The Official All Solana Owner's Thread

[wdubosemsp]

Ive got a lighting question:

 

So I'm relatively new to the Solana club. Ive had mine running about 2 months(bought from someone who cycled the tank for ~10+ months). Currently have a 150w Sunpod w/ a 14k Ushio bulb. Would upgrading to a 250w w/ a lumenmax pendant and 20k bulb be overkill? The only thing I'm worried about overloading my zoas with too much light. Currently I have(from top to bottom):

 

4 zoa plugs

(1) Green birdnest frag

(1) Pink birdsnest frag

(1) large Green Pocillopora

(1) Frogspawn

The bottom 3rd of the tank has zoa and acan frags.

 

I would hang the pendant(1 foot or so) and lower it over time.

 

Current FTS

 

Would this work?

[Crackerballer]

^ No I think a lot of folks on here run a 250w with no problems. If you are interested, I have a brand new Sunpod 250w for sale. PM me.

[Crackerballer]

Let me answer a question I was asked a few pages back about modifying my Sundial 150w HQI into a 250w light. I had to sacrifice a nice Aquamedic 250w Oceanlight. I took out the reflector and socket and put them in place of the 150w Sundial one.

 

There are several things to note now.

1: The Sundial is now much lighter, since the 250w ballast is remotely located and the 150w ballast was actually inside the fixture.

2: The fixture gets warm, but not terribly hot. I also removed the timers since I don't want to use them, so there are 2 large holes I could mount fans in if I wanted. Might do this for fun.

3: THE FIXTURE IS AWESOME. You would not believe the light output. I tested it with my PAR meter and it is insane.

 

After thinking I may not be able to setup my Solana in our new house, it now appears I just might be able to after all! However, I am one of the lucky ones that has Dave Fason living close to me, so a custom LED Ryujin light may be in the works.

 

I still also have to decide on a stand. probably going to go with the standard one since it comes in the color I want.

[Kweli]

Hey Guys,

 

I just picked up a used Solana a few days ago.... Currently running it with freshwater and vinegar to clean off the algae and hardened salt crystals..

 

Slight Problem....

I noticed when i put the 'pre-filter' sponge into the overflow area my displaytank will actually flood over... Im thinking the return pump is pumping water into the tank faster then its going through the sponge. I've since removed the sponge for now and everything is fine. Should i invest in a new sponge? The sponge isnt very dense so im not sure why it would block water that much.

 

I have the pump on the lowest setting.... would have liked to put it higher, as the flow doesnt seem to be much

[d'Espresso]

I use Fluval 404/405 foam blocks for the overflow. Fit perfectly and can be cut in half to last longer.

http://www.marinedepot.com/Hagen_Fluval_Fi...HG10226-vi.html

 

best for you to use and replace with this.

 

Thanks NTool for the info.

 

Kweli you should Try to replace it soon and get u a good skimmer along with an Ato unit

[Kweli]

best for you to use and replace with this.

 

Thanks NTool for the info.

 

Kweli you should Try to replace it soon and get u a good skimmer along with an Ato unit

 

Is there a compiled thread somewhere with all the possible DYI mods for the Solana?

 

Ive seen the chicken wire one.. but would like to see what people have done to the back chambers of the tanks

[Adam_T]

So I just got my new, custom LED fixture made and finished my move to Wilmington, NC...so here are some pics of my 34 gallon Solana!

 

 

 

 

 

I'll make an actual thread soon, but for now...enjoy!

[Kweli]

Can someone post some pictures of the back of their tank... Im interested in seeing how people have setup live rock/cheato.......

[cameron1]

my comp is bein slow but i have it set up

1st chamber: cheato and chemipure elite

2nd: tunze skimmer

[Kweli]

I purchased 30LBS of liverock for my Solana34G.... Using a calculator online it indicates that i only need 20LBS of live rock to get a 1 inch sandbed......

 

How much did you guys buy/use? If i only need 20LBS ill return my 30LBS and downgrade

[NirvanaandTool]

best for you to use and replace with this.

 

Thanks NTool for the info.

