actinics and a purple tang

[team2jndd]

I am about to sell my reef and agressive tank because my purple tang and panther grouper are my favorite fish and i feel they have already outgrown their current tank. I was hoping for another year but I dont want to stress them. I am going to set up a 300 long. I was going to have the panther, tang a coral banded cat an epaulette and maybe a small ray. However, I was going to use primarily actinics for easy maintenance and the fact that most of the fish would prefer the low light. The set up would most likely be 3 actinic bulbs and one daylight bulb. Would the purple tang have trouble with this lighting? It is about 6 inches long and has amazing color. I dont want it to lose this color due to a different lighting. Anyone who actually knows what they are talking about please post your expertise. Thanks for any info to come.
-Jim

 

[team2jndd]

Does nobody know?

 

[psusocr1]

whats the dimensions of that tank..rays need wide tanks not long..18" wouldnt cut it with a ray and also 2 shark in a 300 is a VERY BAD idea its way too small..one shark you can get away with but not two. Also why dont you use a 50/50 bulb and a actinic, it makes for great color and wouldnt bother the fish at all?? thats what i use on my aggressive tank and they love it. As far as low light my ray and shark dont mind the lighting i have on myt ank at all and im running 400 W of pc's 200 of 50/50 and 200 of actinic

 

[team2jndd]

The 265 i was looking at was 2 feet wide. The only difference between the 265 and the 300 would be a little taller. Why would the two sharks be a bad idea? I have already changed my mind about the ray simply due to size restrictions but I know a few people who have successfully kept two sharks together in similar sized tanks. I would actually prefer a mated pair of banded cats. However if only one is possible than obviously that is what I would go with. As much information as you can afford to give is appreciated because I do not want to make a mistake on a large project such as this. Thank you.
- Jim

 

[team2jndd]

Oh and the 50 50 lighting would work I was only going to go with actinic because I have about 100lbs of bleached white fiji rock that looks very good under actinic lighting.

 

[saltfan]

From my knowledge, you can use plain old 10k lighting for fish, if thats all your going to put in the tank, but the 14k has the blue tint to it.

 

[psusocr1]

what banded cats are you lookign at?? white , brown? they egt very large and two in a 300 i think would be pushing it.. one would be a nice addition with a smaller ray such as a cortez or cali my rau and shark did well in my 205 but im upgrading to a 300 this week then a 500 this summer.
rays would be alright in a 24" wide tank for a bit but it hought you said 300 LONG whish means its 18" instead of 24" wide you should have said a 300 tall, but that also means your comprimising length if you go with a tall(sharks need length)..let me know the dimensions your thinking. remember a 40 inch shark turning around in a 24" tank would not be comfy especiallt with two of them.. also for a shark as i said you need large caves but as minimal rockwork in the tank as possible for open swimming room for the ray's.
also you need awesome flitration i have a skimmer rated for a 52- gallon tank..or you could run two skimmers rated for a 300 gallon each, either way i reccomend strong flitration and awesome skimming since sharks and rays produce ALOT of waste.. on my 300 im going to be running a we/dry rated for 300 gallons and a 40 gallon refugium
also for lighting when you shut your lights off at night you cn get some moon leds (blue) i have them and my tank GLOWS at night its a great effect if thats what ur looking for
any questions ask away