[Current USA Solana 34g] Just Set up, pics included

[rmcgookey]

Hello, I'm new to nano-reef.com and I'm excited to join the community. I've just got back into the hobby after being out of it for 5 years. The last tank I had was a Clear-For-Life 12 gallon Acrylic tank with built in filter. At the time, nanos weren't nearly as popular. I look forward to sharing my progress with you and giving/receiving tips and advice. I've read some threads from other recent Solana users and I'm looking forward to adding to the online content.

 

Here are the specs on my tank so far:

Equipment:

-34 gallon Current USA Solana

-Stand made for Solana

-150w 14K SunPod bracketed over tank

-stock skimmer

-stock return pump

-Korilia 1 on left side

-150W Hydor heater (need to return it, calibrated terribly)

-About to add JBJ ATO with Aqualifter pump and Prime 1/15HP Chiller

 

Other:

-All distilled water from Kroger

-Tropic Marine Pro Reef Salt

-Caribsea Araq-alive Reef Sand (40 lbs)

-45-50 lbs cured Live Rock (Aquacultured, Tonga, and Fiji)

-Chemi Pure Elite 5 oz. (20g capacity bag)

-Purigen (100g capacity bag)

-stock micro bio balls in mesh bags

 

Overall, I'm very pleased with this tank. The cube rimless braceless design looks great and unlike most all-in-one tanks. I went with the SunPod instead of the "disco ball" overhanging light. I contacted Current USA and they plan to release a canopy for this tank in the spring. I hope the SunPod fixture can be mounted into it in case I decide to go with a canopy.

 

Pros:

-Adequate sump space (4.5" deep) I may put in a small refugium in the biological/chemical filtration chamber and shine a small light in from behind the tank

-Seems to be a well designed skimmer. (too early to see how productive it is) Not too many tiny bubbles in the tank and I assume those I see will be eliminated as the skimmer breaks in.

-400 gph included return pump provides adequate flow

-Stand has a very handy pull out drawer on top with smoked glass insert in door

 

Cons:

-Skimmer is a little loud –air intake hose fizzes (but most skimmers I've played with in the past have been noisy) Any mod ideas appreciated. Air tube is bigger than standard airline.

-Glass top is thin and could break easily if mishandled. I would like to have an acrylic piece made to replace it.

-Stand included does not have holes drilled in the back to run cables in/out.

 

Progress:

-Water was added and mixed on Friday 11/23, Live Rock added yesterday 11/25

-It will be interesting to see how much die off I get on the rock. About ½ of it was covered in salt water in buckets for transport home from LFS. I made a stupid mistake and locked my keys in my trunk as I was loading the car up and had to wait an hour or so for my girlfriend to show up with a spare. Meanwhile it was around 40-50 degrees outside and the rocks/water definitely came down in temp.

-I'm hoping for a cycle time of under 1 week since I started with fully cured rock.

 

Questions:

1) My Korilia 1 is loud. It makes a vibrating noise that I can't seem to get rid of. I've fiddled with it extensively. Are the Tunze nano streams equally as loud? If not, I need to replace.

2) pH is around 7.8-8.0 depending on the test kit. I didn't anticipate it registering this low but I've never used CaribSea Arag-alive before and not sure how much it contributes to proper pH. Any tips on getting pH over 8.0? I am not familiar with the new calcium additives because I've been out of the hobby for a while. It seems like there's a lot of new stuff out.

3) It appears that there is a slight amount of Phosphate in the water! ..eventhough zero in the source water. (Using low range phosphate test kit in Instant Ocean Reef Master kit) I can't figure out why. Will the Chemi-Pure Elite be enough to bring it down? (20g capacity bag)

4) Please provide advice on new additives on the market. I have read a little about new calcium additives and other stuff (e.g., Purple Up) and would love to hear from you on successful additives, trace elements, feeding, etc.. I decided on the Chemi Pure and Purigen based on other nano reefer postings.

6) I haven't added activated carbon yet, should I? I've always added it from the get-go in the past.

 

Thanks so much and I look forward to sharing my progress.

