Clam ID and position?

[jacob_poly]

Hi,
Was wondering if anyone could id this clam for me and tell me also if its better off on teh sand or the rock.
Thanks!!

 

[seannmelly]

My guess is a Maxima clam and they like to be in the sand so they can foot.

 

[oceana]

that is a crocea clam not a maxima. and they belong in the rockwork. they are also the most light demanding of all the clams

 

[seannmelly]

Originally Posted by oceana
that is a crocea clam not a maxima. and they belong in the rockwork. they are also the most light demanding of all the clams
Ours look just like that except more symmetrical and they said it was a maxima?? What's the diff if i might ask?? (its our first clam)

 

[fallnhorse]

Originally Posted by oceana
that is a crocea clam not a maxima. and they belong in the rockwork. they are also the most light demanding of all the clams
100% correct. I have one in my tank. Oh he's a god send

..Absorb phosphates, nitrates, and just pretty. Has brought my tank to a high level.

 

[oceana]

Originally Posted by seannmelly
Ours look just like that except more symmetrical and they said it was a maxima?? What's the diff if i might ask?? (its our first clam)
look at the flutes on the side of the shell. a maxima has large ones getting bigger towards the top. crocea has very small if any.

 

[jacob_poly]

so I take it that the rock is the right place for him then?

 

[oceana]

yes. they are a boring clam. as in the secrete a calcium eating fluid and slowly eat there way into the rock. not to worry though this takes places over many years not over night

 

[granny]

Oceana, Does that mean they MUST have metal halides? This is a beautiful clam, but my tank only has 260 watts of PC. Is it possible to place one high enough on the rockwork to provide adequate light? Are they also filter feeders? Do you have to supplement feed your clam?
I have several cleaner clams in my tank and that is all. They burow beneath the sand an I never see them till I clean and dig into the sand to find them!

 

[seannmelly]

Originally Posted by oceana
look at the flutes on the side of the shell. a maxima has large ones getting bigger towards the top. crocea has very small if any.

Oooooooh...Gotchya

Yep mine is a maxima thank you for the help. Like i said, we are new to clams this is our first one :joy: He is under metal halides in a small plastic container w/ sand in it(we were told to do this so worms wont eat at his foot and kill him).

 

[oceana]

Originally Posted by Granny
Oceana, Does that mean they MUST have metal halides? This is a beautiful clam, but my tank only has 260 watts of PC. Is it possible to place one high enough on the rockwork to provide adequate light? Are they also filter feeders? Do you have to supplement feed your clam?
I have several cleaner clams in my tank and that is all. They burow beneath the sand an I never see them till I clean and dig into the sand to find them!
in this case the crocea clam is the most difficult of clams to care hot. IMO under pc only lighting it is destine to a date with mortality. may take longer to starve because it is getting some light but again IMO it will in fact starve by around 6 months at the most.
if it was me i would take it back to the store asap and then speak to the management. You should ask two questions.
1. Why are they selling this as a maxima when in fact it not
2.why did they not ask what sort of lighting you had to insure the animal was going to a proper home. the moment you said pc lighting IMO a good store would not sell you a clam.
well that is unless they are more worried abuot getting your money then you having a positive experience with this wonderful hobby.
GL to ya. not to worry every single person on this forum has made purchases that should not have been made. We all started new at some point.

 

[fallnhorse]

I have a question about lighting for this clam. I'm using florsents. about 7 watts per gallon. I leave them on for way longer than i'm suppose to. I've burned out my nitrates after 3 weeks of having the clam. i've stopped growing nussiance algae and coralline is taking over very rapidly. I even bought a condy anomone that was all but bleached and in one month he is a deep brown and glows under atnic. Does the duration of my lights being on counter act my insentiy lacking? My zoo are just exploding. I have some that lost there green zoo algae when they broke off. I place them on a platform under very close to the lights and they get glowing green about in about a week. While the ones at the bottom of the tank take longer. Perhaps postions and duration of lighting is very important too in this equation? I think perhaps it is a way to sqeak by on less wattage in my experience. My condy was all by goning to die and them i left the light on for long as i'm up. Off when i sleep. My reef tank is doing great. They say i'll have more algae but i all but burned up the source for nussiance algae. Now it's helping my coralline to get a foot hold on my tank

. Just a thought for everyone. My animals are alot happier. They are up anyway from stay light till i got to bed anyway. But i got to bed at a reasonable time too. I need my sleep.

