If this was yours...what would your choices be?

[reeferkeeper]

First...I never know if these lighting questions should be in the equipment forum or not.
second...I know there is not 1 answer to this question, but I would appreciate your opinions. I have the halide/actinic fixture pictured below. It has come time to replace the halides and the actinics. I want to be able to keep whatever I want. I would LOVE to have some clams, but havent had any luck with them...everything else has done great. I am under the impression that I can only have 175 watt bulbs, but I am not sure if that is true or not. But...If this was your fixture, and you were getting all new bulbs, what would you be buying? Thanks

 

[traxryu]

whats you total wattage and the size of your tank? Usually for clams you want at least 6 watts per gallon(If anyone thinks something else, say so). I have two clams and they have done nothing but great! A side from one that was murdered by a hammer! <img src="graemlins//yell.gif" border="0" alt="[yell]" /> But anyway if you have 6 watts per gallon or more you should be able to do everything, even acropora. If your changing you bulbs go for the 20K. These things are outstanding. They have a blue tint that comes across looking like the ocean.
Hope I helped!

 

[jacksonpt]

reefkeeper... I'm assuming you had 175w MH in there before? I'd stick with the 175s again then, but it just depends on the balast as to what bulbs you can run (higher or lower watts). I'd say to go with 10k MH. I went from 10k to 20k NO bulbs once and my critters didn't seem to like it as well. I still needed an actinic to keep the nice coloring.
Just my $.02

 

[reeferkeeper]

Sorry..I forgot that information. I only have a 55 gal. I had/have 2 175watt 10,000 k metal halides and 2 actinics. But I have been doing some research and am finding out that there are german made..european and american...is there a difference?

 

[shootonsite]

Be careful, lighting is only part of the care and maintenance of clams. If you've had problems in the past, It may not be a lack of lighting. You can have too much light. Clams have different lighting needs, current tolerance, and tank placement. Also, pyramid snails and bristleworms will hunt down clams. Once you've made these adjustments, you'll find that clams are very easy to take care of.

 

[reeferkeeper]

yes, I realize that there is more to clam keeping then lights . I was just adressing the light issue in this post...but since you brought it up I had the squamosa sp? clams. They did great for a week. Appeared happy in every way...then woke up one morning and there was nothing left but the shells...no sign of any of the three clams...any ideas?

 

[fishymissy]

From my understanding of clams, they prefer lighting in the 5600 to 6000 Kelvin rating. Although the 10,000K is usually used with MH, I sure wouldn't go any higher than that for clams.
As far as the death of your clam; crabs, shrimp and starfish are all known killers of clams. There is a theory that clams newly introduced into a tank will exude a mucus that shrimp and crabs find very tasty. It is wise to remove or isolate crabs and shrimp while the clam becomes accustomed to its' new home. And of course, starfish are the natural predators of clams. Or.... the clams could have died from other causes and your clean up crew took care of the remains!
HTH
I wanted to add this link to some great articles about clams.....
<a href="http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_frontiers/On_The_Half_Shell.html" target="_blank">www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_frontiers/On_The_Half_Shell.html</a>
Excellent photo too!

 

[shootonsite]

Fishymissy makes a good point. Squamosa clams require the least light of the tridacnas and are considered the easiest to keep. Unfortunately, they have a very large byssal opening that makes them vulnerable to predation. Clams with this problem are best kept perched on live rock, away from the substrate. Try to purchase medium to large farm-raised clams. They are stronger internally and are better suited for tank conditions.

 

[reeferkeeper]

Thanks everyone. I feel better about my lighting. I knew it wasnt "bad" or anything, but I just wanted to know if there was a brand of MH that was prefered for a reef. I really wanted to try the 20,000k MH, but you really think that would NOT be a good idea? I don't have to have the squamosa clams..I could get different. I am starting to think that part of my problem was that I did try to save some money and bought some small clams, I did try to feed them also and thought that eveything was ok. BUT <----Thats a big BUT...I did have a couple stars..a Chocolate Chip and a "I am not sure what kind it is"...When I purchased the stars, they were of course sold as reef safe, they have been banished to the sump along with my 2 "reef safe" urchins. Would serpent stars and bristle stars hunt them too?