Finally Done It

[ben1234]

alright i finally bought a fully equiped 9 gallon aquarium, its all set up with 11 lbs. of live rock. I only have 26 watts 50/50 and i want soft corals. will this do? Also will the wattage be enough for the corals to actually reproduce i just want mushrooms and polyps also maybe if i can a brain, give me your guy's opinions

also my live rock are pretty big chunks so there isnt that much actual sand showing would it be alright to put coral actually on the lr or with that kill the growth

 

[steelhealr]

Hi Ben...welcome aboard. Corals are usually placed on the rockwork, so, no problem there. As for the lighting, it should be OK for low lighting corals, polyps, zoos, mushrooms, some leathers. It is a tad on the low side and LPS may or may not survive under it. SH

 

[ben1234]

thanks SH another question is that today my LR had a lot of what looked like dirt on it and when i directed my power head at it, it clouded up my tank should i do a W/C or will it be aiight

 

[bunjiweb]

let it settle and then do a water test. If you havent got a test kit suitable for marine I would certainly suggest getting some.
Your lighting should be fine, I only had 22W on my 15Gallon nano to begin with and the soft corals all seem to do fine under that, although they do tend to go more brown because they are adjusting to lower lighting conditions, like they would do in the sea. If you dive down further, the corals are more brown or discoloured than if they were further up to the light. Just chekc what lighting your shop has. If they are using bright lights like Metal Halides then you want to start the coral off right at the top of your live rock formation then move it down as necessary.

Ben