Coral plans

ram man

ram man

Superstar Fish
#1
Apr 16, 2005
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#1
to morrow i am going to get the lights, the live rock, power head, test kits, and some more sand.

Are there any corals that would do good under 9.6 watts per gallon besides shrooms and zoanthids? and how long should it take my tank to cycle? I have heard it could take up from a week to a month, is that true?
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#2
Oct 22, 2002
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#2
Most anything will grow under 9.6 watts per gallon, but what is that, a 96 over a 10 gallon tank? Frankly light will not be an issue for most anything.

Which cycling are you talking about - nitrate cycle? Well if you're getting cured LR and minimising dieoff you're effectively instantly cycled. It doesn't mean corals can go in tho'
 

F

FishGeek

Elite Fish
#3
May 13, 2005
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#3
I almost think that if you have a problem it will be with too much lighting. Your tank is not very deep so you cant really place corals in the "shade". It is prossible to "burn" corals, I know this cause I did it in my 12G Nano. Id definately keep that in mind and maybe look at a lower wattage light.
 

ram man

ram man

Superstar Fish
#4
Apr 16, 2005
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#4
im gettign uncured i think, the live rock is 5.75 for fiji. after the tank is cycled i will atleast wait 1 month before adding corals. i was thinking about some frogspawn, xania, birdsnest

edit: the only time i have heard of burnt corals is from metal halides over to small of a tank for the wattage halides produce.
 

S.Reef

S.Reef

Superstar Fish
#5
Dec 1, 2003
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#5
I have the 96 watt on my 10 gallon, did fine with crocea, maxima clams, a birdsnest and acropora also mushrooms and zoos. Wont have a problem with burning.
 

ram man

ram man

Superstar Fish
#7
Apr 16, 2005
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#7
clams sound interesting, if i get them in the future what should i feed them?

xenia sounds like a nice idea, im going to have a huge zoanthid frag collection in there along with some ricordia.
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#12
Oct 22, 2002
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#12
TYridacnids can work for a while. How many tanks here are more than five years old?

Look, the deal with light is par, not watts per gallon. Either a light produce enough lumens to do a job, or it doesn't. An 11 watter over 1 gallon is simply too weedy, despite 11 wpg. You need 'punch' for penetration of coral tissue tothe zooanthellae
 

F

FishGeek

Elite Fish
#13
May 13, 2005
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#13
Ok I think that I am a little confused on this whole lighting issue. On my 12G tank I had 120W which was 10 WPG. We had problems with anything surviving. Our water parameters were fine and the only thing that I could think of was the fact that we had VERY strong lighting on the tank. Cause once everything got moved into our larger tank (with less WPG) everything thrived. You say that WPG doesnt matter but if it doesnt then why was I told for my SW tank that I needed about 3-6 WPG and my planted tank that I needed 2-5 WPG?? I am not understanding why WPG is not important if that is what I am told when I ask about lighting eveywhere that I ask. ??????
 

S.Reef

S.Reef

Superstar Fish
#15
Dec 1, 2003
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#15
Croceas max out at about 7" the biggest I have seen was around 9". Keep in mind that big crocea was in my bosses tank for over 7 yrs and that it has only grown a little since then. I had a large maxima in my 10 gallon as well, it now is in my 90 reef. What you have to keep in mind with clams is that they grow slow and can be moved easily...they are also a hot item these days so if it outgrows your tank finding a new home is not hard.
 

ram man

ram man

Superstar Fish
#16
Apr 16, 2005
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#16
well, i got the test kits, live rock, power head and 96watt light. the live rock is in a cave fromation, willpost picks as soon as possible.
 

M

Mushroomman

MFT Staff
#18
Jan 16, 2004
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#18
guppy_newbe said:
You say that WPG doesnt matter but if it doesnt then why was I told for my SW tank that I needed about 3-6 WPG and my planted tank that I needed 2-5 WPG?? I am not understanding why WPG is not important if that is what I am told when I ask about lighting eveywhere that I ask. ??????
Click to expand...
Because a coral or plant does not know how much WPG it is getting all it knows is intensity due to depth it is placed at, size does not matter, depth is key. Its just a general ratio that is a simple way to figure a decent range. Generally the bigger the tank the deeper (not always true though)so they need more wattage to reach all levels.
 

ram man

ram man

Superstar Fish
#20
Apr 16, 2005
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#20
dbacksrat, you were right about about the reef, so much selection in there! there were some nice corals in there too, they had some nice zoas and sps in there! they had some sort of batfish that was black and orange in there too. My mom also fell in love with the nano cubes, apperantly she wants one in the kitchen now.
 

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