Clams and new LED setup?

[DREUTZ]

My nanotuners LED 5.6* retro kit (12 white, 12 royal 3W CREES) is in the mail to get to my house on saturday and I have 2 maxima clams and tons of frags purchased to be picked up at the swap.

My 29BC has been running about 5 months.

Calcium is 440-450ish

System is about 40lbs of LR, 30 lbs of LS, fuge with chaeto,
Equipment is Aquatic life 115 skimmer, MP10

TWO PART QUESTION:

1. I'm worried about a large shock to my system regarding the bioload and calcium in my tank. I have these two clams coming as well as a bunch of SPS frags, zoas and yumas. I was so blinded by the preswap sales that I didn't really think that it might be an issue until now. I also bought some pods that I was going to add for my scooter blenny. Will adding all of this be an issue? Should I do my weekly W.C. on monday or tuesday or should I let everything level out for a few days?

2. I know I need to acclimate the lights slowly. I was told by nanotuners to set it to about 25% power at first and every week bump it up a little (5-10%) and just see how everything reacts. Should I wait to put the clams in until my lights are in the higher stages of the acclimation period? I was told that the SPS would be fine. Would this prolonged acclimation be a problem for the clams. I have a friend that if needed I could store the clams in his tank until i can put them into mine, but because of the fear of them attaching to his rockwork I would REALLY like to avoid this if it is possible.

 

[DREUTZ]

:bump:

 

[thesauce]

I don't think this is too much light at all, if anything I'm not sure its enough for clams.

 

[NaClH2oTANK]

hi
is this your first reef tank?
i dont know about nano systems, but i can tell you, dont do a water change monday.
do your water change tomorrow. make sure you get out as much detritus as possible.

as for "acclimating your lights" i dont have any experience with your type of lighting
sorry.

 

[DREUTZ]

Haha.. I am asking if the beginning stages of the acclimation (where the LED's are only going to be at a low percentage of power) will be bad for the clams. It is going to take a few weeks to get it up pretty high so i'm wondering if the clams will be affected...

p.s. the papaya cloves are looking good!!

 

[thesauce]

Oh yeah, I forgot that you got those papayas from me. Wait till you see em under LED's! As for lighting acclimation, I think a few weeks is a little too long to ramp up to full power. I think a week is fine. I doubled the light over my tank with a past upgrade and just cut the cycle back two hours and weened it back onto a full daytime cycle within 5 days with no ill effects to livestock.

 

[ming]

If you're running the LED's @ 1A, with optics, it will definitely be enough for clams, but without optics, I'm not sure. I'm assuming the XRE and XPG combo LED's as shown on the site

 

[albano]

TWO PART QUESTION:

1. I'm worried about a large shock to my system regarding the bioload and calcium in my tank. Will adding all of this be an issue?

2. I know I need to acclimate the lights slowly. I was told by nanotuners to set it to about 25% power at first and every week bump it up a little (5-10%) and just see how everything reacts.

1. Depending on HOW much stuff you're adding, YES, you could have a problem
2. I would follow their advise, IF, they knew that there is nothing else in the system. If they're not aware of your 'empty' tank, I would start at 50% or more, and increase by 10% each time. Do you know the type/amount of light, that these frags are coming from?

.

 

[DREUTZ]

1. Depending on HOW much stuff you're adding, YES, you could have a problem
2. I would follow their advise, IF, they knew that there is nothing else in the system. If they're not aware of your 'empty' tank, I would start at 50% or more, and increase by 10% each time. Do you know the type/amount of light, that these frags are coming from?

.

I'm not sure if i am reading you correctly, but my tank is not empty in fact it is pretty stocked already. I do not know what type/amount of light the frags/clams are coming from. The LED guy for nanotuners said that the SPS would not be a problem, but never answered me on nano-reefs.com (I find a lot of my questions do not get answered on that forum, unlike here) when I asked him about the clams.

 

[albano]

...but my tank is not empty in fact it is pretty stocked already...

Sorry, I didn't see a mention of present livestock, so I thought that there wasn't any. So, in that case you should watch the new LED light levels closely, more so for your present stock, because you should be able to notice changes in those corals, that you are familiar with.
On the new frags, maybe you can ask the sellers, where they found the best color/growth, and what type of lights they had. (bring a paper and pen). I'd put the clams in your own tank, so that you don't risk them, attaching to some other tank.

 

[DREUTZ]

On the new frags, maybe you can ask the sellers, where they found the best color/growth, and what type of lights they had. (bring a paper and pen). .

Thats a good idea I didn't think of it thanks.