 

Water Parameters: After 1 day of live rock

Temp: 79-81 degrees

Salt: 1.023

pH: 7.8-8.0

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 0 – Instant Ocean Reef Master Test (Tetra test kit says around 12.5)

Phosphate: .2-.4 mg/L

 

Water was added and mixed on Friday 11/23, Live Rock added yesterday 11/25

 

For some reason if i add the pics from photobucket, they do not appear when i preview the post. No clue why. Tried to paste in HTML tags for the images too, wont work. I had to attach the pics as image files.

[Cristina_j]

Very nice tank. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I'm enjoying mine. When adding from Photobucket just copy the IMG code and past directly into the text area, you don't need to go through special links or anything. I currently don't run the carbon in my tank, I have mostly zoos, a mushroom, birdsnest, some very small sps, and some bigger peices of digitata. I don't run any extra pumps at the current time but had a nanostream by tunze on the list. I've heard they are much better than the Koralinas. One of my LFS's has a tank with different pumps in it, and you can stick your hand in to feeel the difference between pumps. The Tunze pushes alot more water, and is more efficient. I've never had my water tested either. I'm one for keeping my hands out of my tank as much as possible. If I mess with it i usually end up screwing something up. All my corals look ok, so they are ok to me. I should probably take a bit to get tested at some point, but havent' really started adding in any additional stuff. Most everything has come from my BF's tank and was an accidental frag, Only have bought 2 types of Zoos, and a fish.

[H7brandi]

Very nice looking tank, rmc.

 

I also have a Koriala 1 and also a 2. The 1 doesn't make any noise at all. The propeller on the 2 sometimes made a rattling when it first kicked on (on wave maker), but after the first disassemble and cleaning, that has decreased. I would give it a shot and if it doesn't help, take it back and try another one. I prefer the Koralia's because the flow is more diffused and provides movement without really blasting anything.

 

Good luck with the cycle and I'll be looking forward to seeing the progress on this one.

 

BTW...

[215reefer]

Nice tank! What is going to make up your stock list?

[rmcgookey]

Good question on the stock list. I'll determine that as I go. For the next few months i will definitly maintain some easy corals and maybe try some SPS afterwards. Im also like to looks at fish in my tanks, so i plan to add at least a couple percula or false percs, 6 line wrasse, and flame angel down the road.

[PodRod]

Your tank looks great! I'm also getting back in the hobby but I've only been out for about 8 months. It looks like your off to a great start and I'll definitely be following your progress since I have the Solana also. I'm setting mine up this weekend.

 

I used Purigen and Chemi Pure in my last tank and the products worked great. I dosed with calcium since I had SPS and found that C Balance worked great - perhaps others can offer their opinions on other products. I'm a firm believer that you should not dose with anything unless you are testing for it. I use Salifert test kits and I've found them to be very accurate.

 

I have not used the Koralia so I can't help you out there. I'm planning on using the Tunze Nanostream, although I've heard both products are good. I'm not sure why you have phosphates in the water - have you actually tested the source water just to make sure that's not were it's coming from?

 

Welcome to NR!

[Gvtv44]

 

 

Nice tank!

[rmcgookey]

Your tank looks great! I'm also getting back in the hobby but I've only been out for about 8 months. It looks like your off to a great start and I'll definitely be following your progress since I have the Solana also. I'm setting mine up this weekend.

 

I used Purigen and Chemi Pure in my last tank and the products worked great. I dosed with calcium since I had SPS and found that C Balance worked great - perhaps others can offer their opinions on other products. I'm a firm believer that you should not dose with anything unless you are testing for it. I use Salifert test kits and I've found them to be very accurate.

 

I have not used the Koralia so I can't help you out there. I'm planning on using the Tunze Nanostream, although I've heard both products are good. I'm not sure why you have phosphates in the water - have you actually tested the source water just to make sure that's not were it's coming from?

 

Welcome to NR!

 

yeah, tested the source water which was distilled. no phosphates in that. I'll test again in a week or so and see if the phosphate levels are still over zero.

