9l Mini reef

I have a 9 litre tank (actually 12 but its impossible to fill to the top). It came with a actinic (blue) 13w 9000k fluorescent light which gives 1.4w a litre. I was thinking of using this for a mini reef. Is the light adequate for low light coral? What about medium and high light corals?

This will be a coral only tank. Can I leave the default hang-off the back end filter in place? Or should I disable it and depend wholly on natural filtration?

I believe with this set-up I would only need to buy a 24l flow powerhead and heater to get me started (plus the live sand, rocak and coral of course).

Any recommendations on "easy" corals?

Azoo Mirror Choppy (my tank)

http://www.azoo.com.tw/azoo_en/modules.php...Review&bkid=102

9 litres is about what? 2 gallons? Yeah , you could probably keep some zoos and other hardy low light softies. Ask others for specific ones, as far as i'm concerned, i'm a coral noob.

Yeah 2,3 gallon to be more exactly.

About the light:

If you have 1.4W a litre it usually is enough for corals to be kept on in larger tanks. Keep in mind that larger tanks have greater light (HQI 150W/250W/400W and so on). In those tanks you sometimes find people with 0,5w per liter but it is enough.

What I'm trying to say is that your 13w light isn't strong enough for most corals. In a small tank you should have more light (à litre) than a big tank because the proportions aren't the same.

Filtration:

You can do anything you want. If you want to have a natural filtration-system (as Refugium) than keep in mind that you have more gallons than only in the tank. You should have something to filter the water beside your LR and LS.

The way you do it, is your own choice. Beside this, make sure you have a different waterflow, so not 1 powerhead but 2 smaller powerheads minimum.

'Easy' corals:

Read as easier corals because it takes something to keep them healthy:

- Soft corals: Toadstool (Sarcophyton glaucum), Cabbage leather (Sinularia dura), Spaghetti leather (Sinularia flexibis) and Kenya tree (Capnella imbricata). Other easy to keep soft corals are: Sarcophyton sp., Sinularia sp., Lobophytum sp., Paralemnalia sp./Lemnalia sp. and Capnella sp..

Keep in mind that some leathers are hard to keep. Usually the most bright colored soft corals as Scleronephthya sp., Dendronephthya sp., Nephthea sp. and some Cladiella sp..

- Mushroom Corals: You have plenty of choice and the most don't even require much light. Mushrooms that require some more light are the smooth mushrooms. You have them in all sizes. colors and forms. Check out the Actinodiscus sp., Discosonoma sp., Rhodactis sp., Amplexidiscus sp. and Ricordea sp. mushrooms. Whatch out for Amplexiduscus and Rhodactis, some of these grow very big (Elephantear Mushroom)!

- Polyp Corals: again so many choice and aren't very hard to keep. Keep in mind that it will grow very rapid!

Bali polyp (Parazoanthus sp.), GreenStarPolyp ((Pachy)clavularia viridis)-> also brown version, Colony polyps (Zoanthus sp.) and Xenia (Xenia umbellata). Keep in mind that these corals need a little more light than mushrooms and leather for example.

I think you can create a beautifull tank with the 3 kinds of corals, if you have some more experiance with watervalues and coral growth/keeping you can take the next step by keeping SPS and LPS corals witch require more light.

Leather corals are good for beginning tanks because the clear the water in a way.

Good luck, hope you could do something with this.