Lighting for 90 gallon reef

[Karl Nyhus]

Currently I have A 90 gallon reef. Lighting on it currently is VHO 2 Icecap ballast running five 110 watt bulbs. Three atinic two white Will this be enough light for my acro and want to try some more clams,possibly morea acroporas. .

 

[Mikef1]

If you are wanting to do clams I would recommend 2 250 watt metal halides that are 10k and supplemented by your VHOs for a dusk to dawn effect. I wouldnt recommend keeping clams without mhs. Hope this helps

 

[Cabreradavid]

I agree with Karl. The 90 gallon tank (if it's standard) is kinda deep. If you want lots of acropora and clams (especially the light hogs like crocea and maxima), you might want to invest in some halide lighting (like DE 250W). With that said, I have seen succesfull tanks that have T. squamosa and Derasa (with good growth) under strong PC and VHO lighting in 20" deep tanks. Of course, the clams would probably do better and look better under halide lighting. How long has the tank been set up with acros? species? Are they growing?

 

[mountainbiker619]

im curious, is clam keeping new to the reef scene? Reason I ask, I do not think MH's have been out for that long, and I am sure that clams have been in the hobby for longer. So basically people are saying that before MH's came out, that it was impossible to keep and maintain claims...is this correct?

 

[Anonymous]

MH has been out for a while, but you can certainly keep them under VHO, altho you probably would want to place them high in the tank.

Part of the success people have been having with reefs lately is due to them trying to make every aspect of husbandry and parameters optimum, thus the recommendations for halides.

Some clam species are better adapted for low light. If you ever see wild pix of maximas, they are frequently under inches of clear water on a reef flat. You know its way brighter than any halide.

 

[Anonymous]

You do not need Metal Halides to keep clams. I have friends that have have used the 5 watt per gallon rule using flourescents. I have also seen these clams many many years ago in LFS's under Normal Output bulbs....however I would not recommend it. I have heard to many stories about peoples Metal Halides bursting over there tanks and this makes me a bit nervous about getting them. I do really like the effect of a combo Fixture and just now saw one made by Coral Life that I will strongly consider for my 55 gallon if I choose to go Invert/Coral. I hope nobody read this post before I edited it. Have Fun!

 

[mountainbiker619]

see..the point I wanted to get across with my last statement was that MH's are not needed to keep and maintain clams. I think it is rediculas to tell someone that in order to maintain a $100 clam, that they need to instal a $300-$400 lighting system. Sure, clams may adapt better with MH's, but clams and MH's do not have to go together.

 

[Cabreradavid]

I don't think the recommendation to use halides is ridiculous at all. Just because clams were kept "back in the day" under lighting that was later found to be suboptimal, does not mean you should. From what I have read, there seems to be a very strong concensus that T crocea and maxima should be under halide lighting. If you don't want to invest in metal halide lighting, try to get as much information as you can (as Karl is doing), then decide on whether you want to get a clam and what species. If you are not willing to put the money into properly keeping an organism, don't buy it. One should make a decision to not properly house an organism based on cost IMO.
DMC

 

[Cabreradavid]

correction:


One should not make a decision on housing an organism based on the organisms requirements, not cost ....IMO.

 

[Cabreradavid]

ok..last time I try to correct this sentence:

scratch the last line and add:

I think an organism's husbandry should hold a higher priority than the cost aspect.

 

[mountainbiker619]

David, what grade of gas do you use in your car, regular, premium or super?

 

[Cabreradavid]

Well,

Since I drive a 4 cylinder nissan sentra I use regular.

If I drove a 6 + cylinder car, one with turbo, or a blower..say a ferrari..I would use premium or super.


Like my tanks, I treat other things I own based on what they require.

 

[mountainbiker619]

but you see where I am going with that

 

[Cabreradavid]

Yes, I do. Point taken.

 

[Mikef1]

I do not understand why people always try to fight the fact that you should have metal halides for clams. When a person asks what type of lighting they should get for a tank that they want to keep clams, sps, ect in the answer is metal halides. If the person asks can I keep clams under VHO or PC lighting then you can come in and say yes it is possible to keep them under this lighting but they prefer halides otherwise dont guide them in the wrong direction. If you want to keep healthy animals and are willing to spend the money on them then buy the right D*mn lights. Dont mean to be so harsh but its true if you buy VHOs or PCs in a month later you want metal halides anyways.

 

[kevinpo]

Metal halide lighting and clams both became available to the average hobbyist about the same time (halides slightly earlier). Yes halides are the recommended lighting for the Tridacna sp. in general. Yes they can be kept under other lighting setups but be prepared to keep the other parameters very good as you now have one that is not optimal. As each parameter moves from the optimal range your chances of failure increase. This can be taken to the extreme of course (2 pumps, 2 sets of lights, 2 heaters. etc.). You can still have failure no matter how many backup systems you have (look at the space shuttle).

In regards to being fearful of MH bulbs exploding. I have been running halides since 1996 and used about 16-17 bulbs during that time (4 different brands) and never had one explode. I have never know any person personally that has one explode either.

HTH,
Kevin
PS: The book Giant Clams by Daniel Knop is excellent.