[rmcgookey]

You guys think i'm ok with the purigen and chemi-pure elite in the tank right off the bat? in the past, ive started tanks off with chemical filtration. This time i'm thinking about pulling those out because they claim to reduce ammonia and i'm thinking that could slow the cycling process.

 

your thoughts? thanks.

[supreme_spork]

You guys think i'm ok with the purigen and chemi-pure elite in the tank right off the bat? in the past, ive started tanks off with chemical filtration. This time i'm thinking about pulling those out because they claim to reduce ammonia and i'm thinking that could slow the cycling process.

 

your thoughts? thanks.

 

i'd skip the chemical filtration until you've finished cycling. if you want to soft-cycle just keep your eyes on your parameters and do water changes as necessary throughout the cycle -- i think that's a good balance between keeping your water quality reasonable while still allowing microfauna to reach stable populations. starting off with chemical filtration will prevent you from developing a robust and stable natural biological filter.

[shaz1971]

Nice tank, I will be following along the development.

[rmcgookey]

Pulled out the Purigen and Chemi-Pure tonight. They might hinder bacterial development during cycling. I researched this topic and it appears that most people prefer not to cycle with chemical filtration, but others prefer it to minimize spikes in ammonia and stress on the live rock organisms.

 

My only worry is that after a few days of having this media in the system, a lot of it's effects remain in the water. This may explain now signs of ammonia thus far. I may not notice any spikes in ammonia/nitrites because i started with fully cured rock.

 

Also installed the JBJ ATO tonight. Took some pics and will post tomorrow.

 

Temp is running hot when the lights are on (mostly because i have the glass lid on top) Gets as high as 83. I have a Current USA 1/15 HP chiller coming soon. If you have good pump recommendations for this i'd appreciate it. Water needs to get pumped 4+ feet high from the chiller.

[rocky100370]

Pulled out the Purigen and Chemi-Pure tonight. They might hinder bacterial development during cycling. I researched this topic and it appears that most people prefer not to cycle with chemical filtration, but others prefer it to minimize spikes in ammonia and stress on the live rock organisms.

 

My only worry is that after a few days of having this media in the system, a lot of it's effects remain in the water. This may explain now signs of ammonia thus far. I may not notice any spikes in ammonia/nitrites because i started with fully cured rock.

 

Also installed the JBJ ATO tonight. Took some pics and will post tomorrow.

 

Temp is running hot when the lights are on (mostly because i have the glass lid on top) Gets as high as 83. I have a Current USA 1/15 HP chiller coming soon. If you have good pump recommendations for this i'd appreciate it. Water needs to get pumped 4+ feet high from the chiller.

 

 

I would use a Mag 5 pump and install it right above the return pump. Thats where I have mine. The return from the chiller I have is just a "U" over the back edge of the tank in the return area where the pump cords come up through the plate. Youll have to make that hole a bit bigger.

 

On another note did you have problems with micro bubbles getting into the tank from the skimmer?

[rmcgookey]

I would use a Mag 5 pump and install it right above the return pump. Thats where I have mine. The return from the chiller I have is just a "U" over the back edge of the tank in the return area where the pump cords come up through the plate. Youll have to make that hole a bit bigger.

 

On another note did you have problems with micro bubbles getting into the tank from the skimmer?

 

Thanks for the advice on a pump. Yeah, i do have micro bubbles from the skimmer. They are not terrible, but very noticable, and now that i'm starting to get my diatom bloom, bubbles are sticking to diatoms and then releasing later. Not very sightly. I tried to reduce the bubbles by stuffing some filter floss into the skimmer return on top of the sponge. Didnt help much. I was hoping the bubbles would reduce after the skimmer broke in. That hasnt happened yet and i've had the skimmer running for about 1 week. I'll wait a few more days and if they dont go away i'll have to think of something new. Let me know if you have any ideas.

[rmcgookey]

The tank has been blooming with diatoms and green hair algae the past two days. I did a 25% water change as good measure.

 

for some reason phosphates in my freshly mixed salt water are zero, but i get roughly .4 in the tank water. No clue why.

 

Added back the purigen and chemi-pure today.

