Clam? If so, which one?

[FreshwaterConvert]

Howdy. I’ve been considering getting a clam for a while and my tank is now a bit over a year. Parameters seem to stay pretty stable, with my alk at 9, calcium 430, mag 1260. I struggle with elevated phosphates (most recently .81, which is actually pretty good) but I’ve heard clams like some nitrates and phosphates in the water. Tank is softie dominated with 1 micromussa that’s doing well, so not a super high cal or alk demand. It’s a 20 gallon with an AI prime (schedule posted below) running on I think a WWC program with modified times to fit my viewing schedule. It’s pretty low so I could turn the light up in intensity with the acclimation mode if the clam needs more light.

That being said, from my research it seems that derasa and squamosa are more beginner friendly and don’t have as high lighting requirements as the maxima. I initially considered derasa since they seem pretty available, are hardy, and aren’t super expensive. But I think they’ll grow a bit too fast for me since I won’t be upgrading the tank for a while. Hence, I’m leaning toward the Squamosa and would put it on the sand bed in front. However, I think I could possibly mount a maxima up on my rock work and turn the light up. Since it’s a pretty shallow tank and I have a Prime I think I could get a good amount of light. At this time I don’t have access to a par meter. The light is probably about 8” above the tank or so, and the tank is about 15” tall.

Any advice and recommendations are welcome. Thank you.

Tank pics are with and without orange filter.

 

[JoJosReef]

Prime is going to struggle for those clams. I ran a prime on a 10g with a crocea at top of the rocks. ~80% for UV/Vi, ~70% blues and I don't remember the others. When it died suddenly, learned that there had been no new growth on the shell, so it slowly starved. Finally got a PAR meter and it wasn't hitting 200 PAR, and crocea should probably be in 350-500 PAR. Since then bought the clam book by James Fatheree and recommend it. Derasa and Sqamosa also should be in high light, e.g. 250+ PAR, and being on the sand bed, I think you'll have to turn the channels up to max. Others might be able to give better specifics.

@OrionN has good advice for clams.

 

[OrionN]

Estimate light from picture is not possible. I don’t know Prime so I cannot tell. However you should have clams in white light and much brighter than for LPS type of light.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I have AI Prime on a 15 gallon, set at 70% for all soft corals. I would not put a clam in there, I know the light is not strong enough. IMO, your setting at 35% is very dim, I see a couple of corals reaching up.

I would suggest to rent a par meter before buying the clam, that way you will have some peace of mind with whatever your final decision is.

 

[minus9]

You can start with a smaller squamosa, but as others have mentioned, your lighting (and water quality) are the big factors here. It's true that clams can uptake N & P directly from the surrounding water, but if you're struggling with PO4 that high, I would get my reefing chops up to speed before I would add a clam. Be successful with corals and general tank parameters, then move up to more advanced animals. If you haven't done so already, buy James Fatherree's book on clams.
Amazon product

 

[JoJosReef]

You can start with a smaller squamosa, but as others have mentioned, your lighting (and water quality) are the big factors here. It's true that clams can uptake N & P directly from the surrounding water, but if you're struggling with PO4 that high, I would get my reefing chops up to speed before I would add a clam. Be successful with corals and general tank parameters, then move up to more advanced animals. If you haven't done so already, buy James Fatherree's book on clams.
Amazon product

I'm also barely resisting an impulse buy on the biota blue spot squammies that just became a available. But... I still haven't set up my "clam spotlight", which is meant to be a Kessil with 30 degree reflector aimed right at the clam. So sand bed is only getting 200 PAR on the Saxby schedule peaks, which is not enough.

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

I keep seeing so many different opinions on par and lighting. On the one hand people here are saying clams need high high high light, on the other hand there are others who work commercially with clams who touch thousands who are saying lower than what’s being said on here and honestly I’m not sure who to believe. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to a PAR meter. I think I am going to up the lighting regardless bc it does seem too low.

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

Howdy. I’ve been considering getting a clam for a while and my tank is now a bit over a year. Parameters seem to stay pretty stable, with my alk at 9, calcium 430, mag 1260. I struggle with elevated phosphates (most recently .81, which is actually pretty good) but I’ve heard clams like some nitrates and phosphates in the water. Tank is softie dominated with 1 micromussa that’s doing well, so not a super high cal or alk demand. It’s a 20 gallon with an AI prime (schedule posted below) running on I think a WWC program with modified times to fit my viewing schedule. It’s pretty low so I could turn the light up in intensity with the acclimation mode if the clam needs more light.

