TJ_Burton Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 Well, I managed to get a Solana in my office. Here are the plans: - Convert middle chamber into fuge - Run everything else stock - Switch Disco Halide to 4x or 6x HOT5 - Soft/LPS reef - Very few fish to cut down bioload I am also considering making my own rock structure from cement and aragonite/crushed coral. This would take a while to seed, but I am sure it would be worth it to have a completely customized one piece rock. It should allow for some pretty cool aquascaping. Not sure what else I can say about it at this point other then I have a lot of planning to do!!! Here are some pics of it behind my desk. Link to comment
SPS20 Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 I think you should find an actual disco ball, hollow it out and use it as a cover for the light. That would be so funny. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this tank. Link to comment
matty0206 Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 Tagging along! Your other tank is awesome so I am sure this one will be to. Can you post pics of mods you do? I just ordered one and am curious to see what others do! Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted May 14, 2008 Author Share Posted May 14, 2008 I think you should find an actual disco ball, hollow it out and use it as a cover for the light. That would be so funny. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this tank. That would like quite comical! Tagging along! Your other tank is awesome so I am sure this one will be to. Can you post pics of mods you do? I just ordered one and am curious to see what others do! The only mod I plan on doing is using the middle media chamber as refugium. Other then that I don't want to mess with it too much. looking good Right now it just looks empty to me! But thank you Link to comment
dekand Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 awesome! i will be following this thread Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Sweet, cant wait to see it! Link to comment
abe Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 what you gonna do with the disco ball when you switch out lights? Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted May 17, 2008 Author Share Posted May 17, 2008 awesome! i will be following this thread Yay! TJ Fan Club! lol Just kidding. I have actually been looking at your thread too Sweet, cant wait to see it! Me either to be honest! Now I will have a tank at work, so I won't have to miss my tank at home while I am away from it I also have somewhere to grow out frags now too!!! what you gonna do with the disco ball when you switch out lights? I think I may actually keep it for now, see how it performs with the corals (it has sub-par reflector in my opinion, it is not even polished) and upgrade later. I am very interested in how well Current-USA has built/planned out this tank, and I want to test it's stock abilities before any upgrades are made (other then the fuge mod). So far the only powerhead I am going to use is a Koralia Nano on the left hand side about mid way down the tank. I actually have it on the the back panel because the magnet was small enough to tuck down inside the overflow chamber. It doesn't obstruct the path much at all since it is so low profile, so it shouldn't cause any problems, and this way the side panels are kept clean and open for viewing. I plan for the rock work to be a central pillar with shelfs to place corals. The sand bed is going to sport some nice LPS (mostly brains and plate corals) and for the most part will be left open and spacious looking. I want a lot of space around the rock work for flow, to prevent detritus from settling, as well as to provide a constant soft current around the corals. This will also allow a lot of space for corals to grow. This rock work will mean I will surely have less then 1lb/gallon, however, I do not plan to put much in the way of fish or other heavy bioload members. This tank is primarily to display corals, secondarily display inverts, and fish are tertiary. There won't be much in the way of pics until end of next week (when I plan to get the rock). So this is probably the last update till then. Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted May 17, 2008 Author Share Posted May 17, 2008 Well, I figured I wanted to get this down on paper anyways, so here is the sort of look I am going for with the rock work. Feel free to comment. Feedback is always welcome! I don't always see problems before they happen so I truly appreciate a critical eye. Link to comment
abe Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 yea. i personally like the disco ball . if i felt that the refelctor wasn't doing its job, i would just switch out the reflector. why spend extra when you dont need to? my pc is being annoying and not loading pictures so i cant say anything about the rockwork... and i see you took the motto "if it ain't broke don't fix it". i would also just check out performance of the stock system so i guess you are doing pretty much everything i would do with a new tank Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted May 17, 2008 Author Share Posted May 17, 2008 yea. i personally like the disco ball . if i felt that the refelctor wasn't doing its job, i would just switch out the reflector. why spend extra when you dont need to? my pc is being annoying and not loading pictures so i cant say anything about the rockwork... and i see you took the motto "if it ain't broke don't fix it". i would also just check out performance of the stock system so i guess you are doing pretty much everything i would do with a new tank Well great minds think alike now don't they? I will end up switching out the reflector. I don't like it at all. Just need to find the time to do so. I am actually in the office right now, and I just finished filling the tank with R/O and put some salt in there. I will probably have the rocks in the tank some time early next week. Link to comment
