Do I need MH?
 

My fiancee had a particularly bad day at the office yesterday and did some shopping on the way home to cheer herself up. She came home with some sun polyps and this guy:

http://members.shaw.ca/reidkon/photos/Clam2Reduced.jpg

If I am not mistaken, it is a Maximus and has more lighting requirements then my 2 x 96W PCs can provide. Did my lady just give me an excuse to spring for some new metal halides? :biggrin:

Short answer yes.

MH or T5, PC's won'ts cut it :(

That's what I'd be telling her.

Really though, what's the size of your tank, as depending on placement might be able to get away with T5.

not to chase you away from here, but this is a good place for clam info http://www.clamsdirect.com/forum/

I agree MH are needed and that is a Crocea Clam. Even more light demanding than a Max

J

It is a 46G bowfront. Time to start shopping for new lights me thinks.

Current theory indicates that T5's are as effective if not superior to MH lighting in regards to PAR so I wouldn't let the devout MH users scare you off this fantastic light source :)

Thanks for that. I wonder if it is possible to retrofit a PC fixture with T5's....

Current technology arguments aside, I've seen tanks with both lighting setups and MH always, IMO, look nicer and more "crisp". Have a look at both setups in production and see which you like better.

A good T5-HO setup with individual reflectors and good bulbs is fine for croceas, especially if you keep it higher up off the bottom.

As for your current situation, place the clam as high up as possible to the surface.

I agree, find out what works best for you :)

But if I can throw in my two cents : :p

T5's are better for odd shaped tanks (like bowfronts) where MH are better for boxes. T5's give more even light distribution to reach all corners of the tanks where as a MH will give you a spotlight.

I'm assuming your tank is 3' wide so I just did some really quick cost calculations using J&L -

Tek T5

36" 4 bulb unit $300 x (4) $25/bulb = Total $400
36" 6 bulb unit $380 x (6) $25/bulb = $530

Coralife 25W MH w/PC sup.

36" Unit w/bulbs $654

This is about the cheapest MH unit you can get unless you want a single pendant with no actinics but that is still going to run you ~ $400 (canopy/bulb/ballast)

IMHO T5's are a superior light at a much better price point.. pluss you get the flexibilty of exactly tuning your colour using different bulb configs where you are stuck with maybe 3 realistic MH bulb choices and three colours.

The only thing that is a visual draw back to T5 is that the the tank does look a little flat without the shimmer of MH, but having PC's right now you would not get that anyways :)

^^^ forgot one drawback of MH, The heat. Depending on tank, may need a chiller, another $4-500 the main reason i just bought a 4 tube T5 instead of MH

You have PM.

Thanks for doing the research Greg. The Nova Extreme Pro 36" also look good. It looks like the new model has individual reflectors and it can be had for $350.

No problem :)

I've used it all, PC, MH 150's and 250's and now T5's. I am very much a convert to the T5 fan club :)

I just called the place where she bought the clam. It is a Maxima, and the guy says that my PC lighting will be fine. Of course, I don't believe everything fishmongers tell me but I guess for now I will place him as high as possible and watch him closely.

Pretty sure it's a crocea. Maximas have more, or more pronounced scutes on their shels.

I second the crocea ID.

Crocea as well.

Must make you comfortable about what the LFS said about lights when then don't even know what they're selling.

You said it!

Definitely Crocea. Looks like a nice colour though, once it opens up its mantle. And yeah, if the LFS can't name the spcies they sold you, I wouldn't trust their lighting advice too much.

I would go the T5 Route if i were buying new lights, I love my Halides but i think T5's allow more fine tuning of color especialy with a 6 or 8 light feature.

i had t5's at first, and i gotta admit, for they're wattage they're relatively bright, but they didn't give me that ''crisp''water look that i'd always see in frag tanks at lfs'. as for cost if you're ready to do some decent DIY work, MH fixtures can be made to look great.

I ran T5's for a year, I don't know why but any high light corals (SPS) did horrible for me under T5's and the growth rate of my corals was extremely slow under the T5 lighting. Switched to MH and the sps corals that were dying made a come back and started to grow, I also noticed an increase in growth rate with all my other corals. I know the are other people who have had no problems with T5's but for some reason T5's did not work well for me.

To answer the simple question, yes, you NEED MH :)

That's a rather bold.. incorrect statement. :p

bold? Ya. I just like to see people start out right though :)

Would adding a MH, something like this be an option to supplement my present PC lights?

a lumen max would be a better reflector

http://oceanaquatics.com/store/produ...-3---150-Watt/

i remember someone posting a thread a couple of months ago about how there growth literally doubled when he switched from T5 to MH, whether this is true or not, i don't have the slightest, but the pictures he posted of his sps under MH illumination were great, go MH:mrgreen:

Our growth rate did.

Nobody has mentioned cost. Lighting costs tend to be proportional to the number of lamps run and tank configuration may influence that.

In the meantime while your choosing your new lighting scheme, how is your clam doing? Any photos without a flash?

Just for the record, here is my crocea (I plan on adding more as I find better "ultra grade") This is under T5's at the bottom of a 24" deep tank, the lights are 6" off the water surface.

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...lamUnderT5.jpg

Do you still "need" MH to keep clams?

Of course you do. It makes them purdier to look at :)

In all seriousness, no, you don't "need" MH for anything, you could keep them with normal output tubes if you had enough of them. It's a matter of personal taste in what you want the tank to look like. I "need" the crisp light with the ripples everywhere, it's what makes me happy. Key point there is "me". T5 bulbs make other people happy, and if it can keep the clams happy, then go for it. But compare both types of lighting before you make a choice that you might be not happy with.