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

[Arkayology]

That is a ton of lighting over your tank Med. Your SPS are probably loving it. And plans to add more? Wow. I hope you figure out your bulb woes sooner rather than later.

[MedRed]

I'd love to see updated pics as soon as you get your lights figured out. .......or you could just get two of the new Radions!

 

I'll bet if you placed some T5's as far on the edge as possible it would help get the coverage you need without the shadows. That's what I did. Of course I have the dreaded old Radion.

 

Good to hear the clam and the new PSW are doing well!!!!

 

I think I'd only do LED's as supplements in the future. Blue LED's would probably be a perfect match for plasma lighting. I would get the best color out of using a 2 bulb T5 fixture at the front of the tank. Decisions, decisions!

 

I hope you get everything figured out. I hate to hear about any turmoil in your tank, its seriously is my favorite tank. Hope everything works out

 

Awww, thank you. I think everything will work out just fine in the long run.

 

That is a ton of lighting over your tank Med. Your SPS are probably loving it. And plans to add more? Wow. I hope you figure out your bulb woes sooner rather than later.

 

It is a lot of light. I'm at 400 watts and counting. So far I'm not seeing any adverse effects, and I'm running the 150w halide for an extra three hours than I will when I get a new fixture. This Radium issue is bugging me. I'm going on two weeks of an ugly, yellow tank!

[Joe'sInTheHouse]

I think you should definitely have the two T5's at the front of the tank. They have wider spectrum that LED's, and if you want a completely different look you can just swap the bulbs for something else. Also on the plus side, it would cost less for a two bulb T5 unit than it would for an LED unit like the AI Nano you were thinking of. And if you wanted a moonlight you could probably just DIY it

[metrokat]

How is the clam doing Mike?

[Jessy-Ray]

Yeah, and where are all the pics at?

[Lawnman]

MH

[Spirofucci]

Your public is demanding a full glamor photo shoot.

[MedRed]

I think you should definitely have the two T5's at the front of the tank. They have wider spectrum that LED's, and if you want a completely different look you can just swap the bulbs for something else. Also on the plus side, it would cost less for a two bulb T5 unit than it would for an LED unit like the AI Nano you were thinking of. And if you wanted a moonlight you could probably just DIY it

I'm still undecided. I need to make up my mind pretty soon.

 

How is the clam doing Mike?

 

It's doing very well. I haven't seen a snail in awhile. Nasty buggers. Still want to know where they came from

 

Yeah, and where are all the pics at?

I still haven't replaced the bulb in my 150w yet. The yellow looks awful

 

MH

 

Agreed!

 

Your public is demanding a full glamor photo shoot.

 

Hopefully soon. I just gave up on sourcing a Radium. My LFS is ordering me in a phoenix that should be here this week.

[gena]

Hey, Med!!!! I ended up getting a pink-streaked wrasse. Super awesome fish, huh???? It's my favorite fish ever, so far

[MedRed]

Hey, Med!!!! I ended up getting a pink-streaked wrasse. Super awesome fish, huh???? It's my favorite fish ever, so far

 

That's awesome! Where'd you find it? I love mine. It spends a lot of time inspecting rocks and corals for morsels. I definitely love its behavior. I wonder how two would have interacted though :-(

[gena]

That's awesome! Where'd you find it? I love mine. It spends a lot of time inspecting rocks and corals for morsels. I definitely love its behavior. I wonder how two would have interacted though :-(

My LFS had two in stock...surprisingly!!!!! I was shocked to see it. I had requested one ages ago. He finally was able to get them. I think they could possibly have been a pair too. He had them in the same little display cube and they weren't fighting at all. But, I don't know for certain that they were a pair. I only paid like $12 for it. It may have been a little more, I can't remember now. But, it was definitely a ridiculously low price like that. It's my favorite fish of all time.

[1.0reef]

Get like 20 3UPs and some TV's/ocw's to light dat thang

[MedRed]

Time for some Fall Cleaning!

 

So I finally gave up on finding a radium bulb. I ordered and installed a 150W Phoenix to compliment the existing 250W. The crazy thing is that I was starting to get used to the ugly, yellow 10,000K bulb... AACCK!. I may try taking pics tomorrow. The one thing is that it was much easier to see how unlit the front side of the front pillar was with the 10,000K bulb. Though it's much less obvious now, I still need to add some front side lighting.

 

Today I decided to do a major sump cleaning.

 

I wet vac'd out the sump, sponged it clean in the bath tub, and set it out to dry outside.

I took apart the skimmer, pipe cleaned and sponged the body and pump and put it back together.

I took apart the bio reactor, pipe cleaned and sponged the container and put it back together without the pellets.

I took the dirty pellets and rinsed them with tank water until there wasn't any debris in them

I cleaned out the return pump as well.

I placed the laser probe for the ATO into some vinegar water and let is soak before wiping it off.

 

Finally I added the skimmer, bio reactor, return pump and the nozzles for the return pump into a large vat of warm water and vinegar and let them run for a few hours.

 

I rinsed them out and now the skimmer and reactor are outside drying.

I brought sump back in, set it back up, added the return nozzles, and added enough water to run the return, but not too much that the water will be too high once I add back the bioreactor pump and skimmer. With the return running, I took off the wetside vortechs and added them to the vinegar vat. I opened them up and used a tooth brush to clean off any gunk.

 

I'll bring in the skimmer and set up the bio reactor shortly. Hopefully the tank appreciates the deep cleaning. my pumps are definitely moving more water and I removed a good amount of gunk from the equipment and sump.

[Asureef]

Time for some Fall Cleaning!