matty0206 Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 What reflector do you plan on using? Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted May 17, 2008 Author Share Posted May 17, 2008 What reflector do you plan on using? I will most likely have to make one to fit it. So I will just buy a sheet of polished aluminum and remove the old reflector and copy it as best I can. Link to comment
matty0206 Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 Cool! I just ordered a solana so I am trying to get as many ideas as I can. Link to comment
abe Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 k, the pc at my dad's work let's me see your pictures. thats a sweet scape. very... unique. looks like a tree. i'm looking forward to seeing the final result. also glad you went with sand i personally dont like the BB look abe Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted May 17, 2008 Author Share Posted May 17, 2008 k, the pc at my dad's work let's me see your pictures. thats a sweet scape. very... unique. looks like a tree. i'm looking forward to seeing the final result. also glad you went with sand i personally dont like the BB look abe Glad you were able to see it! I appreciate the compliment, however I know it will probably look similar that picture, but realistically it will probably be more pillar like with less gaps/shelves. I will do my best though. As a side note, the configuration of the outputs in conjunction with the single Koralia Nano is giving me pretty awesome circulation. It isn't harsh, but it is swift and will do very will with the pillar type rock work I am aiming for. If I had a more densely packed tank that was geared for sps, I would probably need more flow. Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted May 18, 2008 Author Share Posted May 18, 2008 I brought the camera to work today to take some pics of the tank's current state. I moved it to the other side of my office where my colleague has his freshwater plant tank set up, so the two tanks should compliment each other. Either that or mine will put his to shame (I'm teasing). I have it full of saltwater, and should be able to grab live rock on Wednesday morning. I took some snaps of the fuge setup, and the fuge light that I used. For the light I decided to go with a Current USA 12" Satellite since it fits so nicely. It is about the same height and width of the chamber so it does not spill over into other chambers. I also threw a background on the tank since it's up against a window (Yes I know what you are thinking "OMG ALGAE!!!" but the window is heavily tinted on the outside and I am using RODI water so it shouldn't be a huge deal. I will post the pics when I get home. Cheers! Link to comment
FateX9 Posted May 18, 2008 Share Posted May 18, 2008 i believe someone tested the disco ball reflector and found that its better than most reflectors so i wouldnt change it so now another tank?! didnt you just start an oceanic cube?! lol tanks are just piling up arent they! good stuff cant wait to see it full Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted May 18, 2008 Author Share Posted May 18, 2008 i believe someone tested the disco ball reflector and found that its better than most reflectors so i wouldnt change itso now another tank?! didnt you just start an oceanic cube?! lol tanks are just piling up arent they! good stuff cant wait to see it full Nope, no cube. I have a wicked 40br system though Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted May 18, 2008 Author Share Posted May 18, 2008 Home from work! Here are the pics. Running with water & 14,000K 150w HQI on Close up so you can see outputs and Koralia nano View from my desk Fuge setup Link to comment
jwalsh1 Posted May 18, 2008 Share Posted May 18, 2008 Is that the 12" 18w light? Im jealous! I was going to fill my solana yesterday and get live rock in this week when I found a leak in the aquarium! Good luck with this one, Ill be following this. Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted May 18, 2008 Author Share Posted May 18, 2008 Is that the 12" 18w light? Im jealous! I was going to fill my solana yesterday and get live rock in this week when I found a leak in the aquarium! Good luck with this one, Ill be following this. Yeah that is the light I am using. I know, sucks about your Solana but it will just make it even more worth while once you get it going! Link to comment
phases Posted May 18, 2008 Share Posted May 18, 2008 Looks great TJ. Did you draw the rock work pics they are killer. Link to comment
archx Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 nice job with the fuge light and backing. the tank and stand works perfectly with your office furniture. Link to comment
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