The 300 is up and Running!

[Lizzy & Me]

Well after some help for you guys, I have moved the 300 I purchased and the fish too. All seem happy.

I do have a question on the lighting situation. I plan to do fish, LR and simple inverts first, but will eventually want to go to corals (soft only). I would like to add MH as I only have 400 watts of PC. The tank is 40" deep and I was looking at these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/400-Metal-Halid...2QQihZ007QQcategoryZ46314QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Any thoughts? Are they trash or usable? Thought I might add 2 of them.

Question 2) A little bit of brown alge is forming, I am waiting for my new UV bulb. Is this the best way to combat the alge?

Thanks for your input!

Jack

 

[Lizzy & Me]

On the brown alge question I have 2700 gph flowing through a closed loop, sump and 2 power heads and I will pull back my lighting hours, but can anyone tell me if the UV sterilizer will help with the brown alge?

 

[blackcloudmedia]

Brown algae just seems to come with the territory of new tanks. I started my 29 gallon and all thats introduced is a few fish, its now getting brown algae.

 

[Lizzy & Me]

This was an existing set up, I only maintained about 130 gal of tank water and RO for top off. I have been searching this topic but have not had any luck yet.

 

[Anonymous]

I used to have a castle like that when I had a freshwater tank. I had to take it out because my fish would get stuck in there and couldn't get out and they would die. JME

 

[Lizzy & Me]

Thanks for the warning Crissy, the Flame Hawk sure likes to hop about on it!

 

[blackcloudmedia]

lol!!!!!! THey got stuck in it?? Duh, go for the light. I like castles. You think the crustaceans would LOVE the castle.

 

[Anonymous]

The tall parts of the castle (or at least mine were) are hollow. They would hide in there. I lost 2 clown loaches and a algae eater.

 

[Len]

Huge tank Yep, you'll want one or two 400W halides for softies since it is such a deep tank. The ones on ebay are probably decent. From what I can see, the only questionable quality that will make a big difference in performance is the reflector. But at that price, it probably represents a great value even if the reflector is subpar.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

Wouldnt the ultimate reflectors be, mirrors? In that case one could home make reflectors that would rock.

 

[Lizzy & Me]

Ah...that is good news and thanks for the imput. I have difficulty determining the benefits of the higher priced aquarium gear. I love the effect of MH but I now need to find a 1/3 to 1/2 HP chiller! I think I will put in my bid for 2 of those lights!

I have a great idea for updating the tank's stand and canopy and I will post a pic later.

When I purchased this set up I really wanted to start a thread as a community build for it since it included some pretty descent gear, but I didn't know if there would be much intrest in holding my hand through this process.