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


MedRed

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Thanks d9hp!

 

You are probably thinking of "Arctic Pods", Calanus hyperboreus, or C. glacialis,

 

Tigriopus californicus like 70-80 degree water. They've been found in water up to 90 degrees!

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Lol... it looks great. It got covered up in sand, but I'll uncover it the next time my hands are in the tank.

 

I figured it would get covered by any sand, your choice. I do the same with the clam pedestals.

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Hey StevieT,

 

I didn't realize it was covered until after I'd added water. I only added 20 lbs or so of sand, so I wasn't expecting the sand to be that high. It just so happens it's right at the point where my jawfish house is which required extra sand to cover up the house. it's the only place in the tank were the sand is deep enough cover it. Murphy's law. I think it looks cool and is super cute.

 

On a side note. I was very impressed with the packing. The inTank stickers and the clown logo were very nice touches. Everything looks great and matched up well. The return holes were a tight fit. I did have to bang the threads for the return nozzles through with a hammer so that they could reach the return lines. It wasn't a big deal by any means.

 

I was worried about one thing. You may have noticed that the back of the overflow had some lines on it were something was stuck to it surrounding the overflow inlets. There were 3 pieces of acrylic there that made a little holder for a door that can be used to raise or lower water level in the tank by blocking off more or less of the overflow slats. the door is held up only by the resistance created by a snug fit.

 

I had to recreate it and was worried i'd make the bracket too wide (no resistance) or too tight (can't fit the door inside). I ended up with a perfect fit!

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animalmaster6
Have you done any pod seeding before?

No but I've studied Ron Shimek's and other thoughts and opionions on this matter and I have my plan. If you have any questions about seeding I'll try to help.

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That's one pretty looking tank you have! Can't wait to see that baby mature!

 

WHOA!!! I think I've seen a GHOST!!! Halloween is over!

 

and thanks ;-)

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Here's the tank wearing the wood trim kit. I'll normally have this on to prevent jumping and evaporation.

 

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The water is almost clear. The smell of shrimp is gone! I'm amazed but the shrimp have practically disintegrated. I don't know if it was the Microbacter7 or the bacteria in the liverock, but I did NOT expect this rate of decomposition.

 

Here's the remainder of the piece on the sand...

30mmt95.jpg

 

The other two pieces still are holding their shape, but I can see them falling apart.

 

These poor zoa's are being subjected to crazy levels of LED and ammonia. I've yet to notice anything else that's alive in the tank. No pods on the glass yet at this point. You can see the inTank clown at the bottom right of the 2nd pick.

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My Quiet One 4000 has started to make a racket already. I thought it was vibrating against the glass, but it's making noises even when suspended in the water. I'm going to replace it with an eheim 1262. I also turned my sump back to the original position. It was noticeably warmer in the cabinet. I think blocking the chiller cut out was trapping in heat. I noticed the tank temp dropping during the day.

 

I also moved the Vortechs up a little bit. They were making bald spots in the sand near the front of the glass. I am NOT adding more sand. lol.

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Thanks d9hp!

 

You are probably thinking of "Arctic Pods", Calanus hyperboreus, or C. glacialis,

 

Tigriopus californicus like 70-80 degree water. They've been found in water up to 90 degrees!

 

Awesome. I look forward to seeing that then. I'm sure your fish will certainly be thankful!

 

The scape is really rad! I can just imagine it in 6 months. It's got boat loads of potential.

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Thanks BillCruik!

 

So in one week's time... My brand new skimmer set to the driest possible skim pulled this out of my tank...

2eai648.jpg

 

Granted some of that is fine sediment from new sand, but a lot of that is from the shrimp... it smells terrible.

 

I halfway cleaned the neck so that you can see how much gunk had already accumulated

xc81ao.jpg

 

So I've decided that whenever I empty the skimmer cup, I'm going to replace that water with fresh saltwater. I measured off cups ( I should have measured in mls... oh well) so that I can easily tell how much skimmate I have and what I need to replace.

11r80hu.jpg

 

I had to flip my sump back around as it seems turning it across the back was blocking the chiller hole and trapping heat.

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both of my pumps face away from the skimmer and towards the back glass. It seems to have eliminated my microbubble issue. I will be replacing the quiet one 4000 with an eheim 1262 this week as the quiet one has become rather loud.

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Some pics of the glass cover and woodframe kit.

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The only opening is exactly 1cm wide. I dare a fish to find its way through

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Lastly... I was concerned with the aeration of my fresh saltwater. The petco powerheads I use allow for air induction. I have a piece of airline tubing attached to the air inlet of each powerhead with an airpump forcing air into it. I get a nice fine spray of bubbles ensuring good oxygenation of the fresh saltwater.

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My water mixing protocol:

 

Run RO/DI water into container

as soon as there's enough water to cover it, I turn on my stealth heater which is programmed for 78 degrees.

As soon as there's about 6-8 inches of water I turn on the powerhead and air pump.

When the water is about 6 below the top of the handle indentions, I add 10 cups of salt.

When the water reaches the top of the handle indentions, I turn off the RO/DI

I cover with the lid and let mix overnight.

