180g with T12 VHO's best clam choice?
 

Hello, I have no experience with clams or with t12's, but I'm trying to help out a nice teacher who has a tank set up at his school.

He would like a clam, but we're not sure what the best option would be.

He has:
2 x 160w 10,000k bulbs
2 x 160w actinic bulbs

They are all 72" T12 vho

There is plenty of room up on the rocks about half way up the tank, and plenty of room in the sand at the bottom as well, so placement suggestions would be helpful as well.

The lights are about 6" above the water

Thanks in advance!

squamosa giga's or derasa would probably be ok

Awesome, thank you very much! Someone was trying to sell him a crocea and a maxima, and I didn't think that was a good idea. But, since I have no experience with large tanks, clams or t12's I figured I should ask.

And judging from your sig... I'm guessing you know what you're talking about ;)

Thanks for your help!

For a derasa, what would be a good placement in the tank? With their lower light requirements, would it be ok down on the sand bed? This would be ideal, as the tank is in an elementary school, so the lower the clam is, the more the kids will be able to see it.

Make sure they have excellent reflectors. I would never put in maximas or croceas.

Derasa's are good on the sand depending on how deep the tank is.

Thanks for all of your help everyone, I really appreciate it, and I'm sure the teacher and students will as well.

For reflectors: (keep in mind, I no very little about t12's...)

Each of the bulbs appears to have a 180 degree built in reflector inside the actual bulb. There is definitely still light hitting the canopy instead of the tank though, so I have advised him we should add a reflector. There's not much room above the bulbs, so is there anything in particular that you would recommend?

As for croceas and maximas - that's what I was thinking, some guy was trying to sell him some. I told him the next week he'd seel you metal halides, and the week after that he'd sell him a chiller lol.

I think a derasa on the sand would be perfect, and we will look into that.


It's sad how many people have been trying to rip this guy off. This tank was setup and maintained by donations from the towns civic club and the parents of the students, and all along every fish store in a 50 mile radius is trying to screw him over.

He has a BEATIFUL umbrella leather, that is about 14" tall, and the cap is 16" across or so, and it is stunning. Some guy tried to buy it from him for like a hundred bucks or so. Looking at this coral, I think you get close to $100 worth of frags every month from it!!!! :eek:

The guy that sold him t-12's just a year ago, is already trying to convince him to buy a T5 set up from him now...

What makes people so against croceas and maximas?

I just finished reading "Giant clams in the sea and the aquarium by James Fatherree". It was a good book, and I believe he recommended Deresa or Squamosa as being the most hardy, but he didn't exactly say WHY crocea is a bad idea, other than that it's possibly the least hardy. That said....

I've seen alot of people with croceas that look great. Are you guys suggesting they're a bad idea in general, or just a bit more difficult, and not recommended to people who are new to clams?

Under what circumstances WOULD you recommend a crocea/maxima? I'm getting my 220 soon and I want to have a few tridacnids. I may start with the deresa, but I want to know what are the chances of eventually keeping a corcea/maxima.

Thanks all.

I would not take an authors opinion as being absolute. Croceas have the highest lighting needs of all the giant clams. They are also the least forgiving when it comes to their needs in an aquarium.
Croceas need very clean water and they don't like any sort of sediments or suspended debris as they can suffocate very easily in a tank with these conditions. You would have to have metal halides or an excellent t-5 fixture to keep croceas. Maximas are a little bit less light demanding but are not really any hardier.

To be honest with you I think it is really a stretch to keep any giant clams under VHO exclussively. I have tried and kept them for months but never long term using strictly VHO. You could make a poll on this site and lots of people would tell you the same thing.

Also the built in reflectors are not good enough. YOu need to get a reflector over the bulbs in addition to what they already have.

ok, my tank will have 3 x 250W XM 10k MH, in addition to 2 x 140W actinic VHO on icecap 430e.

I think it should be plenty for the crocea, if hes about halfway or so down in a 24" tall tank (30 minus 6" DSB).

but I think ill start with a derasa regardless.

RyanBrucks

This particular thread is asking about clams with vho bulbs. I beleve that crocea's and maxima's wouldn't do too good under strictly vho lighting.

I would support anyone with good mh or t5 lighting to keep all of the tridacnids.

You are smart to start with derasa, they are the most forgiving clam to start with. Crocea's are pretty easy to keep with strong lighting but they seem to be the most suceptable to pinched mantle followed by squamosa and maxima.

ah ok that makes sense. I do recall reading that in the book. Guess I wasn't really considering that 2 x 160w 10,000k and 2 x 160w actinic would be not enough light, since at first glance it sounds like alot :)

are T5s (with more bulbs), a more reasonable solution for the light demanding tridacnids? anybody highly succesful in that area?

I mostly ask because I assume its a good idea to QT tridacnids, would a high intensity fixture be necessary over the quarantine, or can they 'get by' for a few weeks of reduced lighting?


so many things to learn in this hobby that sometimes I fear I have to forget something in order to learn something :D

lol yep my tank is lit by t5 lighting. My clams are thriveing. In a qt tank you can have a little less light but not alot. Over in the nano forum there are alot of people keeping clams with pc lighting.

good to know.

this is taking me some time to get all the equipment I need together in order to have a complete operation going. in the beginning you never factor in that you'll need to pay a few extra hundred dollars just to light a quarantine tank....

ab420,

Can you post back with pictures of the tank sometime? I always like to see how tanks in schools are doing. especially if it means that somebody here could see the tank and offer important suggestions.

Ryan Brucks