would this work?

[Baltimore Bryan]

I am new to clams and was thinking of purchasing one in a month or two if it would do alright in my tank. It's a 30 gallon tank and I want to get a crocea because they stay smaller than the other clams. I have 4x 39 watt HO t5's and I've heard that crocea require high levels of light but if I put it up high maybe 2-3 inches from the surface would that be enough light? I'm basically just trying to figure out if a clam could live happily in that size tank with that much light.

[cakemanPA]

How long have you had the tank set up? I am not sure the tank size is really and issue. The lighting abound be ok if the clam is at the right level. My experience has been that clams do much better in established tank.

[Baltimore Bryan]

Tank has been up for about 7 months now. I know it may still be considered young but it hasn't fluctuated much at all lately and I've been keeping an anemone there for 3 months now which also needs a stable tank. Plus I won't be getting the clam for another month or two. Do you think the tank is established enough?

[cody6766]

I think you'll be fine. Do those bulbs have reflectors on them? If so, then I wouldn't sweat it. I think you'd be able to get away with the clam half or 3/4 of the way up. No need to leave it open to the air when you do water changes (assuming no sump)

[Thunderstruck34]

Whats your bulb combination too? Clams get the most out of 10'000K's so if you have 2 10K's and 2 420 actinics I don't think that would be the best for a crocea unless it's like 3" from the light. Swap out one of the actinics for another 10K and you should be fine if you haven't done so already.

[Baltimore Bryan]

Bulb combo is 3x 14,000 K's and 1 actinic. Lights do have reflectors. Will I be ok with the 14 K's instead of the 10 K's?

[mscarpena]

I would think you would be OK. 14K's are very close to 10K being a full spectrum bulb. I would not worry about it.

[Thunderstruck34]

meh, I would rather have the 10K's, i'm not really sure tho, if its 2-3 from the light might not be a problem but would you even be able to enjoy viewing it from such a height?

[TylerRt]

what about 20k's, i have them on my tank and i have 2 clams (maxima) at the moment. small one at the top under the 250 and the big one on the sand under the 175 and they doing just find. I got 4 more crocea coming tomorrow.