Questions - Need some input

Hi everyone. I'm looking to get coral pretty soon. And I'm looking for some advise on the lighting. The guy at the local fish store said t5 would be sufficient but when I asked him about metal halide he said it would be too hot and I would have to buy a chiller which is 400 to 500 dollars. I was also wondering about led. My tank is 48 inches long and 12 inches wide. I don't want to spend more than 400 dollars. Thanks all. Please feel free to suggest anything.

Found this in my tank the other day. Looks kind of like a pickle

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Today I found a good deal on an ATI Bubble Master 300, so I decided to purchase it. Getting the second skimmer purchased was one of the major roadblocks in progressing with my 245G/180G and Breeding Setup build. I now have a skimmer for both the dual in-wall tanks and the breeding set up. Both systems will hold about 500 G of water each. I have the above mentioned ATI and an ASM G6. Anyone have any suggestions as to which system would get which skimmer? Thanks for your input.

So, here it goes…

As usual, after half an hour lights off, I feed my Anemone, for that i closed all circulation to let it feed. Almost half an hour later I observed where it reached. I saw almost 18” long blue color threadworm was floating in the tank. Immediately I caught it with the help of net and put it in measuring jug.
See Video:




While I was catching it, 2” part of it broken down in the ...

So, I have been battling this ugly purple/brown and green slime junk problem in my tank for a few months now. My tank is still fairly young about 8months old. I have a total of three fish and three corals and a Green bta. I feed only once a day, My nitrates and and phosphates are undetectable but the slime may be using it up. My chaeto is not growing that fast. So I have decided to try the EcoBak pellets in the Nextreef SMR1 reactor. I ordered the reactor through Marine Depot and the media ...