That being said, from my research it seems that derasa and squamosa are more beginner friendly and don’t have as high lighting requirements as the maxima. I initially considered derasa since they seem pretty available, are hardy, and aren’t super expensive. But I think they’ll grow a bit too fast for me since I won’t be upgrading the tank for a while. Hence, I’m leaning toward the Squamosa and would put it on the sand bed in front. However, I think I could possibly mount a maxima up on my rock work and turn the light up. Since it’s a pretty shallow tank and I have a Prime I think I could get a good amount of light. At this time I don’t have access to a par meter. The light is probably about 8” above the tank or so, and the tank is about 15” tall.

Any advice and recommendations are welcome. Thank you.

Tank pics are with and without orange filter.

I switched my numbers phosphate was .18

 

[JoJosReef]

I keep seeing so many different opinions on par and lighting. On the one hand people here are saying clams need high high high light, on the other hand there are others who work commercially with clams who touch thousands who are saying lower than what’s being said on here and honestly I’m not sure who to believe. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to a PAR meter. I think I am going to up the lighting regardless bc it does seem too low.

I had a large clam vendor try to convince me that croceas are the easiest clams and do fine with lower lighting. He grows all his at 200 PAR. Clearly just trying to make a sale. Also, there was a huge aiptasia in his showroom's acrylic clam rack right next to a crocea. I won't be taking any advice or making any purchases from that vendor no matter how much they say they do this day-in and day-out.

Edit: point being that a commercial vendor that handles clams might not be the most reliable source of information for long term care of clams. There are some clam vendors on here that have stellar reputations and engagement with the community, so knowing who you're talking to is important.

 

[minus9]

I'll add to the clam vendor's claims or respond to that statement. All the clams we receive in the hobby are grown in a handful of facilities where the clams are grown in full sunlight or "shaded" full sunlight. So they are coming from very high light facilities/locations. A lot of us can't replicate that power or intensity. When talking about light intensities, these are general numbers or a starting place. These numbers are not set in stone, as each clam will be different with how much light it will take to grow. The one thing you don't want with clams is not enough light, that will always result in the clam's demise, so I always recommend to have more available power than not enough. The problem with vendors telling you that certain species are perfectly fine at whatever number, means that all the clams of that species are fine with said number and as you've figured out by now, clams are individual animals with different densities of zooxanthellae and iridiphores/iridocytes, so what powers one clam will not be enough for another of the same species or a different species.
In one of my tanks I have two croceas and one derasa. The croceas are receiving on average, 50-60 more micro moles than the derasa and their growth is surpassing the derasa like crazy, so the derasa can definitely take more light, as well as the croceas too. So, by the vendor's logic, the derasa should be growing just as fast, if not faster than the crocea when given that much light, right? If I reduced the lighting to the recommended amount for the derasa, what happens? Clams also have different growth stages, some will start off fast, then slow, then fast again or the reverse, depending on species, so blanket statements that clams only need this amount of light should be taken with a very large grain of salt.
The one thing to keep in mind when considering keeping clams or a clam, is you'll want to have enough available light (at the proper spectrum) in whatever location you're going to keep at, sand, rocks, etc...so if you want to keep a clam on the sand and you have a tank full of soft corals or deep water LPS, then you better make sure that location has enough light and if the clam isn't happy in that spot, that your lighting can adapt to the new location. All clams that we keep in this hobby are found in shallow, clear waters, which receive a lot of full spectrum light during the day and some of these clams are completely exposed to air during low tides, so they are extremely adaptable to their environment, but we don't want to start at the bare minimum when giving them their main source of energy/life, do we?
So if we start off with 180 micro moles (as recommended by a vendor) and the clam (derasa or squamosa) is healthy and growing with that amount of light, then it's safe to say it will continue to grow, but if that's your max output with your lights and the clam isn't healthy or growing under those conditions, what will happen to the clam?
I don't like minimums in regards to lighting clams, to me that just spells disaster. Would you want a garden hose to put out a house fire or a hydrant?