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RCK's Solana 34 fun in a box...


rck

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Hey nano-ers.... Well I couldnt stay away from the hobby so after about 5 yrs in retirement I have decided to come back and play again.

 

I started off in the beginning with a mini-bow 7, back when they come on the market and that in-turn sprouted several others, 2.5g, 15g nano's and .75g pico's which then turned into a full-size 75g display with a 400g sump room in the basement.... and then had a huge over-flow and tank crash and a pissed off wife about the new carpet in the new house... so that ended my reef career 5 or so years ago... I sold everything off and it funded a motorcycle mod project.

 

SO 5 years later and I still have the motorcycle and not the wife! LOL and so now I can get back into the hobby with no one questioning what I am doing and how much it costs! Only the best equipment from now on Jeeves!

 

I started looking around at getting a cube and was down too the Elos and the Solana. Lucky I had found a Elos used for sale locally but unluckily... he decided to keep the tank and not sell! But are the really worth the $$? From what I found on research they tend to have a bad micro-bble issue and really not worth the extra $$ over any other system if you ask me... I was even told by the dealer that I purchased my 34 from that they stopped carrying the brand after they set-one up and had all kinds of issues as well.

 

So here it is... fresh outta the box along with a few other pieces to the puzzle, Solana 34g w starphire, Sunpod 150 w leds and a new MP10ESw.

 

itshome.jpg

 

I didn't buy the stand from the dealer and tried to source something over the weekend and just couldn't find anything to my liking or big enuff to hold the darn thing, seems the 20" deep part makes it hard. So... after a weekend of wonderful furniture sales people (who are worse than cars sales ppl) I went and bought the Solana stand from DrF&S and used some paypal cash and should see it this week!

 

Now I needed a place for it. The X-wife just moved out a couple months ago so I haven't really changed much till now! I am gonna keep it in the kitchen/breakfast area and so I moved a buffet and re-painted the wall a nice ocean blue/green as a back drop for it and I also hated the colors the wife had used any way so this just sparked a painting and cleaning frenzy!

 

Plans are to add a ReefKeepLite (had the reef keep JR yrs ago) and a ATO system with a 5g as long as it fits in the stand and I should be pretty set!

 

My tank stock is gonna be donated from my older sister who is getting out of the SW hobby and tearing down her 8yr old 29g and letting me have all rock/sand/critters/fish and this should cut my set-up time to like 0 days since it's all established and since there is no hurry my plans are to take my time and get the Solana tank ready with all the equipment before we tear her's down and transfer. Plans are to keep a mixed reef (SPS, LPS, softies and clam) with a few (no more than 3) fish.

 

Guess now I need some suggestions on what to do in the filtration system? Keep it stock? I see almost everyone ditched the red bio-balls. Seem a refuge is a big conversion along with a up-graded skimmer.

 

I want to "keep-it-simple-stupid" so anyone can watch the tank for me and it's NOT some weird science project system that's "fickle" and needs pricking with all the time and makes it hard for tank sitters.

 

rck

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lol dont matter now... I am the proud owner of a RKL system! its got 2 PC4's, SL1, temp and ph probes and I will add the ATO floats!

 

Bada Bing!

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Looks like this setup aside from an upgraded skimmer should be pretty straight forward. Got any pics of sisters system ?

 

Are you going to keep all of it the same or add to it (ie more rock coral livestock??)

 

Whats your timeframe on setup? when hers is coming down vs when your gonna get water started in yours?I suggest a clean water run to rinse everythign out before you pur in her water and livestock.

 

Also are you moving her 2 yr old sandbed? This can be great and it can be greatly bad depending on how you do it..LOL

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As of now there are no plans in stone for the switch... She said we can do it when ever I am ready. She is in no hurry to tear it down but just wants it gone so they can remodel and I want to get the whole set-up up and running before as well. Still waiting on the stand and the RKL. I wanna mount the RKL system into the stand and get the light hung and so on....

 

I dont have pics of her system. Its a basic 29g with a HOB and Orbit light.

 

Plans are to take all the rock and critters an fish... as for sand... I was wondering if I should just use a little of her sand to seed and get mostly new sand for my tank. Sand can be full of hidden trouble. But her tank has been pretty darn pest free for the last couple of years. She is not a big "adder" to the tank and has fell out of the hobby over the last few years and just done basic maintenance.

