The Official All Solana Owner's Thread

[d'Espresso]

i saw one of the LFS in New Orleans was bragging about their custom lighting of 400w MH with nothing but xenias taking over their tanks. it was so sick but also produced alot of heat.

 

so i was only kidding about upgrading to 400w MH, i am happy with my custom build i made but now its about time to upgraded my bulbs pretty soon. 20k or 14k? and what brand?

[MedRed]

I'm not going any bluer than 14k. The title of my solana is The King and his Kingdom... not The Smurf Village. I do love my phoenix bulb

[Lone-Wolf]

It has been a little busy around here the Reef Bug has bitten I no loner have 1 Solana I have 2... they are on either side of my entertainment center... I find myself watching the tanks more than the television I hate it

 

I have done some updates to my webpage ... primarily updated the livestock page with all new pictures

 

here are some teasers

 

My original Solana Zoa Garden

 

Solana #2 Still haven't decided a theme trying to get the hair algae under control as tank was neglected before I got it

 

Clownfish Trio and their GBTAs

Electric Blue Clam

Fire and Ice Zoas

Peek-a-Boo Clown

[milkman]

Here is my Solana 34 gal that had been up since Nov '08. Mods I have made include:

 

Tunze Osmolater ATO

Vortech MP10

Sapphire Skimmer (new style with mesh wheel)

Sapphire Media Reator w/ GFO

Neptune AquaController Jr w/ Temp & pH

Sunpod 150w - waiting on delivery of Evil Dual Acintic LED

Replace stock pump with Quiet One 1200

Azoo Dual Fan for cooling

New top - aluminum frame w/ bird netting (see picture)

 

[d'Espresso]

Here is my Solana 34 gal that had been up since Nov '08. Mods I have made include:

 

Tunze Osmolater ATO

Vortech MP10

Sapphire Skimmer (new style with mesh wheel)

Sapphire Media Reator w/ GFO

Neptune AquaController Jr w/ Temp & pH

Sunpod 150w - waiting on delivery of Evil Dual Acintic LED

Replace stock pump with Quiet One 1200

Azoo Dual Fan for cooling

New top - aluminum frame w/ bird netting (see picture)

 

 

 

Wow, thats is very nice milkman! how did you made that netting? show us a demo. i need to make one real soon! thanks

[milkman]

There is already a good write-up in the DIY forum by jimsflies.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=85584

 

I have seen this on a least a couple of boards and its real simple. All the materials run about $15. I prefer the bird netting that Lowe's sell over HD. It is Dupont brand is a little more durable and keeps its shape. Here is a close up of the corner, but all it takes is one 10 ft section of channel (comes in three colors), plastic corners, bird netting, and the ribbing to hold the netting in the channel groves.

 

Use the plastic clips that came with the Solana to hold the screen in place on top the tank.

 

Edited September 8, 2009 by milkman

[atlweb]

Looks beautiful.

 

Milkman- How many anenomes do you have in your tank? I want to put one in, but I am a little concerned about what it will do to my other corals.

 

I am going to make that similar top (hopefully) this week! Question for you though... what are the dimensions of your top? I know that the tank is 20x20 but obviously you have it a bit smaller? 19x19? or 19.5x19.5? What do you recommend?

[atlweb]

Also, I am still trying to get my flow in the tank right. I have one Koralia 2 in the back, pointing towards the front of the tank, but I don't think there is much flow going. My sandbed does not move at all, and I was told my frogspawn may not be doing as well as it could be because it needs more flow. Right now it moves very little, should I add another koralia on the side pointing across to get a little more flow in there, or would that be too much flow for other things (like my clam and ricordia)?

[milkman]

Just one Rose Bubble Tip in the center left of the tank. That's a duncan to the left and front of the RBTA, a torch down and to the right, and a frogspawn on the sand in the front right. I have two black onyx clownfish that host in the RBTA. The RBTA worked out great when I added it to the tank about three months back as it went to its current location and stayed. I then just moved the other corals around to adjust. It is growing very quickly however and I will probably have to make some more adjustments. I did not add the RBTA until the tank was six months old and the parameters were stable. I can tell you from experience that it gets easier to keep things stable after you cross the six month mark. I struggled with pH and Alk during those early months.

 

The screen is 19 1/4" wide by 18" deep. I kept the depth a little short of the full tank dimension to allow room for the various wires and items in the back chambers. You could make it 18 1/2" and still be fine. It just makes it easier to get in the back chambers if you don't go all the way back. The 19 1/4" dimension fits in the pastic clips that came with the tank.

