Clam in quarantine

sluicebox · Jul 11, 2012

Does a new clam in quarantine for 10 days need exceptional lighting? I have an Eclipse 12 gallon tank with the regular small PC's that come with the tank for quarantine. My display tank is a 175 gallon with 800 watts of T5 lighting. Can I quarantine the clam in the small tank without the necessary lighting until I am sure he is healthy before moving to the display tank or will the lack of lighting be a big problem? Thanks for any suggestions.

Steelerfan747 · Jul 11, 2012

sluicebox said:
Does a new clam in quarantine for 10 days need exceptional lighting? I have an Eclipse 12 gallon tank with the regular small PC's that come with the tank for quarantine. My display tank is a 175 gallon with 800 watts of T5 lighting. Can I quarantine the clam in the small tank without the necessary lighting until I am sure he is healthy before moving to the display tank or will the lack of lighting be a big problem? Thanks for any suggestions.

Wow 800 watts of T-5 lighting? What are the dimensions of the tank? Unless your tank is very deep, you could probably do with 400 - 500 watts and grow sps.

sluicebox · Jul 11, 2012

Steelerfan747 said:
Wow 800 watts of T-5 lighting? What are the dimensions of the tank? Unless your tank is very deep, you could probably do with 400 - 500 watts and grow sps.

My tank is the Red Sea Max S-650. It is designed as a complete package with 800 watts of T5s. It is 60" wide, 22" wide, and 24" deep in the 150 gallon display tank with a 25 gallon sump. I will be using it as a mixed reef tank with LPS and SPS.

ritter6788 · Jul 11, 2012

I'd say it depends on the type of clam. A Derasa may be fine in there for a week but a Crocea may not. Petco here sells derasa and maxima clams under t8 bulbs and they last about 2 weeks to a month if no one buys them but I'm sure water quality plays a part in that. With good water quality I think you'll be ok for a week to 10 days. I would want it under good lighting as soon as possible though. If it starts to look bad you'll have poor lighting as another variable. I'd do a very short QT and inspect for pyramid snails and get that clam in good lighting.

sluicebox · Jul 11, 2012

ritter6788 said:
I'd say it depends on the type of clam. A Derasa may be fine in there for a week but a Crocea may not. Petco here sells derasa and maxima clams under t8 bulbs and they last about 2 weeks to a month if no one buys them but I'm sure water quality plays a part in that. With good water quality I think you'll be ok for a week to 10 days. I would want it under good lighting as soon as possible though. If it starts to look bad you'll have poor lighting as another variable. I'd do a very short QT and inspect for pyramid snails and get that clam in good lighting.

That sounds reasonable. Thanks for the advice.