 

She doesn't have much coral so yes I plan on adding more coral (SPS,LPS and sofites) and maybe some choice LR. I need to take a look at her rock and see if I even want it all..

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Slowly but surely it comes together more every day....

 

tanknstand.jpg

 

Stand arrived tonight and BAM!

 

Now I wait for the RKL and start putting it all together...

 

Need to make a hanger for the light. Think I will go DIY and use the 3/4" conduit and just paint it.

 

Also think I am gonna add a separate electrical box on it's own breaker so I don't have any over loads issue on the kitchen circuit...

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nice setup so far.. but uhh. i think you gonna wet that carpet and it gonna be PITA to take it out when you fill the water in your tank up in the long run.

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Hmmm... I was gonna leave it under there so I could slide the tank out when I wanted to do any service on the back side...

 

Maybe I will flip the stand over and replace the smaller plastic pads with some larger ones and it will let me slide it if needed. I just wanted the ability to get back there if I needed to do anything major like pump changes/cleaning/reconfigure/mods...

 

rob

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bananahands

I had a rug under my 50g freshwater. I wanted a barrier between the tank and wood floors, spills are inevitable. I know its ghetto but I just put a large plastic trash bag flat under the rug as a water-proof barrier. Or a better idea, grab a roll of the adhesive plastic sheeting made to put down on carpet when doing construction and stick that to the underside of the rug.

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nice setup so far.. but uhh. i think you gonna wet that carpet and it gonna be PITA to take it out when you fill the water in your tank up in the long run.

 

i thought the same thing. the carpet is not a good idea. the water you spill on it will just lay on it like a sponge and damage the wood floor under it. go to home depot or lowes. they have these small pads that are a felt like material that you can put on the feet of the stand, they have a sticky tape that holds them on, i have wood floors and they are on all my furniture to keep from scratching the floors. the stand will slide on the wood on these pads also if needed. (of coarse done with caution) these are what im talking about they come in a dark color also to match the wood felt pads

 

oh love the wall color. its soothing but still vibrant.. spa like

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Thanks... Yea I have seen those before.

 

I thought since I couldn't paint the back tank wall I would paint the wall behind the tank and the rest of the house... lol well not all the same color but since I was painting I might as well re-paint the whole thing and give it "my" touch!

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Thanks... Yea I have seen those before.

 

yes a friend of mine had those under her 70 or 72? cant remember. well seventy something... bow front tank. and when she had a problem with the over flow, she slide the whole tank over on those things to get to the back. so they do work well for tanks

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Just picked up a used ER nano skimmer that hang on the inside of the skimmer chamber. That's just about it... Just need the float set from DA and a RO/DI... done

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Made some progress tonight with the DIY light hanger... I just used the ceiling hanging kit that came with the light and retro fit it into some 3/4" conduit and added a couple of end caps that are actually rubber folding chair feet!

 

lights_1.jpg

 

lights_2.jpg

 

Now I just need to paint it and get it all tightened up and I will be ready for WATER TEST....

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Why yes it is.... a MP10ESw to be exact.... :P

 

and a 5.5g ATO tank and many other things of reef goodness...

Wow looking good ,has to be some water shots by now.....

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Added water and sand over the weekend... Sorry no pics yet... maybe later tonight.

 

Plans are to run it this week "as is" and then go get the contents of my sisters tanks later this week or weekend....

 

Since its an established tank and cured LR I shouldn't have to worry about a cycle right? I dont want the gramma and clown to have any issues...! Think my sis would be pissed if I killed um...

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ahaha.. yes she would be pissed! You're be fine moving them with no worries if you know what you're doing.

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plans are to wet pack the rock and keep some of her sand and then keep the fish and critters in a bucket of good SW and drive them about 45mins to my place and start putting it in.

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looks good, hmm.. are you leaving all those cords out like that? i would get a power surge strip and put it behind the stand or drill a hole in back and mount it in the stand, neat and clean

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lol the cords are just there for now... I have RKL coming this week and everything will be hidden behind the tank once I am 100% set-up....

 

I will do something with that glass door... you would think they would frost it...

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