Go for the sapphire!!! VERY well made. Takes 2 minutes to install, super quiet and works very very well!!!

It allows the skimmer it fit in chamber 1 without the cup sticking above the top of the tank. In terms of the magnet, it is located on the side of the unit, so it would have to live in chamber 2 - which is a PITA to get in there to adjust the tunze to the right height.

+1 very quiet, and no stick up on top!




haha. welcome and to be able to put you on the list. you need to make a thread page about your solana first then i can added you on the list. thanks!

will be making a thread as soon as i get pics. thanks. ill let you know when that happens

Just ordered mind.

I'm process of selling old equipment and getting...

Sunpod, Tek, or ATI fixture, Stand, Skimmer, MP10? (downgrade from 40), umm what else? Oh I need new rock (going marco)

Ok im in a dilemma, I decided not to do the two pump idea for a refugium. I still dont have room for a HOB or gravity fed refugium. That leaves me with one option and thats to have an external overflow box running gravity to the refugium and a pump to return water to the display. My question to you Solana owners like me is if that pump fails it seems like the overflow would continue to put water into the refugium b/c the main pump would still keep the water level in the display at the level of the overflow box. My LFS says no because the water level in the display would drop however they don't seem to understand that it wouldn't if the main pump was still operational. I am speaking as though the refugium pump broke not as if there was a power outage that I understand would lower the water level in the display. Any help would be great, pics would be better.

Those of you with skimmers... I am looking at the remora c because I hear that works really well. But question for you... I currently never have any raise in nitrates or any problem with water quality because I do weekly water changes and cleaning. Do you think spending the money is worth it? Or should I invest that money in more corals?

not worth it is you don't have testable nitrates (make sure you test kit is not expired). Your corals need nitrates/phosphates to grow, take even the small bits away from them just slows things down

this is my solana
Click to view attachment
with 35 pounds of live rock and 20 lbs of sand
after cycle


Click to view attachment

That is one nice looking rock scape you got there. how did you got yours to hold it up like that. The rocks look like it have alot of life on it. Great job man!

thanks d espresso i just kind of messed around with the rock work untill i found one that i liked and alot of the reason it stays up is because i put alot of apoxy on it and really there is only like four or five main peices of live rock so that also made it easier

d' espresso just took a look at ur tank and usually not a bare bottom fan but i still really really like ur tank espcially the over hanging live rock... really cool

Our solana's been running for 5 and a half months now. All stock equipment except DIY ATO. Here's the latest FTS.



Some other shots











bxz

whats the name of the light u have bxz

damn bxz, how do you get your frogspawn so happy?

Tank is beautiful. Mine has been up for almost 3 months, I will post updates soon.

it's current nova extreme pro, but I think it's not strong enough for SPS. I lost 1 blue tip acro, maybe because my tank is still young, will try again next year.




thx atlweb, guess i'm lucky

Wow, that is looking clean +1 for the Naked clowns.. mine is half naked. haha



Hmmm.. maybe i should give that a try but i am still waiting for evilc66 Sunpod LEDs..



Congrats. NOW GET THAT THING FILL HER UP!!!



POST some pic. we would all like to check it out. Welcome to the thread!





This is one of the best i've ever seen. Wonder what will your solana look like in person. you must of be proud of your reef. Good Job bro.

Can I be added to the Solana Owner's Thread? I just purchased a Solana and will be cycling it after I build a stand. Here's my build thread.

u should add me to the thread also

thx d'Espresso for starting this thread, it's nice we have a solana community now.

I hope I will keep it up and wait till the corals cover all the rocks. My wife told me to stop adding any more corals. I think she's right, what i need now is patience and time. I personally like watching it 3 feet away, water is clear and whole tank colorful. Our tank is just next to our dining table, I like to turn off the light and have dinner with my wife, haven't tried lighting a candle, I'm sure it's even more romantic. Normally I would be sitting across the table and spend half an hour watching them before the lights go off. It's the best hobby I have so far and I think it'll always be.

BTW your tank looks very nice too, it's so clean and reminds me of ezcompany's solana. Very impressive with those SPSs. I'm planning to do some upgrade on my light so one day I can put some more SPSs. My tank is also bare bottom, but how come ur bottom is so clean without any algae? Mine was filled with so much algae the 3rd month I have to manually put my snails there to clean it up.

problemo solved

Hmm, if it's structurally sound and you can clean it up then I'd get it. Maybe try to talk the price down a bit though. For $60 you could build your own stand.

Hey guys,

What would you consider to be the best broad spectrum light for the solana? I'm currently running PC's and want to upgrade.

Thanks!

broad is MH, targeted is T5HO.

and yea I know but its an hr drive to this guy. It looks structually sound but I don't really know. I would need to get new hinges as well.

How did his solana bust? That makes me nervous. I just picture 30 gallons of water leaking on to the people below my apartments furniture.

He tweaked a seem when moving it. Very easy on rimless tanks

well my solana came in today. unfortunately it was in liek fifty million pieces so back to the drawing board.

