depth you need

[mbbuna]

heres a good example of how watts per gal is no good. Atlantic marine worlds 20,000gal reef tank uses 22,000 watts of MH. that works out to a little more then 1 watt per gal.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/2/aquarium

[a4twenty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9653811#post9653811 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mbbuna
i think most people run 400's at about 12" off the water.

that's where mine are, 12" to the center of the bulb

[nudilove]

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone! So I guess I will have to build a whole new hood, its already so heavy and the tank is so deep its going to be a b*tch to aquascape!

So if I didnt get the big huge wappo zappo reflector, could I do something like 3 x 250w halides in a triangle pattern? I have a place I can get a refurbished set up with reflector and refurbed ballasts for about $150. Or do I need the 400w to penetrate to the bottom of the tank?

[nudilove]

On the same note, could I do a couple 400's in the front and like a 250 in the back? I am just trying to get really good coverage!

[mbbuna]

if you want to reach the bottom of the tank with any kind of usable light you really need the 400. that reflector is big but its big for a reason. it spreads the light and covers a big foot print. if i were you i would get that reflector with a 400 and mount it towards the front of the tank but so its cocked back some(pointing towards the back a little) fire it up and see where you need more light, then fill in with some T5's

[nudilove]

Okay!
My dad and I carried it into the house, NO FUN AT ALL, my arms are shaking (literally).

Here's a picture.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h268/callmemazer/100_0510.jpg

I will definitely think more about that big reflector, I just want to make ultra sure that this a good tank to attempt clams in, rather than just selling it and getting something more practical, its so damn TALL!

[nudilove]

Well, I think I have decided to sell it, I think its just too impractical maintenance wise and would be a huge pain to get perfect for clams, anyone in the OC area interested?