 

[fishieness]

fallnhorse:that doesnt matter at all. the length of light will not do a thing. it is light intensity. sometimes anenomes will darken up when they are not getting enough light too. There is no way you have enough light for either of those unless you havae t5. they will most likely starve and die. it doesnt matter now long the lights are on if they cannot penetrate strong enough deep enough for anything to grow.
granny: for most types of tridanca clams, metal halides are a must. you could also do a lot of t5s. some people have claimed to be able to keep derasas or even squamosas under 260 watts of PC. but this is not good for the clam. IMO, for longterm survival, you must have metal halides or t5. and yes, clams feed on phytoplankton. you will find small amounts in your tank naturaly probably. but msot is skimmed out. or you can buy it live such as DTs. But this will not save a clam. you must have the lighting

 

[fallnhorse]

I do believe your logic is flawed. So an bleached anomone just developed zooleathnae algae cause of dark light....Right? Not even going to acknowledge that with a coherent thought. You do know intense light can bleach coral as well? I believe insenity is too often subsituted for duration. Hmmm i see a science project coming here. So only halides will penetate clams mantle. I thought only the deep blue septrum pentrates?420 antic. In relation to distance. So what is your distance to wattatge to light? Also these clams thrive on nitrate levels and phosphates that would be hazardous to reef aquaruims. Perhaps most reef aquiariums are too well kept to ever supple the nutruient of these creature. Most fish are clowns, tangs, and etc. NOt messy eaters no waste. These clams thrive on waste. In farmer they are feed amoniia nitrate. FERTILIZER. Some most lethal elements to reef tanks. there are good PFD manuals on how to farm raise these clams. Just google "rasing gaint clams repoduction". I really reccommend it. How do you subutitue there nutriution? Commericial producer uses amonia nitrate. I use messy eater and filter food. even them it's hard enough to provide enough nitrates to the clams. But very fasicnating to watch the chemistry at hand. Do you do head count with a mircoscope to count plankton in your tank? So much nutrient is dirived from this, plus there mantle. They need both to survive and propser.

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by fallnhorse
I do believe your logic is flawed. So an bleached anomone just developed zooleathnae algae cause of dark light....Right? Not even going to acknowledge that with a coherent thought. You do know intense light can bleach coral as well? I believe insenity is too often subsituted for duration. Hmmm i see a science project coming here. So only halides will penetate clams mantle. I thought only the deep blue septrum pentrates?420 antic. In relation to distance. So what is your distance to wattatge to light? Also these clams thrive on nitrate levels and phosphates that would be hazardous to reef aquaruims. Perhaps most reef aquiariums are too well kept to ever supple the nutruient of these creature. Most fish are clowns, tangs, and etc. NOt messy eaters no waste. These clams thrive on waste. In farmer they are feed amoniia nitrate. FERTILIZER. Some most lethal elements to reef tanks. there are good PFD manuals on how to farm raise these clams. Just google "rasing gaint clams repoduction". I really reccommend it. How do you subutitue there nutriution? Commericial producer uses amonia nitrate. I use messy eater and filter food. even them it's hard enough to provide enough nitrates to the clams. But very fasicnating to watch the chemistry at hand. Do you do head count with a mircoscope to count plankton in your tank? So much nutrient is dirived from this, plus there mantle. They need both to survive and propser.
i know, but if you dont understand what im saying i would appreciate you asking what i mean instead of trying to say im an idiot. let me explain: The anenome tries to produce as much zoo as it could to try to make up for it. they dont always jsut turn white. soemtiems they get darker first and then start to bleech. if your lights do not have a high enough PAR rating, then they will not penetrate nearly as deep as a clam or anenome would need. Even with metal halides, you loose a LOT of output in just an inch or two of water.
and the reason why they thrive in messy aquariums is because of the zoo located in them. They have 10 times more than normal corals. It is an algae, which needs nitrogen and phosphates to survive as they play a very large role in both the nitrogen and phosphate cycles. This is why they are fed fertilizer. This is why they need more than normal corals, because they have 10 times the amount. NItrates, nitrites, amonia(which is not absorbed by the zoo until is is broken down), ect, are not used for nutrition it is used to make amino acids, not energy. They get the energy form the glucose that is produced by the zoo while conducting photosythesis.
and i do believe that actinic lights do not penetrate as much because their PAR is lower. ALthough blue lights are one of the most used wavelengths for plans containing chlorophyl a and b (most common types, although most do have accessory pigments too), it doesnt have the PAR to reach way down to corals. We use actinics for color. this is why people put lower K rating bulbs over their refugium, because they are worried about growth, nto color.

