Jump to content
inTank Media Baskets

The Garage Solana


rufousreefer

Recommended Posts

rufousreefer

So at long last I finally set up my first home tank. Some of you may know that I began reef keeping in my classroom and have longed to enjoy it at home as well as at school.

 

I started to get my equipment in January this year and finally set up the tank in July. I picked up the solana for a great price and considered the upgrades. I am still not there yet but am well on my way.

 

The tank I picked up was a regular glass 34g rimless tank and I also got a used disco ball halide. The disco ball halide is not running currently because I chose a more powerful light for this tank from the start.

 

Here is the profile:

 

* Display: Solana Standard Glass 34 gallon tank

* Stand: Custom Alder Stand 26 X 25 X 36

* Skimmer: Currently the stock skimmer is running, soon to be Sapphire Skimmer.

* Water Movement: 1 Koralia One Pump. 1 Koralia Two Pump (For Now) Vortech Upgrade Planned (MP20)

* Lighting: 24" Maristar 250 W HQI, XM 15k DE Bulb, 2 Super Actinic T5 UVL.

* Chemical Filtration: Chemipure Elite with GFO

* Biological Filtration: 30 pounds of live rock. Mainly 3 large pieces. Chaetomorpha in the rear chamber.

* Calcium Supplementation: Undecided, but probably a two part system, maybe calcium reactor.

* Monitoring and Control: Ac Jr. Neptune Systems

 

Livestock Plans and Implementation:

Live Rock added July 9th.

Hermits:3 various species. (Stocked July 27)

Two Red Banded Trocus Snails (Stocked July 27th)

Five Nerite Snails Stocked (August 20th)

Five Nassarius Snails

Red Fire Shrimp

Symbiotic Red Striped Pistol Shrimp

Reef Safe Brittle Stars

 

 

Fish:

Tailspot Blenny Stocked August 4th. (R.I.P. August 24)

3 Trimma Goby To be stocked once found. Candy Striped Species

1 Randall's Goby Stocked August 27th

1 Assessor or Reef Safe Basslet (Not a Royal Gramma!)

1 Scooter Blenny with tank maturity maybe 5 months down the road.

 

Coral:

Acropora and Montipora mostly.

Some Favia, Blastomussa, and Acanthastrea on the lower portions of the reef. Perhaps one nice chalice.

 

As the name suggests, the tank is in the garage. I do not have a chiller but will by next summer or will be moving the tank indoors by then. I live in Oregon and we do not have too many >100 degree days. This Summer with reverse light cycle I kept the tank at 84 on the hottest days. Garage is not insulated but I will probably have some type of meth lab tarp/ foam setup to try and reduce temp swings in cooler months.

 

My plan is to stick to my guns and not add corals too quickly. I am going to let the algae blooms and coralline growth tell me when it is time.

 

2 Week water changes with Seachem Reef for now.

 

Here are some pics of the initial setup.

FTS:

 

P8200036.jpg

 

Side View:

P8200037.jpg

 

Side View 2:

 

P8200038.jpg

 

My Tailspot Blenny:

 

P8200039.jpg

Link to comment
rufousreefer

My tailspot jumped over the weekend. Lost him. :( Anyone have a good link to a diy cover for the solana? I do not want this happening to anymore fish.

Link to comment
rufousreefer

Thanks MedRed and D'espresso. So, I know I have seen some screen setups around here on NR. Anyone remember the thread for it and how to do it? It seemed like it was made from window screen frame.

Link to comment
rufousreefer

Thanks D'espresso. I have decided to bag the Deltec and use it for something else down the line. I ordered a Sapphire Solana Skimmer yesterday. Woohoo! In other news, my diatoms are pretty much fading out now. Also, I have noticed my first specs of coralline are growing on the black background. I was thinking I was a ways away from that.

 

Does anyone have a window screen cover setup? I want to work on this before I add another fish. What dimensions did you use?

Link to comment
rufousreefer

Well,

 

My Coralline started kicking in sooner than I thought so it was time to go get a coral!

 

P8270014.jpg

 

 

I believe this is an Acropora valida (Tricolor Valida) The guy in the shop did not know the acro species. He did say it spread out flat. This coral had died off a year ago and was starting to grow back quickly.

 

Second, I picked up a Randall's Goby to pair up with a Tiger Pistol Shrimp.

P8270015.jpg

 

 

The pistol has not paired up yet. He hid in the back corner pf the tank and buried himself.

Link to comment

On a rimless tank it is gonna be difficult to add a screen. The Solana I saw at the lfs had plastic clips that suspended a glass top over the tank. Probably gonna stop there tomorrow, will ask them if that is something they added. If so want me to let you know?

Link to comment
Solana's come with a glass lid and clips. They also make rim with a glass lid as well. I'm using the latter.

 

I accidently threw my clips always med! Do u guys know where I can find a replacement one at?

Link to comment

731677150001md.jpg

731677350043md.jpg

047888186402md.jpg

There is also a corner connector made from vinyl that I cannot find a picture of but look like these metal ones.

022011603735md.jpg

And of course the 3/8" pond netting.

51rRtJ3mYqL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

I used 3/8 inch and double layered it. I had it single layered but my first yellow Head Jawfish jumped right through it. So now instead of one layer of a 3/8 inch square opening in the net i have the two layers crossed so that the square is a box with a X in it. You can see what I mean in the picture.

01nettop.jpg

You can order 1/4" pond netting on line, however I did not only because I did not know if the fish would still be able to launch itself through the square hole. I was really surprised one day when my wife had my 2 year old granddaughter call me at work and tell me that the new jawfish was all dried up on the carpet!

 

all the supplies were from Lowe's except the pond net. They may even have that. Wish you were closer I would give you some. You could make a lot of covers from one package.

 

Don't have a full pic of mine but here is one another reefer made from the plans I gave him.

IMG_0193.jpg

If you have a square tank it will be much easier because we had to trim for the bow front of the 29 biocube.

Link to comment
rufousreefer

Wow, thanks Spanko. That is exactly what I was looking for. The double layer of pond netting seems like a good idea. I want open top to help with parameters but do not want to limit par either. I think this looks like the best of all worlds.

Link to comment

Thanks spanko for the advice. I definitely need to make a stop by lowes tonight to get the supplies. I wanna try to make one since I have some fishs that likes to jump.

Link to comment

you gonna love it! i love mine because its so quiet! it's just you gotta mess with a little tuning to get it flow right. :)

Link to comment

i read somewhere that the sapphire should have the gate all the way down. Mine took a long while (a month maybe) before it produced skimmate. Running it overnight in a 1 part white vinegar to 5 parts water ( It fit perfectly in a 5 gallon bucket) will help to clear any oils and residue that keep it from producing skimmate.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...