Clams and LED lights

[pickupman66]

So I bought a very awesome Maxima clam back in April at our swap from Pacific East Aquaculture. I have had it on the sand bed in my tank and it has been doing pretty well. good mantle extension, good shadow reaction etc.. but I noticed that the inner part of the mantle has lightened up considerably. the outer parts that extend were still very colored. Last night I moved my clam up thinking it may not be getting enough light. Was I correct in this assertion?

My tank is a standard 24" deep 180. I have ~125 3 watt Cree LED's above the tank in two banks with 6 dimmable strings of 12 and 4 non dimmable strings. the dimmables run from 12p-10p daily with a 1.5 hour ramp from 0-80%. The Non dimmables run from 2-9 daily at 100%.

water params are all where they should be. Zero nitrates and phosphates, 1.025, 8.12Ph 78 degrees.

what do you clam Experts think? I have never really kept one so it is unfamiliar territory.

 

[stylaster]

A lighter inner mantle usually does mean a loss of zooanthallae in that area of the clam. Most likely due to not enough light. So yes moving your clam up should help regain its color. Just as an fyi i keep deresa, squamosa, and gigas on the bottom of the tank. I keep crocea and maxima in the upper half of the tank. I have a crocea 12" under a 250 radium halide and its loving life.
With the leds i would move the clam about half way up and give it a couple weeks to see what happens

 

[wysiwyg]

yes i believe you may be correct. do you test for cal/mag may also be. do you feed any phyto or rotis?

 

[pickupman66]

Thanks! wysiwyg, I will test CA tonight. it should be good as I run a Ca reactor and have it dialed in well. I have noticed some growth of the shell about 1/4" or a little more. I do not test for MG at this time. it now resides just over 1/2 way up in teh middle of my zoanthid infestation. I dont feed Phyto and have read many places the larger ones dont need this.

this is my clam shortly after I got it.

 

[Chameleon]

I remember those clams at that swap. I nearly picked one up myself they were really nice. Hope you solve your issue.

 

[pickupman66]

Taken tonight with my phone.

Sent from my SCH-I905 using Tapatalk 2

 

[pickupman66]

its a shame that clams dont look the same thru the glass as they do from the top. wow

 

[vetteguy53081]

Lack of zooanthelae is a lack of light in many cases
Bright light, moderate water flow, temp not to exceed 80 deg, salinity not to exceed 1.025 and ph not to exceed 8.3

 

[PTXReef]

So I bought a very awesome Maxima clam back in April at our swap from Pacific East Aquaculture. I have had it on the sand bed in my tank and it has been doing pretty well. good mantle extension, good shadow reaction etc.. but I noticed that the inner part of the mantle has lightened up considerably. the outer parts that extend were still very colored. Last night I moved my clam up thinking it may not be getting enough light. Was I correct in this assertion?

My tank is a standard 24" deep 180. I have ~125 3 watt Cree LED's above the tank in two banks with 6 dimmable strings of 12 and 4 non dimmable strings. the dimmables run from 12p-10p daily with a 1.5 hour ramp from 0-80%. The Non dimmables run from 2-9 daily at 100%.

water params are all where they should be. Zero nitrates and phosphates, 1.025, 8.12Ph 78 degrees.

what do you clam Experts think? I have never really kept one so it is unfamiliar territory.

Definitely not a clam or zoa expert (got my first maxima a month ago) but would those polyps on the clam possibly sting it into retracting so it's not getting enough light? Just wondering!