Do I need to buy metal halide lamps to keep animals like giant clams or is there a cheaper way? thanks for any help
Metal Halide questions
- Thread starter jessethebody123
- Start date
metal halide is probably your best bet. however i have heard success stories of people using HO t-5's and also in the tank at teh resturaunt i used to work at my regional manager was using VHO's and the clams thrived.
although there are sucess stories with t5s and VHO, i would not try it with t5s unless you had a lot and you have a shallow tank, and i wouldnt try it at all with VHO. possibly a lower lighting clam like a derasa or gigas. But only if i had a very shallow tank. But that is me.
What clams are we talking about here. I would feel comfortable keeping Tridacna derasa under fluros. Of course the more light you give the faster they grow. And I would be comfortable keeping Tridacna tevoroa under candles 
Cheapest way would be the sun, an aquarium in a green house or something.
Cheapest way would be the sun, an aquarium in a green house or something.
the only problem is, youd then most likely have to buy a chiller if it is in a green house. and i would IMAGINE a green house would cost more than halides. and then it cant be cold in the winter, so you would need to heat the place. plust that is exactly what it will be if it is in a green house....GREEN. (most likely)
fishieness said:
Hmmmm... that's pretty much how tropicorum is set up, and they have several tank as well as 6 large saltwater ponds (most of them for coral propagtion), and none of them have green water. One tank has a thick growth of macroalgae, and they have a large fuge thickly covered with mangrove leaves, but no green water, or "pest" algae.
And, if you wated to light your tank via the sun, you don't need a green house with heatin/cooling, a skylight (doubt that's the right word, so skylight=a window in the roof) above the tank will work.
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haha, i believe a skylight is the right word. andyes, sorry, you can have tanks outside and not be green with some precautions such as a lot of flow, and of course, a large fuge and skimmer will work. but it would be relay hard to do with a small tank. and i sometimes kinda forget that others have big tanks because of the 3 i have, my biggest is a 40 :-( lol
Like mysis said, it depends on the clam. Derasa should be fine under PC, VHO or T5. Maxima or crocea would be best under halides.
It is an absolute myth that sunlight causes green water. Many large aquaculture facilities use natural sunlight, as do real coral reefs.
Diana Walstead has a good discussion about the use of natural sunlight in her Ecology of the Planted Aquarium.
It is an absolute myth that sunlight causes green water. Many large aquaculture facilities use natural sunlight, as do real coral reefs.
Diana Walstead has a good discussion about the use of natural sunlight in her Ecology of the Planted Aquarium.
in smaller tanks without adequate filtration you will get algae blooms... trust me, it has happened. But as i said, the larger ones with good filtration probably wont.
In any tank without adequate nutrient control, light will cause algae blooms. It can be PC, halide or sunlight.fishieness said: