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MedRed's 60 Gal Solana XL: The End of an Era


MedRed

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DUDE, this will be F'n awesome! can't wait till it's all up and running. Very unique rock scape too, I like it a lot. Almost looks like some type of alien hand coming up through the bottom.

 

Are you going to be leaving this as an open top? Are you worried about the jawfish jumping tank?

 

Again, this is just awesome looking!

 

-Kevin

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DUDE, this will be F'n awesome! can't wait till it's all up and running. Very unique rock scape too, I like it a lot. Almost looks like some type of alien hand coming up through the bottom.

 

Are you going to be leaving this as an open top? Are you worried about the jawfish jumping tank?

 

Again, this is just awesome looking!

 

-Kevin

 

Thanks Kevin. I'm excited as well! I will not be leaving it open top except for when I take pictures. I'm taking no chances with the Jawfish. Plus, I have decided against the Helfrichi pair and will have resolved to go for a pair of something far more expensive. I'm taking no risks with fish jumping!

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NirvanaandTool

Damn. Nice work taking apart the overflow - sucks that it cant be flipped though. Damn you Current and your stupid textured walls and overflows!!!!!!

 

Jawfish house looks sick.

 

Cant wait to see this tank with some water in it!

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Thanks Nirvana,

 

I've sent Current a billion emails. I think I might completely cover the entire house in rock so that I can use even less sand.

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So I found out that your plastic is not ABS but acrylic. It is just fancy acrylic with that printed design. There were two small pieces that fell off in shipping on the top piece that you sent, I used weld-on and bingo, welded forever. They are using that silicon on acrylic which is a huge no-no.

 

I thought I would just pass that along, maybe pi$$ you off a bit that all they needed to use was non patterned acrylic and you would be able to clean :happy:

 

I need to get a smaller router bit for the grate, I only have 1/4" in house.

 

They use a CNC to cut these pieces you can see the bit marks if you look close.

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GRRRRRR. I emailed them quite a bit. I was prepared to keep my mouth shut if they sent me the pieces and just say I flipped them around. Through the power of StevieT, the world will be righted.

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Haha.. Make sure to ask stevie T to make you a double copy of your over flow so that you can wrap up in present and send the other pieces to me. So when i get my 60g solana, i don't have to worry and stressing about the diy flow. :)

 

Thank you Med in advances!

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I may have to correct myself after some research. This may be ABS, either way it should be smooth, I don't get the textured thing after seeing the Solana 34 in person and now the 60 panels.

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D, you are TOO FUNNY

 

Stevie, I was told by Current that the texture is more of a premium look. I told them that since it's impossible to clean, that look doesn't last long as coralline will take over and its the only choice you have with the textured wall. With smooth you can let the coralline grow or you can scrape it off. Oh well I guess.

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Between you and D, with your H.R. Giger scapes, and insane clown avatar I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable here.....

 

BTW, it does look fantastic. What did you do to get that scape so, so..spirish?

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Thanks Genj!

 

I used a CRAP ton of epoxy and a few fiberglass rods. I used these from home depot and cut the fiberglass rod into lengths I might need. I'd drill a hole in the rock, then insert epoxy into the hole, then insert the rod. I'd connect to another rock the same way. A few pieces I had to get into place, and then drill a hole through both rocks and insert a rod for extra support.

 

I just know my skimmer is going to go nuts. I probably used 20 sticks of aquamend/jp water weld.

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Thanks Genj. I was definitely challenging to find angles and pieces that fit together nicely. I had to restart 2 of the spires and do a major revamp of one. I had no choice but to "grow" them piece by piece. A couple of times I'd add pieces that looked great from the front, but didn't look natural from the other sides.

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My bioreactor arrived today... but someone forgot to pack my bio pellets with it -___-.

 

Here are some pictures of my sump set up at the moment. I added a little shop light on the right to give me some light when I'm in the stand. I will probably change out my ATO reservior to something completely clear. Anyone know if they make completely clear buckets with lids?

 

sb4zcw.jpg

2u4sahz.jpg

 

 

And here we have my controllers.

 

fvzosi.jpg

8zfg48.jpg

 

lastly, I wish AI included some sort of endcaps/stops that would keep the lights from sliding off the hanging kit. the body of the light has a screw on top that you slide through this groove in the railing. There's nothing impeding it from sliding right on out if the fixture was tipped in such a way.

 

2wppjt5.jpg

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I love them! My only gripe is the cabling system. I wish they integrated cables in a better way to hide them.

 

 

 

Thank you, but I'm not speaking to you.

Get some of those cable clamps and run them across the back of the fixture left and right.Than take the wires down the hanging arms with black zip ties.

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Get some of those cable clamps and run them across the back of the fixture left and right.Than take the wires down the hanging arms with black zip ties.

 

Great idea!

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing this man.

 

That aquascape is awesome!

 

Thanks!!!!!

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So... StevieT delivers the custom overflow.

 

xpcxz8.jpg

 

Comparing the old and new... not a good picture... but you get the idea. I smiled when I saw the little clownfish. It totally made my day!

 

2mqqdjk.jpg

 

Installation didn't take very long...

33y3zly.jpg

 

More cute clown...

4tt2rb.jpg

 

StevieT did an excellent job. I'm going to let the silicone cure for the evening and fill'er up tomorrow. Thanks again StevieT!!!!!!!!

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Houston, we have lift off! I'm still cloudy

 

I had to rotate the scape a lot more than I would have liked to keep it off the glass. I think I'm going to rotate it back and see if I can get it to work

 

bi9pvn.jpg

 

s13frd.jpg

 

Right side

2vtbkup.jpg

 

left side

2le44k5.jpg

 

I also redid the jawfish house to make it less conspicuous...

2s96akh.jpg

 

It's also nice to see my controllers on!

xlcynm.jpg

 

When I started everything up... it was loud! The pump was touching the glass and vibrating the sump. It took me awhile to get my skimmer dialed in for a dry skim (this thing is a beast!). It was also a little time consuming to get my sump at the right height. Luckily I marked off ahead of time the low and high water level for my skimmer on the tank.

 

I also had a couple of leaks. The SMR1 Bio reactor was leaking at both fittings. I turned it off and liberally applied silicone. Not sure why it'd leak brand new, but it's fixed at least. Also... my main overflow bulkhead was leaking just after the tank connections. It wasn't a leak, leak. It was not even a drop of water every few minutes. I think the angle I have the tubing entering the sump was the issue. A little silicone there and all is well.

 

Adding the light in the cabinet was a HUGE help. Cocktail shrimp anyone?

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