Also I never realized the footprint of the solana was more like 20x15 the back chambers take up a little more than 4 inches of space!

on the plus side I got my 50lbs of marco rock today... began aqua scaping and looks like I might have a nice setup.. for sps atleast

I am making pillars. I don't know where acans will go though

How do you like the rock?
-Mike

I LOVEEE THE ROCK!

The only problem is I was expecting the solana to be a little bit bigger in footprint so all I have right now are two aquascaping pillars and I'm not sure what else to do. I don't have a whole lot of room.

Welcome everyone to the thread!

I sure can! I will add when I get home from work! Cheers -David

oh no! You got me all excited about your tank but when you said it was like in million pieces got me upset bro. Hope they ship you a new one. Let us knows!

I know I was excited too! then I opened the box and got tiny glass shards in my hands and was like ####!

Oh well..I have to order one for $300 now instead of getting one for ~$185... there goes the skimmer/ato

No more ATI sunpower either, I'll be using a 150w sunpod w/ 14k phoenix

Could someone describe the rear chambers in the SOlana for me? I am having a tough time figuring out exactly how it is set up. I know there is a skimmer, but is there also a mediabasket type setup? Thanks.

yeah the skimmer goes in the 1st compartment, where the inlet is for the overflow..then the 2nd chamber is where the bioballs and sponges are but those are to be removed. Most people including me turn the 2nd chamber into a fuge and velcro a light to the back. The heater can also be put in the 2nd chamber in that space next to the skimmer. The 3rd compartment is where the return pump is and where those ATO bottles are. Take those bottles out and add a better ATO and you can also run carbon or a sapphire media reactor in the 3rd chamber

How often do you guys clean our your skimmers (the stock one)? I havent had the skimmer on mine, but I decided I am just going to turn my 2nd chamber into a fuge, and with that said.... I won't be running the blue sponge anymore. Do you think that small fuge and the stock protein skimmer will be enough filtration in mine? I also have around 35lb of rock and a 2-3 inch sandbed.

Solana scheduled for delivery 10/22

Got my 150w sunpod today. Was afraid I got the wrong bulb as well because its diff from the pic on PA website, but sure enough it is. Its a wonderful blue color too!!!

Now I need to get conduit and a hanging kit...and acrylic rods for my rocks

That's great news spanky! About the rods, I didn't use any rods. I use zipties to secure my rock scape. My new rock scape for November is almost done. I had to take some rocks out because less is more. Now just sit back and watch everything grows.

just noticed this... Do I have to drill a hole in the back of the solana stand!?!? to fit my ato resivor in there and hide the power cables?

Also stand doesn't seem completely level, that could be the floor though.

Please add me to the Solana owners thread

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=209562&hl=

TANK CAME IN TODAY!!!

I like the tank, a bit unimpressed with the siliconing of the back chambers but oh well

edit: just realized now the back left corner is cracked!!! WTF!!!

Ha, me2, I would have cleaned it up a little, but I didnt notice it till I got water in it, then I got lazy! lol...

have fun.
-Mike

lol well I am returning it, I am not using a tank with a back chipped/shattered edge. This really ticks me off

Ah, I was talkin bout the silicone, sorry to hear about the chip... I didn't have that problem.

good luck, Mike

Ah yea! lol I don't think I would clean it up if I had good tank anyway lol. I'll probably have to wait til this time next week for another one

Sorry about the tank, hope this next one won't break or chipped. Do you have to ship back the broken tank each time it break because that's alot of hassle to go through that. Good luck buddy!

Yup UPS comes by and picks up the tank and I have to wait for it to get back to the place I bought it, then they send me a new one.

Where you get your tank from? i got mine from pet solution.com for a very good deal plus i google for any kind of discount and i am glad i found one with free shipping and 10% off so i added in and the tank was such a great deal plus my friend is the UPS man so he delivered straight to my work place and help me unloaded and take off the box and everything and help me put it in my little grocery getter Camry 01'. i was so surprised that the tank fitted in my little camry. haha. But yea nothing broke and was ready to be setup but before i put water and get it started. i did a little modification to the back chamber you can find it on my 2nd page on my solana thread form. i added some eggcrate and a fuge light to the back along with Skimmer and ATO.

I hope your tank come in in one piece so you can get it started.

P.S. My Picasso baby clown fish decided to surf the rim and landed on my carpet the next morning all stiff up!

Anyone know where i can buy some cheap picasso clown fish?

I got mine from petsolutions as well but I didn't find any coupons

I also don't have all the foam to put the tank back in its larger box... I think its going to break in transit but its already broken so whats the use. If they don't send me a new tank I will be pissed. I am not going dumpster diving to get a couple pieces of foam lol. Thats the only real thing I am worried about.

Sad about the picasso

I would reccomend hyperboy for getting some cheap picassos, they are $50 and I believe he has a website now where you can order based on WYSIWYG