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Coral Vue Hydros

Solana³: The Remix ft. Hydronaut


Hydronaut

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Nicee! Can't wait to see the sump and how everything is set up! Let's see some more pics!

 

Sump pics, as promised:

 

sump_1.jpg

 

sump_2.jpg

 

Rear view, wires everywhere...

sump_3.jpg

 

The flow to the refugium is driven by the main pump and controlled by a ball valve on the Loc-line:

sump_4.jpg

 

Eshopps magnetic probe holder with titanium grounding probe and temp. probe (Ph probe will be added soon). Float switches on opposite side:

sump_5.jpg

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Sump installed, plumbed, and ready to go...

 

sump_installed.jpg

 

The sump inlet is designed with a sliding disconnect for easy maintenance:

 

sump_inlet_closed.jpg

sump_inlet_open.jpg

 

FTS after install:

 

Sump_install_fts.jpg

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Any updates to this?? Great execution BTW. I do have a question for you though. I have been thinking of doing this to my solana however I have not figured out what to do about the rear glass. Mine has the recess in it and yours appears not to have that. I presume yours is one of the older style tanks without the recess in the back panel.

 

I'm now wondering if I could simply remove and replace that panel???

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  • 3 weeks later...
Will you come make my crap look nice please?

 

Haha, you might want to add some drip loops in that birds nest somewhere. Or buy some wire duct to keep everything organized.

 

 

Any updates to this?? Great execution BTW. I do have a question for you though. I have been thinking of doing this to my solana however I have not figured out what to do about the rear glass. Mine has the recess in it and yours appears not to have that. I presume yours is one of the older style tanks without the recess in the back panel.

 

I'm now wondering if I could simply remove and replace that panel???

 

Big update coming this weekend. I've been excessively busy at work, and have been out of town the last few weekends, so I haven't had a chance to snap any new pics. On the plus side, the build is done (finally), the 'scape is finished, and I am about a week into cycling. New FTS coming soon (with saltwater this time).

 

As far as the recess goes, you could mount the overflow box externally and silicone it in place. Check out this build where someone did exactly that.

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Haha, you might want to add some drip loops in that birds nest somewhere. Or buy some wire duct to keep everything organized.

 

 

 

 

Big update coming this weekend. I've been excessively busy at work, and have been out of town the last few weekends, so I haven't had a chance to snap any new pics. On the plus side, the build is done (finally), the 'scape is finished, and I am about a week into cycling. New FTS coming soon (with saltwater this time).

 

As far as the recess goes, you could mount the overflow box externally and silicone it in place. Check out this build where someone did exactly that.

 

 

Thanks for the tip! I was wondering the best way to do that. I had considered the external overflow but was not sure if I could bond acrylic to glass the way the person in your link did. I figured if I did it that way, I could essentially have a coast to coast style overflow.

 

Looks like I have a new project coming up! Just need to get a rubber maid tub for the contents of the tank and I'm good to go.

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I had considered the external overflow but was not sure if I could bond acrylic to glass the way the person in your link did.

 

 

I believe the person in the link made one out of glass with a single hole drilled through it. Now that I think about it, I would be wary of trying to bond acrylic to glass outside of the tank. A glass one would be fairly simple to make though - probably even easier than acrylic. Technically it would only need 3 sides + a bottom with a hole drilled in it for the standpipe. I think the guy in the link used a piece of black acrylic as a false back inside the tank to make the overflow "teeth".

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I believe the person in the link made one out of glass with a single hole drilled through it. