Clam half open

[minus9]

No par meter. Wish I knew someone I could borrow from.

If you're in SoCal, jump onto the Socalireefs site and post there. Also reach out to AOA, they're in Long Beach and may have one to rent?

 

[Tcook]

Do you know the par where it sits? I'm not so sure an AI16 at 24" depth is strong enough for a clam....

I don't think they do. They are 55 watts and supposedly deliver 100 par at 24" according to AI. I'm sure that is with the lights right on the water with no surface movement. I would guess you are getting much less par at the bottom. As many have said, clams do well until they suddenly don't. You need to get hold of a par meter and check. You could also see if BRS did any testing on those lights like they did with the Kessils to get a better feel for the par without a meter.

 

[minus9]

To the OP, like I do in most of my posts about clams, I recommended that you buy James Fatherree’s latest book on clams. It’s a wealth of knowledge and will provide you much needed info going forward.

 

[minus9]

My main reason I gave the response about lighting is based on the corals I see in the picture that are around the clams. I’m not going to go into details, but you can see certain traits that corals exhibit in medium to low lighting.

 

[Jtwinn26]

So what would be the ideal lighting necessary for a Redsea Reefer 300xl clam paradise?

 

[minus9]

So what would be the ideal lighting necessary for a Redsea Reefer 300xl clam paradise?

I can't tell which light(s) to pick, but if you're going to keep clams (larger species) on the sand, then I would shoot for 200+ micro moles. This would keep squamosa, derasa and hippopus happy, but if you're wanting to add maxima or crocea down the road, then they'll need to be in the 350+ micro moles or more. Once you get some experience keeping clams successfully, then you'll know what to look for and what adjustments/ranges they'll be happy in. You really can't over-light clams, but you can certainly under-light them easily.
You can do a combo of lighting styles/types that will light the tank evenly, then use specific LED's to punch in the area the clams are located. You also have to consider the other animals/corals in the tank as well.

 

[vetteguy53081]

1.025 salinity.
78 temp.
9 alkalinity
450 calcium
450 mag
Nitrates 10
Phosphate 0.02

Mag should be 1300-1350

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Following

 

[minus9]

Mag should be 1300-1350

Actually most of those numbers are off, as they should be ranges and not hard set numbers. This is where everyone goes off the rails with numbers. If everyone kept a tank with the same numbers, then we would all be successful, right? But that's not how it works. The only parameter that should be targeted is salinity and it should be 35ppt. This is the baseline for all natural reefs and what we're trying to copy in our tanks. Most, if not all test kits are based around salinity of 35ppt.
Temp can be 76 - 80 with the target in the middle.
Ca can be 380ish to 450+
Mag can be 1280ish to 1500
Alk should be 7 - 9
N & P should be measurable. NO3 >1ppm and PO4 >0.05
I think if you're keeping N 10x of P, then that's a good starting point and you'll find the range that best suits your tank and animals. Again, don't go nuts on the numbers, let the animals tell you what they're happy with.
But the most important thing with keeping clams, is light, light, light. If you don't have the quality and quantity of light, then all of those numbers listed above are worthless. Light is the number one parameter that needs to be addressed with keeping clams. Once you have that nailed down, the rest of this will be easy to follow and manage.