Enough light for a Maxima?? Please advise!

[goodblasson]

I have a 60 gal with 260w power compact. I just bought a 3.5" maxima clam while on a trip. I just ordered 220Watt VHO and was assuming they will be in today. Found out not till end of week. Now I am worried I might do harm to my clam b/c I may not meet its lighting needs. I could not pass up this clam b/c it was so cheap $34.00. Or am I totally off and my Power compacts and Vho wont be enough light?? Is it only possible to keep clams under metal halide?? Please advise!

[goodblasson]

I just got an id on my clam and I think it may be a Crocea. So in this case how are my lights?

[mbbuna]

Croceas are the most light demanding of all the clams. maximas come in a very close 2nd. the lighting you have is going to be pushing it. people do it and sometimes get away with it.

[Don Berry]

Not enough in my opinion. You may be able to sustain one under that lighting, but long term it won't thrive.

[goodblasson]

So in most peoples opinion Metal Halide is the only way to go with clams???

[goodblasson]

I guess I am just waiting for a sigh of relief from a fellow reefer who will say " ive been doing it like that for years, no problem!"

[perpetual98]

I've had a crocea and a squammy under overdriven T5 for months and they're looking great. I'm also adding a calcium reactor to that particular tank too, so I'm hoping that helps with growth for everything in the tank.

[Omar H]

I tried both crocea and maximas with pc's and none of them survived, no matter how closed to the light.

They appeared to do very well for a couple of months, until their "sudden" death.

For me, MH and phyto represented the keys to success at keeping them.

Omar

[luisprado]

I've been keeping a maxima clam in my 24g nanocube for over a year now with 144watts pc. When I purchased the clam, it was roughly 1.5" now it has pretty much doubled in size and is very healthy. I keep him at the very top of my rocks and spot feed it phyto once a week.

[joeychitwood]

I can only relate my own experience, but I had a Crocea clam which sat on the rocks about 16 inches from the water surface in a Oceanic 55+ show tank under 4 X 65 watt PC lights. It grew and thrived with no extra feedings. I had it for several years.

[thebicyclecafe]

If the clam is small enough <~3 inches, it can live off lower light provided that it is fed phytoplankton. As it ages it relies more heavily on light, though never 100%. T-5HO (with individual reflectors) or the proper wattage MH are the only lights nowadays that can enable captivity of a Tridacnid clam successfully.

[critterkeeper]

The problem with waiting for someone, or even a few people, to come in a say that they've kept a crocea under fluorescents is that anyone that has done so more than likely just got lucky with their clam pick.

We tend to think of individuals of "lower" animal groups as all being the same - but they aren't. Each individual clam is genetically distinct, and field observations back that idea up.

After all, what do you see in the wild - LOTS of them in a couple of feet of water. A good number down to several feet. Very few at say 12 feet. Only a very rare individual at 20 feet...

What I'm getting at is that if you took 100 croceas - all of them would be able to live under a 250w MH. Maybe 90 could live under 175wMH. Maybe 50 could live under a full set of T5 if placed on the rockwork. Maybe 10 could make it on the bottom with T5. And maybe 1 out of that 100 would make it on the bottom under a couple of VHOs. I made those numbers up, but you should get the idea.

So, again, if one person or even a few come out and say they've kept a crocea under fluorescents - that in no way implies that all croceas would make it under the same conditions.

[goodblasson]

Well my clam seems to be doing pretty good with the VHO's and the PC's. I do feed alot of dt's phytoplankton so I hope its helping also. Thanks for all the input. I just needed to relieve my stress by having others tell me there is a possible chance that my equiptment can support my clam. Thanks guys.

[Peabody]

Just a warning....they usually croak at around the 6 month mark. If you can make it past a year, you will probably ok with those lights.