 

Plan to add clean up crew tomorrow and leave the lights off a couple days and see if they can take care of the algae before it gets out of control.

 

Tank has been sitting with fully cured rock for over a week now and no signs of ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate. No testable signs of a cycle, but the diatom/green algae bloom did come.

 

Also need to begin adding a 2 part solution to get alklanity, pH, and calcium up.

[rmcgookey]

Just picked up the following which are now in the acclimation process:

 

15 super tiny blue legged hermit crabs

6 red legged hermit crabs

6 turbo snails

5 astrea snails

2 tiny clown gobys

1 small colony of green star polyps

1 small colony of yellow sun polyps

[rocky100370]

Just picked up the following which are now in the acclimation process:

 

15 super tiny blue legged hermit crabs

6 red legged hermit crabs

6 turbo snails

5 astrea snails

2 tiny clown gobys

1 small colony of green star polyps

1 small colony of yellow sun polyps

 

Sorry I didnt get back to you on the bubble issue. I found out how to get rid of mine. I added water to raise the water level in the sump area just about 1/2" above the ATO plate and my bubbles are almost gone. The bad news is I found 2 deep scratches about 1" long about half way from the bottom on both sides of the tank. Dont know if this is a production thing or not. You might want to check yours. They are going to either send me a new one or give me $200 credit on Current products. I think I want the tank because its such an eyesore. At least they are taking care of it. Shipping alone is $200 on this damn thing. Let me know if I can be of more help to you.

[Cristina_j]

Your lucky your getting a new tank/credit. when i contacted Current-usa about the scratches along the glass where the silicone joins the glass they told me that scratches will happen when your dealing with such small areas and were not willing to do anything to help me. There are a ton of scratches in the corners of the tank. I've been lucky so far and haven't had to razor blade the tank, just been using a Magfloat in middle and near top, and my fingers near the sand.

[PodRod]

What's the update on the chiller - did you get it installed? I was just wondering if you got the temp issues resolved. I have the same chiller but haven't installed it yet. I'm still undecided as to which pump I need. I'd be interested in knowing how the Mag 5 works well with your setup.

 

Sounds like the tank is really coming along - keep the updates coming!

[rmcgookey]

What's the update on the chiller - did you get it installed? I was just wondering if you got the temp issues resolved. I have the same chiller but haven't installed it yet. I'm still undecided as to which pump I need. I'd be interested in knowing how the Mag 5 works well with your setup.Sounds like the tank is really coming along - keep the updates coming!

Still waiting for the chiller to get in. Ordered it from Aquabuys.com for local pick-up. I'm in Atlanta. I wont go with a mag 5 though. I think that pump may be a little much (size and flow) just to get water through the chiller. I think im going with a Quiet One 1200. Still need to figure out how to fit it to tubing because i think it comes with a threaded connector, not barbed to fit a 1/2" ID hose to it. Do you have plans on your tubing/connectors for the chiller? I'm mainly concerned with the U-tube connectors for the tubing over the back of the tank. I noticed the Current 1/15 chiller has 2 different diameter connectors.

Sorry I didnt get back to you on the bubble issue. I found out how to get rid of mine. I added water to raise the water level in the sump area just about 1/2" above the ATO plate and my bubbles are almost gone. The bad news is I found 2 deep scratches about 1" long about half way from the bottom on both sides of the tank. Dont know if this is a production thing or not. You might want to check yours. They are going to either send me a new one or give me $200 credit on Current products. I think I want the tank because its such an eyesore. At least they are taking care of it. Shipping alone is $200 on this damn thing. Let me know if I can be of more help to you.

yeah, i have had my water level right around where the ATO plate would go. I still have some bubbles though. i think they are reducing though as the skimmer breaks in. I'll let you know after another week how it looks.I have a JBJ ATO installed and have an issue maybe some of you can help. When i test the ato by lifting/dropping the float valve, my aqualifter pump turns on and off and pumps water like it should. BUT, after a few hours, the float will be triggered, and the lights on the ATO for the float switch and pump activation go on, but the aqualifter doesnt turn on! I can unplug and plug it from the ATO unit and still wont go on. But if i unplug and plug the entire ATO from the power source, the pump goes on and everything is good. Is this an issue with the pump or the ATO? im thinking ATO because unplugging/plugging pump doesnt work but whole unit does work. I should probably test by plugging a lamp or something into the ATO and seeing if it goes on.Thanks all.