 

[fallnhorse]

i have read about everything i can get my hands on, on lighting. However it just seems like a bunch of contradicting opnions to no end. Ok i use 10,000k as the bulk of my lighting soure and atincs to give it a bluing affect. To which i think means blue as penetrates further but anything over 10,000k emitts from the blue and green septrum to penetrate further. If i can understanding right? SO halides 10,000k and over are good for them? I thought even florsent t-5 where antic and less effective as halides? So i'm more confused than ever...lol. please explain about t-5 and halides over 10,000k. What the advantages for each and disadvantages.

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by fallnhorse
i have read about everything i can get my hands on, on lighting. However it just seems like a bunch of contradicting opnions to no end. Ok i use 10,000k as the bulk of my lighting soure and atincs to give it a bluing affect. To which i think means blue as penetrates further but anything over 10,000k emitts from the blue and green septrum to penetrate further. If i can understanding right? SO halides 10,000k and over are good for them? I thought even florsent t-5 where antic and less effective as halides? So i'm more confused than ever...lol. please explain about t-5 and halides over 10,000k. What the advantages for each and disadvantages.
hmmm..... im not entirely sure what you are asking, so let me try to explain and if i get something wrong then jsut point me in the right direction :thinking:
Light intensity is not measured in wats. It is measured in PAR. The K rating is the spectrum. the lower the K, the more yellow it will be. a 10000K is a white bulb, and higher than than, up to 20000K, you will have a very very very blue color. The higher the K, the less PAR there so, so although you have more blue light which is best used for photosynthesis, a lot of the light will be diffused out and not able to penetrate the water to reach your live stock. The lowerK bulbs like a 65000K, even if it is the same wattage and type of bulb, has a higher PAR output. Things will grow faster, but you will not have the nice color tha tyouw ould have with a higher K.
This is why people use actinics and high K bulbs. To give more color. and this is why they are most often used as suppliments, because they can still have the nice growth of a 10000K and have nice color like a 14000-16000K.
however, t5s also come is all the K spectrum ratings too. YOu can get them in a 10000K or even in a 65000K. But as far as it output, if you had the same amount of watts of each and at the same K, you are going to get different opinions to which is better. someone who owns MH is goign to say those are better. and anyone who owns t5s are going to say those are better. lol
Advantages of 10000K halide:
very high light output
good growth without a yellow effect
disadvantages:
only covers about a 2 foot square of light
can get very hot
pricey
Advantages of 10000K t5:
very slim to fit many over your tank
very high light output
good growth without a yellow effect
fit all the way across your tank, so you can cover your entire tank (i have this problem because i have 1 150 watt over my 36" tank)
very cool in temp (and in looks. haha)
you can get a good number in a variety or watts anywhere form 1-8 bulbs
disadvantages:
pricey

 

[fallnhorse]

ok i think you just condense a book there, or at least a good chapter. I'm think of buying 250watt 10,000k halide for my tank. I'm using florsents right now and there are so many it's so ugly to look at.

I want only half of my 55gallon with intense light. I got low light coral and some high light coral. Between the two they create an "equalibrium" if you will. Of course they got their own sides. Why i'm consideing my next tank to be a 125 long instead of a 110 tall. I get the low light "lagoon" and the shallow intense light tidal area. It creates a truly unique ecosystem with benfits i have found out. Or i'm crazy at this point

Is 250watt of halide 10,000k too much? or just have it place up higher above the tank? I also read start halide high and slowly lower them over weeks time or so. To let the corals to acclimate. Does that sound right? Is 250 too much or should i could with 175? I want to use a 30 watt antic for blue affect on that side too. Will this mesh?

 

[fishieness]

how high is the tank and what type of light lighting corals are you expecting?
that could work nicely. But id go with something like PC or VHO actinics, taht way the lowerlight mushrooms will get pleanty of light and it would blend together nicly. But if you do acclimate them, you can have mushrooms and pretty much any corals under halides. you jsut have to acclimate slowly.
there are a few ways to acclimate, what i did is only ahve the halides on for 4 horus a day initialy. ever week i turned it up an hour or so. And i also moved everythign to the side, out of direct light. i didnt have a lot then. or what some people do it put screen over the tank. a few layers. and ever week or so take off a layer.

 

[reeferdawg]

i have T-5 432 watts on a 55 g 4 lamps are 460nm actinic and 4 lamps are 10,000k is this enough to keep anmones and clams in good health? :notsure: