I have a question about clams and lighting. I know that clams do best under MH and some of you have them under T5s but how well do clams survive under PCs. Nobody ever mentions PCs!

<started a new thread for ya.. :) >
i always recommend good strong lighting for clams but it has been said that you can keep some under PCs, but its mostly the dull brown and tan ones like the Squasmosa

the ones with the bright blues and purples do need much stronger lighting

Oh I was wondering how that happened! Yeah, I've been looking at the squamosa and derasa clams. I have 8 x 65 watt PC and was wondering how one of these clams might do.

i had croeceas under pcs for a year and it was fine, i assume different clams require differennt lighting needs

I would recommend having an established tank before you try it... I dont know how old ur tank is, but just wanted to mention that.

What do you consider established?

Cheetos

You are doing the right thing, asking questions.

IMHO, an established tank would be one that has been stable for a year. Has a thriving population of pods, everything is in good health, water parameters are stable, eg, temp 76-82F, PH 8.2-8.6, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate around 5, Calcium 400 - 450, Alk 8-12 dKH, a redox of 350-425 mv. In other words everything is running smoothly along, no bumps in the road. If you're continuously adjust things or are adding chemicals to compensate for something imagined or real, your tank is probably not stable.

What size tank are we considering putting a clam into? What are the water parameters? What other tank mates are in there? How long has the tank been running? Give us some more feef-back so we can be of further help to you.

Many hobbyists go out and buy new animals, such as a clam, for their tank without asking questions. Those animals very often die a lingering death due to neglect, starvation or the wrong lighting. It's a waste! The critters we elect to keep in our captive environment deserve the best treatment possible or we don't deserve to keep them at all. The animals themselves will tell us how we are doing by thriving or dieing.

The tank is a 120 gal (48x24x24) with a 30 gal sump/fuge with chaeto...lots of pods. pH 8.3 am 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 0 calcium 450 alk 9dkh. This tank is a little over a year old with mostly leathers, zoas, and shrooms. 520 watts PC. I don't add much for additives except for kalk and buffer. I do 15 gal water changes weekly and quarantine everything new for about a month.

Okay I give up. What does PC stand for?

power compact lighting

Cheetos

It seems you would be okay with a squamosa clam. If it were me I'd try one. Good luck.

i agree, you should be good.

Thanks maybe I'll give it a try. What do you feed them?

they are filter feeders.
and as long as you dont get a real small one it should be fine.
people commonly add phyto to the tank, and other invert/filter feeder foods.

Cheetos
What do you feed them?
This indicates to me that you need to do some research before you buy one. NEVER buy an animal before you know how to take care of them.

That would be common sense!

lol.. good point Dick..
Yes Cheetos, make sure you do a bit more extensive research on them
they are not incredibly difficult once they are put in the correct environment.

We feed our clams DT's.

Rob did a GREAT show on tank maturity that you might want to listen to as it pertains to the advice everyone's been giving you about clams. The episode isn't specifically about clams but it tells you what to be concerned with as far as how long your tank should be running smoothly and why. It's episode 12.

http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156