[milkman]

Also, I am still trying to get my flow in the tank right. I have one Koralia 2 in the back, pointing towards the front of the tank, but I don't think there is much flow going. My sandbed does not move at all, and I was told my frogspawn may not be doing as well as it could be because it needs more flow. Right now it moves very little, should I add another koralia on the side pointing across to get a little more flow in there, or would that be too much flow for other things (like my clam and ricordia)?

 

Before I bought the MP10, I had two K2's in the back upper side wall with both pointing to the same point on the front glass, about midway down the front. Each K-2 is 600 gph for a total of 1200 gph or about 40x turnover per hour, which is a good amount of flow. The MP10 goes to 1575 gph and I have mine turned down to about 60% on reef crest mode and night mode starting at 11pm.

 

The easiest change for you would be to add a second K2. I went to the MP10 to get the two K-2's out of the tank and reduce the heat from the K-2's and give me the flexibility of the different modes and variable speed. My temp has dropped about 1-2 degrees since I made the change to the MP10.

[atlweb]

Thanks for the quick response! I think I may go ahead and pick up another Koralia 2 if it won't be too much flow. Appreciate the advice!

 

My next investment will be a protein skimmer :/ Any advice on good protein skimmers around the $150 range and aren't too much maintenance? That and then an ATO and I am done with my upgrades (for now).

 

Anybody have any upgrades that they feel were great investments for their solana's?

[milkman]

Thanks for the quick response! I think I may go ahead and pick up another Koralia 2 if it won't be too much flow. Appreciate the advice!

 

My next investment will be a protein skimmer :/ Any advice on good protein skimmers around the $150 range and aren't too much maintenance? That and then an ATO and I am done with my upgrades (for now).

 

Anybody have any upgrades that they feel were great investments for their solana's?

 

I have the Sapphire and think it does a good job.

http://www.wix.com/sapphireaquatics/SapphireAquatics

 

The Euroreef Nano is another one with some positive feedback.

http://www.nanoreefsystems.com/nano-protei...ana-34g-hob.asp

 

The Sapphire is a drop in replacement that fits flush with the top. I think the Euroreef exteends above the top. If you go with the Sapphire, call Kyle and ask him when the new needlewheel impellers are going to be ready and wait to order. I have the mesh wheel impeller, which is good, but requires cleaning more often.

 

There are a ton of threads on ATO and probably less consensus than any other item. I have the Tunze Osmolator because of the precision that it adds the water using the optical sensor. It is by no means the cheapest.

[atlweb]

I will definitely check out the sapphire, thanks a lot!

[d'Espresso]

I will definitely check out the sapphire, thanks a lot!

 

I love my sapphire aquatics skimmer for the solana. It took out alot of gunk when there was only live rock and water. Lol

[Kozo]

Here is mine guys, I need to put some more effort in my thread but I haven't had the time for it. This are my last FTS right before I removed the rocks with GSP.

 

Front

 

Right

 

Left

 

I have to borrow a better Camera cause it looks too blue and I cant get my colors right.

[lachapr]

Hi All,

 

I'm a newbie (to this forum and also SW), but I just purchased the Solana setup from my LFS. Everything is being picked up tomorrow, but I'm torn on the lighting options. My wife likes the "disco ball" light and is not to keen on the T5 option as the Solana is going in our diningroom. I was going to purchase the disco ball, but my LFS suggested that the T5 option is a better choice and is steering me in that direction. I guess they had a client that had a quality control issue with the disco ball and it was sparking. Anybody else experiencing this problem? Also, they suggested that a chiller was needed because of the heat that is thrown off by it... I live in SoCal and keep my house between 72-76 degrees. Any suggestions or experience with QC issues?

 

I appreciate everyone's feedback in advance as this is going to be a new learning experience for me. I will post some pics once I get everything up and running.

 

Thanks again!

 

lachapr

[Kozo]

Hi lachapr I would suggest you either go with the Sunpod 150w/250w or the T5 fixture from current. I have never own the disco ball light, but from what I have seem in my friends Solanas is that it is too much of an one point type of light meaning that the reflector only points at the center of the tank so it causes alot of shadow to the sides, and your coral placements is restricted. Now remember that your light selection depends a lot on your coral and inverts selection as well.

 

I Started with a sunpod 150w and my tank stayed at 80F when my house was running at 72F, but I do have alot of pumps in my tank that add heat.

 

Then I decided to risk my way into a Sunpod 250W, but I bought a dual Azoo Cooling Fan. I turn my fan 2hrs before the lights and it goes off 2 hrs after the light and I'm able to keep my tank at 79F-80F (house is at 72F)

 

The sunpod 250w would be my recommendation since I don't have any info about how good are those T5 units for a 20" tank.