 

Kweli you should Try to replace it soon and get u a good skimmer along with an Ato unit

 

No prob. They work really well. 100x better than the stock black sponge.

 

Those of you with MP10s, what modes do you run and at what power level? Just curious what everybody runs.

Im running Tidal Swell 5 days a week and then Nutrient Transport the other 2 days (around a water change) right now at about 60% power.

[cameron1]

30 is fine

i have 35 in my display tank

[shan]

I am using the Tunze 9002 skimmer with the StevieT cup. What type of skim should it be producing? Its been up and running now for about 3months. It produces more of a dry skim, never really filling the bottom of the cup. Should I have it produce more of a wet skim? Advice please.

[rck]

I am running a Euro-Reef nano-skimmer in chamber one, chamber 2 is a blue filter like stock and then in the lower chamber I have a 3 stage filter, on top and charcoal bag then the 2 bags of bio-balls that came with the tank and then a coarse pond filter on bottom. Been working great so far... tanks clean, crystal clear and no micro-bubbles.

 

Not sure how long I will use the bio balls but for now they are fine.

 

I pull everything out once a week and clean it.

 

So far this has been the best tank I have ever owned and would recommend it to anyone! Best part is that since I have mine on a wood floor I can turn it around and access the rear and clean it with-out killing my self and its quiet to boot!

[jpkrze]

lbs of Live rock depends on what you're tryingt to acheive. I have 45 pounds, but Im going for a reef shelf where it slopes down to the very front of the glass. Others use less to have more swimming room so its really up to you. Quality / shape of the rock is also important. More rock = more filtration though. I'll try to get some pics up later.

 

For the MP10....I run 100% power on either reefrcrest or NTM. Also have a K1 that only runs with the light cycle and turns off at night.

Edited August 13, 2010 by jpkrze

[cameron1]

i have a tunze and it produces very wet skimmate but it all depends on how u have ur skimmer adjusted try raising the water level if you want a more wet skimmate

[NirvanaandTool]

lbs of Live rock depends on what you're tryingt to acheive. I have 45 pounds, but Im going for a reef shelf where it slopes down to the very front of the glass. Others use less to have more swimming room so its really up to you. Quality / shape of the rock is also important. More rock = more filtration though. I'll try to get some pics up later.

 

For the MP10....I run 100% power on either reefrcrest or NTM. Also have a K1 that only runs with the light cycle and turns off at night.

 

Wow 100%? Doesnt your sand get blown around like crazy or do you run barebottom?

The past week Ive been running at 80% and have a decent amount of sand blowing around on the side opposite of the vortech.

[d'Espresso]

I run 2 MP20 on 90-100% everything seem fine and doing good!

[NirvanaandTool]

Wow. Maybe I just have too much sand haha

[mikedege]

I run 2 MP20 on 90-100% everything seem fine and doing good!

 

Me2, no sand blowing. I have about 1" of Fiji-pink.

[NirvanaandTool]

Ah I have 2+" in most areas of my tank. Threw in that much sand for a yasha goby to make his home in the front of the tank and then the little bastard instead makes a burrow in the back of the tank behind the rockwork ....

[rick4him]

Ah I have 2+" in most areas of my tank. Threw in that much sand for a yasha goby to make his home in the front of the tank and then the little bastard instead makes a burrow in the back of the tank behind the rockwork ....

 

Quick question - I put blue filter floss on top of my plate in chamber 2, and normally when I do a water change every week it is nasty, and I replace. However the last 3 weeks the floss has been bright blue on one side, and bright white on the other. It looks brand new....

 

Any ideas why the sudden change?

[rck]

I had sand blowing around a little at first... now its all good...

[d'Espresso]

My tank got toasted an I have lost everything except for my acans slowly healing back to life from 2 days ago disaster. I felt like giving up but somehow I an just to addicted to the hobby. But yeah just wanted to let all my solana peeps know the update!

[rick4him]

I have had my cheato alega in chamber 2 on top of a bag of chemi-pure. It's time to get rid of the chemi-pure bag....what should I lay under the cheato to keep it from going into chamber 3 when I get rid of the chemi-pure bag, and something that won't back up often?

 

Thanks!