[rmcgookey]

Last night I installed a Current Mini Chiller (1/15 HP)

 

1) submersed a Quiet One 1200 pump on top of filter return pump

2) ran 5/8" line to the chiller and 1/2" line back

 

For those of you who are about to install this chiller, bear in mind that the barb fittings for in/out on the chiller accept 1/2" and 5/8" tubing on both sides. (but in most selling materials, they publish that this chiller has 2 different size fittings for in/out)

 

I'll get pics up soon. I'm behind on that

 

Also, i found a long 5"+ bristleworm in the tank last night. I think its of thre harmless variety but want to make sure. It is very thin (few millimeters) but long. Most of its body is very dark in color with orange/reddish colored ends.

 

Anyone know what this is?

 

thanks

[rmcgookey]

Here is a photo of the JBJ ATO. I used a tom aqualifter and installed resevoir on the shelf inside the stand - Aqualifter only has about a 30" head max but this works out well in my setup. I had to open up the ATO and re-adjust the max pump duration because its default setting was under 3 minutes. I maxed it out at 15 minutes because sometimes it can take a while to top off. When default was under 3 mins, pump would be shut off and ATO would shut down.

 

Also, picked up new livestock yesterday:

1 Turbinaria cup coral

1 hairy mushroom

1 yellow leather

1 small rock of zoanthids

2 percula clowns

1 very small pigmy angel

All doing well as of day 2.

tank shot:

 

Chiller is working well holding the temp around 77 degrees with fluctuations around 1-2 degrees. I may bring it down to 75, 76 degrees.

 

 

I cant get images to display in my posts - i tried pasting in the img code in the body of the text and it wont work. Also tried pasting in the HTML code in the HTML version, not working. I'm using photobucket. Any ideas why this doesnt work? for time being, attached images to reply.

[reefdan]

be sure to watch your tank parameters w/ such a short cycle and large livestock addition.

 

i would do a considerably sized water change (8-10g) 2x a week to ensure your livestock doesn't suffer.

[ximmortaldeathx]

Nice Aquascaping!!

 

I also just got a Solana and just finished laying my LR around.

 

I do think you got a bit too much live sand but well see how the bacteria play out later on.

 

Did you remove all the bioballs and the stuff on the back??

 

I took off the carbon and the ceramic squares off my Hagen aquaclear and placed them in the back, as my purigen and phospure arrive though mail.

 

Anyways ill keep up to see how you do. So far so good!!

[rmcgookey]

be sure to watch your tank parameters w/ such a short cycle and large livestock addition.i would do a considerably sized water change (8-10g) 2x a week to ensure your livestock doesn't suffer.

Yeah, good point. I plan on testing every few days. I've done this before in small tanks... going with good fully cured rock and sand, and then adding inverts, corals, fish within days of setup. However, this time i waited 1 week after putting in rock and added about 1/4 of the bio load, waited another week and added about 3/4 of the current load. I am nervous about the big load so quickly. I will test and do water changes accoirdingly if needed

Nice Aquascaping!!I also just got a Solana and just finished laying my LR around.I do think you got a bit too much live sand but well see how the bacteria play out later on.Did you remove all the bioballs and the stuff on the back??I took off the carbon and the ceramic squares off my Hagen aquaclear and placed them in the back, as my purigen and phospure arrive though mail.Anyways ill keep up to see how you do. So far so good!!

great purchase, you will be please with the Solana. I went with 2 20lb bags of caribsea arag-alive. you think its too much? visually it does look like a lot but i like the look. Sand bed is about 3 inches deep. Any biological consquences to this? I've read good and bad things about short vs deep sand beds regarding the level of anaerobic and aerobic biological filtration.I have the bioballs in the back for now. I may remove later if im noticing nitrate accumulation but i figure its better to have more bio filtration now anyway, cant hurt, right?