 

Here is a link to the Azoo fans:

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/Azoo_Cooling_Fa...ILTACAF-vi.html

[lachapr]

Hi lachapr I would suggest you either go with the Sunpod 150w/250w or the T5 fixture from current. I have never own the disco ball light, but from what I have seem in my friends Solanas is that it is too much of an one point type of light meaning that the reflector only points at the center of the tank so it causes alot of shadow to the sides, and your coral placements is restricted. Now remember that your light selection depends a lot on your coral and inverts selection as well.

 

I Started with a sunpod 150w and my tank stayed at 80F when my house was running at 72F, but I do have alot of pumps in my tank that add heat.

 

Then I decided to risk my way into a Sunpod 250W, but I bought a dual Azoo Cooling Fan. I turn my fan 2hrs before the lights and it goes off 2 hrs after the light and I'm able to keep my tank at 79F-80F (house is at 72F)

 

The sunpod 250w would be my recommendation since I don't have any info about how good are those T5 units for a 20" tank.

 

Here is a link to the Azoo fans:

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/Azoo_Cooling_Fa...ILTACAF-vi.html

 

Kozo - your setup looks sweet! Thanks for the feedback and info on the fans.

 

lachapr

[hlander]

Add to me to the list!! Link in my sig

[atlweb]

Hi All,

 

I'm a newbie (to this forum and also SW), but I just purchased the Solana setup from my LFS. Everything is being picked up tomorrow, but I'm torn on the lighting options. My wife likes the "disco ball" light and is not to keen on the T5 option as the Solana is going in our diningroom. I was going to purchase the disco ball, but my LFS suggested that the T5 option is a better choice and is steering me in that direction. I guess they had a client that had a quality control issue with the disco ball and it was sparking. Anybody else experiencing this problem? Also, they suggested that a chiller was needed because of the heat that is thrown off by it... I live in SoCal and keep my house between 72-76 degrees. Any suggestions or experience with QC issues?

 

I appreciate everyone's feedback in advance as this is going to be a new learning experience for me. I will post some pics once I get everything up and running.

 

Thanks again!

 

lachapr

 

I have the disco ball and never had a problem with heating issues. I just keep my heater set on 77 and my light adds another 3 degrees to keep it at 80 during the day, and when the light goes off, it drops to 78, so it works out perfectly.

 

If I was to do it all over, I would probably get a light that sits on the side though, just because it is a little bit more sturdy, but so far I like my disco ball as well. Maybe a sunpod or coralife.

[TriggerHappyDude]

Just added about 10 new frags to my tank to give it some color finally...I think now I need more live rock or more fish...or both, and then more frags!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2009 by TriggerHappyDude

[atlweb]

For those of you without ATO systems, when you add tap off water, do you notice a back up of it in the sump of the tank? Whenever I pour the tap off water in, the back always gets to pretty high levels... and it makes me nervous.

[Jason7504]

thought i would post some pics of my solana in this thread..its about 7 1/2 months old

 

FTS (9-2-09)

 

3 acros( far left is a green/blue acro, center-front is a purple acro with yellow polyps and right is a blue tort)

 

 

my FS (orange FS wasn't happy)

 

 

more FS (sorry its kind of blurry but i cant really reach down there to razor that off)

 

 

more SPS

 

 

pink birdsnest and crocea clam

 

 

wall FS on left, xenia in the center, and torch behind it

 

 

and last but not least..my maxima clam

 

 

here's a video of my MP10

 

 

i have since added a sun coral and a red sea fan

[Kozo]

TriggerHappyDude be careful with that Green Start Polyp on your rock, most people add it to their tank when they are newbies but you will end up hating it since it will start to take over your tank in about 5 months and you may end up losing some corals. I initially added it to my tank just like you, and then it end up killing my Oregon tort and almost killing my Montiporra Digitata, it grows to fast and will grown on your corals. Unless you trim it down like cutting some weed. If you really like it place it off the rock and maybe on place it on the sand or glue it to the back walls and keep an eye on it.

 

AtlWeb I used to go without an ATO system and what I used to do was to top off directly on the back chambers and I had a specific water level mark that needed to be reach. Not sure why you would top off in the main tank.

[TriggerHappyDude]

TriggerHappyDude be careful with that Green Start Polyp on your rock, most people add it to their tank when they are newbies but you will end up hating it since it will start to take over your tank in about 5 months and you may end up losing some corals. I initially added it to my tank just like you, and then it end up killing my Oregon tort and almost killing my Montiporra Digitata, it grows to fast and will grown on your corals. Unless you trim it down like cutting some weed. If you really like it place it off the rock and maybe on place it on the sand or glue it to the back walls and keep an eye on it.

 

Ok thanks for the advice, I will move it down lower to the bottom some where away from the other stuff.

I got these frags from a local club member and he gave me what he thought were good newbie starter frags, as thats what I had asked him for. The heartier stuff.