PLEASE READ! seriously i need an honest opinon, not a biased etc. sry for being rude!

[dan10342]

ok here's the deal. im going to list all of my tank inhabitants, water params. lighting, filtration etc. this topic, before i go into the details, is about clams.

ok the water params.
sg. 1.025
ammonia/nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: .02 ppm (about)
ph. 8.3 (is that too low?)
temp. 78-80 (fluctuates between winter and summer)
uh u need any others.. i just posted basic params... ?

lighting:
3 x 110 watt vho
110 x actinic blue
220 x 50/50 (12000k??)
(made by uri)


filtration
coralife super skimmer
going to put a canaster filter hooked up to sump tank (for carbon)

spong **** in overflow box... i dont think that counts though!


current tank inhabitants

1 yellow tang
1 royal gramma
1 coral banded shrimp
blue leged hermits
2 turbo snails
many stomatella snails
various pods
feather dusters (must be thousands)
sponges (idk species)


xenia coral (grows like mad)
gsp (grows like xenia)
mushrooms

cabbage coral
kenya trees (grows crazy)

torch coral

zoanthids (got attacked by aipasia... then i killed aiptasia w/ joes juice... or seemed to have killed them. do butterfly (copperband ) or peppermint shrimp pick at clams?

1 deresa clam on bottom of tank (in sand... attached to the bottom glass) the clam has evident growth, white as opposed to older coralline covered shell) has proly more than doubled in size (3 to 6 inches in about 7 months)

the question is can i put in a more colorful clam ( t. maxima or t. squamosa) in if i have them high in the rockwork? (a total of 7 inches from vho lights)

i right now, do not want to do any more plumbing, so i do not want a chiller. and my parents electrical bill is already hurting as it is. so i cannot go metal halide. i was thinking t-5s but that would mean all the money spent on vho endcaps and bulbs went to waste. (not cheap when there are 3 bulbs)

so could i possibly keep a maxima (blue or goldish) or a very intensly colored "squamy"??

i posted the thing about no biased ****... because of those select few indiviuals who think metal halide are the only lights out there...

thank you for your help

[dan10342]

sry.. this is the real thread... i dont know why it double posted.

[jdieck]

Unfortunately Derassas require lot less lighting so it is difficult to judge based on it if other clams might be succesful.
I have read of some surviving under VHO for some time but success is not assure, I would say there might be a 50% or less chance of they making it.

[dan10342]

perhaps if i did biweekly feedings of phyto

[jdieck]

Originally posted by jjjo
perhaps if i did biweekly feedings of phyto

Might help but depending on your tank you need good skimming as the pytho will increase your input of phosphates and nutrients so you need a good skimmer to keep them in check.

[2crazyreefers]

You might want to ask this on the clam forum. I am sure most will say no and that is MHO as well. I only know of 2 feerers who kept these under PC with success, halide is what is best for them.

[Craig Lambert]

What size tank is this? I have 630 watts of vho over a 75G and have been told (on the clam forum) I could keep a Squamosa, or Derasa but NOT a Maxima. You should post this on the Clam forum. On a side note you didn't list your Alkalinity, which is one of the most important parameters.

[dan10342]

alk is 11 dkh (is that bad??)
havnt tested calc in a while... lfs is a hual and gas is expensive... ill get a calc test kit soon though (yea im a noob)

tank is 55 gallons

[dan10342]

isnt 11 dkh a little bit on the high side?? that would mean calc is a low?? im really confused

[Craig Lambert]

Your Alk level is at the highest end of the acceptable range (7-11 dKH), but that may be an indication that your calcium is low unless you are dosing pretty heavily. You should pick up some Salifert test kits. They are accurate, and easy to use.

As far as your lighting over a 55G, I would agree with others that clams are a longshot at best under your lighting. The thing about clams is that they can look healthy for as long as 9 months, and then one day they turn on a dime because they have been slowly starved to death as the lack of light does not allow them to produce their own food. 330 watts vho over a 55G is a rather "low light" tank. Most people running vho have a 4 bulb 440 watt setup, and even that is on the low side for what you would like to try.

[dan10342]

alright. should i get rid of my 6 inch deresa too and just stick with softie/lps corals?

[SDguy]

I'm just dying to know what profinity can be used with the word "sponge ****" and "biased ****"

[dan10342]

profanity removed

There is no need to make end runs around the profanity filters

[dan10342]

moderators... sry for the language. just wanted to show the guy above what i meant.. u know word filters arent that effective. u might want to look into a more effective word filter

[dan10342]

anyway back to the topic. should i just sell the clam back to the lfs (they said if it got bigger they would buy it

[Watch Yo Wrasse]

Deleted

[Watch Yo Wrasse]

Deleted.

[dan10342]

hey now.. no need for that language. the moderators might get mad

[Watch Yo Wrasse]

♠♣☻♂♀♥♦

[Watch Yo Wrasse]

I'm sorry.

[John Q Reefer]

*gasp*

[SDguy]

Yikes! I thought it was some filter malfunction....I didn't think people actually write like that

[dan10342]

no it is no filter malfunction

[billsreef]

Originally posted by jjjo
hey now.. no need for that language. the moderators might get mad

[The Saltwater Kid]

I had a Derasa clam under 130w of PC lighting and he was happey and healthy (and he was on the bottom of my tank in the sand bed). I think you should definitely be able to have a Derasa and most likely a Squamosa but would stay away from the other species unless you get more lighting.