Check salinity (should be 1.026 on the button)

then let mix overnight

remove equipment from container and replace lid.

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Nice! I really like that wood trim rim. I wanna buy that and a hang kit for my solana. And that's a good idea aerating the sw! I might just try that.

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Nice! I really like that wood trim rim. I wanna buy that and a hang kit for my solana. And that's a good idea aerating the sw! I might just try that.

 

Thanks! I'm glad the wood trim kit looks nice. I need to keep the tank covered for the jawfish, and I don't want to fill up my ATO bucket everyday. Hanging the lights makes everything so much easier than my last solana. I don't have to take the light off or shuffle it back and forth to get inside the tank.

 

MED YOU ARE ONE SICK PERSON OUT THERE THAT DOES THAT! GREAT JOB MAN! I need a tissues to wipe my drools! lol

 

LOL D... thanks. I just need to get a head start on my solana before you get your 60 or 67 XL and blow it out of the water.

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So tonight I thought something was wrong with the LED's. I normally have them dialed back to 1% as moonlights at night. Tonight they didn't come on. I then realized that tonight was the new moon and they are on the lunar cycle. Silly me.

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So... I'm getting diatoms now. My camera has a hard time with the LEDs, so I had to flip it into black and white to get the diatoms to turn out. I actually took this pic this weekend, and the diatoms have spread a little more.

2n9bxoy.jpg

 

I guess I should test the water this weekend. I was really hoping that the cycle with 3 shrimp would continue through December. I was being a little optimistic it seems. I have some expired fish food I'll probably start feeding once my ammonia hits zero.I don't know if I should credit the Microbacter7 or the bacteria from the seed piece of LR.

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So I upgraded my Quiet One 4000 to an Eheim 1262 today. The Quiet One was anything but quiet. The Eheim is really quiet. It's a lot larger than the quiet one.

 

The Quiet One 4000 is rated for 1017 GPH and the Eheim 1262 is rated for 900 GPH. The Eheim is VASTLY more powerful than the Quiet One 4000. The new pump RAISED my tank water volume 1cm (just under half an inch). Not too bad, but noticeably higher. On top of this, it LOWERED the level in my sump by 6cm (2.36 inches).

 

I also realized I've been using the return assembly in the sump wrong the entire time. It kept trying to float, which prompted me to place a heavy rock over it to keep it down. I realized tonight, that the return is supposed to empty into a cavity, and then overflow that into a filter sock. I'd left the cavity filled with air and was returning directly into the filter sock. I guess it'd be better for pods and livestock to return into the cavity as opposed to the filter sock where they wouldn't have a chance. I'll try it out tomorrow and see how I like it.

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So what's going on with the stocking plans? any CUC on the horizon? LOL

 

LOL. you want me to put live things in the tank, eh? lol

 

I'm planning on:

Blue Spot Jawfish

Tail Spot Blenny

Gladiator Picassos or Smore Picasso Clowns (pair)

_ _ _d_ _ _ _ _e_ _ _ (pair)

probably a small group of Red Spot Cardinalfish.

 

I don't want to add a clean up crew until they have something to eat. I have very few diatoms and no algae to speak of.

 

 

Hey med just jumping into the thread to say this tank is awesome and the scape is killer...that is all

 

Thanks rehype! I always like your stuff. rock out that shallow tank!

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After realizing I was using my sump incorrectly... I tried moving the filter sock holder... and broke it

 

This is what it's supposed to look like (I have it turned on its side)

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It now looks like this...

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I broke the bottom out applying too much pressure to put the filter sock in... then broke the front panel trying to pull the thing out of the sump blankface.gif

 

I tried siliconing it all back together, but I didn't do a great job... it leaked like a sieve. I also realized... I didn't like how it's supposed to work. The drain from the tank is supposed to flow into the attached container. That's supposed to overflow into the filter sock. It might be safer for livestock, but I hate the idea that food stuff, detritus, etc. can accumulate in that container without me knowing it. It's kind of tough to take that out with my big skimmer in the way. I'd MUCH rather everything flow straight into the sock so I know that everything possible is being collected there. Plus, it allows for more actual water in the sump.

 

I decided I'd just go with a filter sock holder. I searched for a long time online to find a filter sock holder that didn't already have fixed tubing. My return pipe is really wide, so the ones offered by CPR and marine depot wouldn't work. I finally found one that will work offered by bulk reef supply.

 

stock photo:

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Here's a picture of my new pump on the right (Eheim 1262)

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The diatoms are starting to cover everything now. I'll test this weekend to see where I'm at in the cycle.

 

P.S. I LOVE MY SKIMMER!

 

 

 

P.P.S. is there any a downside to placing the chemipure and purigen IN the filter sock?

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Dude I love my Solana, but I'm really disappointed in the way Current "glues" their plastics together. The stock skimmer came apart on one side from just adjusting the cup. That's actually one of the main reasons I'm upgrading to the tunze. Like I said, I really like their products, but on some things, it's apparent they are cutting corners.

 

Good job fixing the problem!

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