Hoping for my first clam....Questions though!

I have a 180 gal reef tank with a nova current extreme t-5 lighting system. It is 468 total watts (312 watts are 10K and 156 watts actinic). The tank is 24 inches deep. The tank has been up for two years and has been doing great.

My question is....with my lighting, could I house a Derasa or Squamosa clam? Would one do better than the other (Hoping Derasa would do good because lfs has a 4inch beauty!) Also would I need to place it in the live rock or would the sand bed be ok?

I am wanting to buy one of at least 3-4 in because I hear smaller ones struggle more.

 

Your lighting should be fine for a deresa. From my limited clam experience, I do believe deresas are the lower light clams. Also, deresas like the sand.

 

well, i think my tank is doing "great" but my nitrate is at 20 so from other points of view it is terrible haha. describe your meaning of "great". what fish and corals are in there now?

 

ph - 8.2
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 5
phosphate - 0
CA - 480

Have lots of softies and lps. I have 3 sets of clowns, 1 yellow tang, a large pair of naso tangs, 1 b. cardinal, 2 sand sifter gobies, 7 green chromis, 1 foxface rabit fish, 1 copperbanded butteryfly.

I also should mention that my total setup is ~400 gal. (tank is 180, 75 gal refugium, and 150 gal sump.)

 

My understanding is that a derasa will require strong lighting, something you do not have. 2.6 watts per gallon is a little on the low side in my opinion. In my 180 I run 1,134 watts and I am successful. That’s not to say you won’t be – it’s different for everyone. But they do want to be down on the sand as Kacy mentioned, your lights will probably be insufficient at 24 inches for this animal

Read here: Derasa Clam (Tridacna derasa)

Kacy, we need to get you out of this crazy funk you are in....you're making me sad now !! Cheer up !!

Edit - sorry forgot about the Squamosa clam: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16 1909&aid=2190

 

Go for a Squamosa dont need allot of light, easy to keep, and you can just put her down in the sand.

 

Did you check out the sticky? Your questions are addressed in there.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/clams/must-reads-about-clams-75670.html

 

I have noticed that you dont specify what type of lighting you have.......

 

He mentions it in his op: nova current extreme t-5 lighting system. It is 468 total watts (312 watts are 10K and 156 watts actinic)

Derasa and Squamosa are lower light clams so I think you will be fine with either. I housed a Derasa under 260w of PC lighting on my sandbed and it did fine for the few months I had it.

IMO I would replace your bulbs with higher PAR ones. If it's a six-bulb unit I would do this combo:

3 ATI Blue +
2 ATI AquaBlue
1 KZ Fiji Purple

You will get a lot more PAR with those higher-end bulbs & any clam will do much better.

 

Have you considered a Crocea clam? They are rock boring so you can place them up closer to your lights. I got one from Reef Empire several months back and it's doing wonderful in my 29gal. I also have 96W of T5 running.