can i have a clam

his word goes over mine though! ^^

I'd talk to your LFS and see what their success rates are with PCs. Like anybody will say its a gamble

 

Can I ask a question? How come my lighting isn't enough? it's t5ho 4 x 54watt and I have read all over this forum of people keeping clams with pc's, I thought my lighting would keep anything? Aren't t5ho's just as good as MH's in a regular depth tank?

 

MH have 'more penetration'. Personally I would go for it, because i have heard so many people having good looking croceas for 1.5+years under 5WPG in a 55gal (PCs). But like i said earlier, there all animals so they differ

I would definately go with a gigas (gets big tho), dersa, or squamosa

 

Do your T5s have individual reflectors? That is the key to T5s being equal to MH's. With the reflectors, it produces 300% more light then a single reflector for 4 bulbs. 4x54w T5's with individual reflectors is equal to a 400w MH.

 

def what he said too ! thats the main reason that "nice" T5s are big $$$

Novas go for like $130 while the nicer ones like Birchell got (i forget whats the brand) are more like $200-250

 

I found a derasa clam in my rockwork. It apparently had been there from I ordered my liverock. It had been under PC lighting for a long time, it was under NO fluorescents for a long time as well.

The whole watts per gallon ratio's are wrong more times then they are right. So I wouldnt suggest going by that. The depth of a tank is what you should go by.

 

i know the WPG is crap, i just dont wanna do the math right now

and how big is the clam? can i have it

 

You can get retro kits super cheap that come with all the reflectors. I can get a 2x54w right now for $100 with bulbs and reflectors.

 

I'm personally a die hard MH fan. I am moving more and more toward T5 but still believe the quality of light from a MH bulb is far superior to anything on the market today. But like I said above this is my opinion. Yes many people have kept Clams alive under PC lighting. I will assume they supplemented heavenly with Phytoplankton and because of that other corals or parameters suffered. Also there is a large difference between keeping things alive and having them flourish in your tank.
I would never recommend a Crocia or Maxima to anyone unless they had strong MH lighting
The are a ton of German tanks that are 100% lit by T5 they are the most spectacular SPS tanks I've ever seen. but they all run some sort of nitrate redoser like Zeovit or Prodibio. This ensure 0 nitrates and phosphates. The corals are also heavily supplimented with amino acids and other additives. This isn't wrong but it skews the T5 versus MH debate.

I'm currently running 3X400W MH + 8XT5 on my 370. I'm adding a frag tank that will be 4XT5 only. the same water and everything. The only real difference will be the T% will be closer to the actual coral. I'm anxious to see if I have any colour issues between the main tank and the attached Frag system