Clams under t5s?
- Thread starter cmjreef
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skinz78
10K Club member
What brand of fixture? Does it have individual reflectors?
Ether or I think you will be fine with adding clams. Just keep an eye on them for bleaching.
I would say you could go up to 12" off the water with the light fixture.
Ether or I think you will be fine with adding clams. Just keep an eye on them for bleaching.
I would say you could go up to 12" off the water with the light fixture.
I have maximas, dersas, and corceas all in the sandbed of my standard 90gal under a 8 bulb sunblaze fixture, with all ATI bulbs and all of the have been doing great. BTW I've had the all b/w 6 months to 1.5yrs.
Alpha Aquaculture
Designer Clownfish Hatchery
I have a clam in 8" of water with a 6x54w ATI PM 24"above the water. I measure 110 par at the clam. The farm raised maxima is doing great! Just make sure you get your ca, alk, and mg right!
I've kept clams, under T5HO (Tek5 fixtures) for over 4 years, on the sand bed of 3 tanks. I currently have a T. derasa, T. crocea, T. maxima and T. squamosa on the bottom of a 27" deep tank, and a T. crocea about half way up. This is a 200 Deep Dimension, lit by a 6 and 4 bulb Tek5, for a total of 10X54 watts of T5HO. All clams are doing just great.
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cmjreef
Active Member
Good to know. I will be putting all kinds of clams in this tank and have never really kept them under anything but halides. What and how often do you all feed? Im assuming adult clams should do fine with little feeding; photosynthesis should take care of most of it. Does anyone think feeding adult clams w/ DTs, etc. has any major benefit when it comes to coloration or health?
I have a crocea in a 22" tall tank, light is a teklight 4 bulb overdriven, sits about 6" above water surface. clam has done great for over a year so far. I tried some baby maxima's a year ago and all three died within a day of each other-haven't tried maxima's since, and given they were tiny (maybe 1" wide) it could have been that, but I'd be willing to give them another shot. I attribute their deaths more to the tank being a ULN system as much as anything.
aalvarado87
Active Member
i think the clue to keeping high light stuff under t5's is the reflectors correct? Of course having good bulbs plays a factor but i believe top notch reflectors are the key because you need those reflectors to push as much light back into the tank. I have seen many guys be pretty successful with t5's and are keeping everything.
I'd actually disagree with this based upon my armchair research.
I've tested three fixtures against each other- all were 24" and used near identical bulbs (all geismann brand, all within 3 months of age.)
Tested:
4 bulb Current "Nova Extreme Pro" which features individual reflectors, but not an overdriven ballast (I REEEAAAALLLY hate the name on this thing, just sounds like a cheesy infomercial product- It's not just a Nova, it's also extreme! and if you call right now you'll get a free upgrade to the Pro version! CALL NOW!")
2 bulb hagen "Glo-Light" non-individual reflectors, but an overdriven ballast (I knowi t's only a 2 bulb, but please see results. In testing I used a single 2 bulb, not 2-2bulb fixtures)
4 bulb Teklight Individual reflectors, and very overdriven ballast (same ballast used for their overdriven 48" lamps I believe)
Now I know this isn't scientific, and I'm not offering it as such-but it is some empirical evidence that has helped me choose the right light fixture for my purposes.
In order of overall "brightness" the ranking was Teklight > (brighter than) Glo-Light >Nova Extreme Pro
- This was done purely by visual comparison and not conducted with a PAR meter. Lights were all tested on the same tank, a 22" tall cube. I compared overall brightness, and didn't really try and compare detailed areas such as at the bottom of the tank, in a shaded area, etc.
In order of animal reaction to the brightness, the results were the same. LPS's and Z's all open up the most when under the nova pro, while color on SPS's all appeared best under the teklights. Additionally, animals reacted fastest to reopening polyps when under the Nova Extreme.
* So yea, not extreme science, but I would definitley suggest the power of the ballasts is of much more importance than the reflectors. The individual reflector idea is something that makes sense for manufacturers to suggest, as for companies like current, it's much cheaper to provide the individual reflectors than it is to upgrade their electrical components.
And here's pic of the clam under the teklights, it has since been moved to the right side of the tank which is shaded, still looks to be just as happy and has opened his mantle further, though his colors are not as spectacular as they appeared when under the fuller light, but I also attribute this to the viewing angle.
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I have a corcea about mid way up my tank and a derasa on the sand under T5s. They look great.