 

So I finally gave up on finding a radium bulb. I ordered and installed a 150W Phoenix to compliment the existing 250W. The crazy thing is that I was starting to get used to the ugly, yellow 10,000K bulb... AACCK!. I may try taking pics tomorrow. The one thing is that it was much easier to see how unlit the front side of the front pillar was with the 10,000K bulb. Though it's much less obvious now, I still need to add some front side lighting.

 

Today I decided to do a major sump cleaning.

 

I wet vac'd out the sump, sponged it clean in the bath tub, and set it out to dry outside.

I took apart the skimmer, pipe cleaned and sponged the body and pump and put it back together.

I took apart the bio reactor, pipe cleaned and sponged the container and put it back together without the pellets.

I took the dirty pellets and rinsed them with tank water until there wasn't any debris in them

I cleaned out the return pump as well.

I placed the laser probe for the ATO into some vinegar water and let is soak before wiping it off.

 

Finally I added the skimmer, bio reactor, return pump and the nozzles for the return pump into a large vat of warm water and vinegar and let them run for a few hours.

 

I rinsed them out and now the skimmer and reactor are outside drying.

I brought sump back in, set it back up, added the return nozzles, and added enough water to run the return, but not too much that the water will be too high once I add back the bioreactor pump and skimmer. With the return running, I took off the wetside vortechs and added them to the vinegar vat. I opened them up and used a tooth brush to clean off any gunk.

 

I'll bring in the skimmer and set up the bio reactor shortly. Hopefully the tank appreciates the deep cleaning. my pumps are definitely moving more water and I removed a good amount of gunk from the equipment and sump.

 

Sounds like you had a hell of a day. I've done this once and dread when it's time for the next one. But, I do periodically siphon out detritus in the sump 1-2x a month.

[MedRed]

Sounds like you had a hell of a day. I've done this once and dread when it's time for the next one. But, I do periodically siphon out detritus in the sump 1-2x a month.

 

it's pretty much a 6-7 hour ordeal... I moved it forward this year to have football help me pass the time. I usually do the pumps, skimmer, and reactor twice a year. The sump is usually once a year. my sump is too low for me to really siphon, but now that I have a shop vac, I may vac it out regularly. luckily I run a sock, so it definitely helps to keep the detritus down.

[metrokat]

Sorry about the OSU loss, good luck for WV.

[MedRed]

Sorry about the OSU loss, good luck for WV.

 

ughhh... losing our QB before Iowa State just sucks. Our back up QB has potential, but he's not there yet. I'm so over all sports this year.

[metrokat]

I hear you. I follow college football because of my game day collection but the Jets basically made me cry.

[aaron1987]

ughhh... losing our QB before Iowa State just sucks. Our back up QB has potential, but he's not there yet. I'm so over all sports this year.

 

As an Iowa State fan, hearing anyone bemoan a loss to us makes me damn near giddy

 

You guys were out a fanbase and a viable QB for that one...

[MedRed]

As an Iowa State fan, hearing anyone bemoan a loss to us makes me damn near giddy

 

You guys were out a fanbase and a viable QB for that one...

 

arghh... we were favored to win that until our stupid QB got a DUI 3 days before the game and was suspended. We almost did with our back up QB... then he started throwing interceptions.

 

I hear you. I follow college football because of my game day collection but the Jets basically made me cry.

 

 

Rangers, TCU, Cowboys... all bad for me :-(

[metrokat]

Lets cry together. sniff. Maybe we need retail therapy. Frag junky is open.

[MedRed]

So here's a pic just to show where everything is at and the new lights. The lights actually look less ugly in person from my vantage point, but they still aren't anywhere as nice as any of the previous fixtures aesthetically. I'm still debating on what I want to do to light the front part of the tank.

 

You can see the far left pillar has been revamped from early July. It looks so unbalanced now. It should look nice when it grows back out.

 

I losing the green acro on the right side of the right pillar that's just above the strawberry shortcake. It has been STNing from the base up for a few days. It had been growing like crazy up until then. I hadn't checked my parameters since June or so. I checked this weekend and was shocked to see my DKH at 5.06... you're reading that right. I'm slowly upping it now. I'm going to frag the green acro right after I post this and hope for the best.

 

 

 

Lets cry together. sniff. Maybe we need retail therapy. Frag junky is open.

 

lol I actually have some hardware i need to buy. Need new dosing containers, heads for my dosing pump, a light fixture, and possibly a chiller.

[metrokat]

what is the width of the tank?

Does the light for the front have to be a PAR that will grow corals or just an accent light?

[Jacob042426]

i love this tank!

I hear you. I follow college football because of my game day collection but the Jets basically made me cry.

dont mention the jets kat. i cant root for them and it depresses my dad.

 

and med, im a huge boise state fan and we would have been in one of the major bowls last year, if we didnt have that stupid kicker that lost us the game against you. that was probably the biggest fail of a kick.

it's depressing to watch.

[MedRed]

what is the width of the tank?

Does the light for the front have to be a PAR that will grow corals or just an accent light?

 

It's 24 x 24 x 24. The front light would mostly be accent. I think enough of the MH is getting to the zoas to keep them happy.

 

i love this tank!

 

dont mention the jets kat. i cant root for them and it depresses my dad.

 

and med, im a huge boise state fan and we would have been in one of the major bowls last year, if we didnt have that stupid kicker that lost us the game against you. that was probably the biggest fail of a kick.

it's depressing to watch.

 

Thanks Jacob. All of our schools are all connected. When one is in mourning, another is celebrating. Boise is probably the only rival team I actually like.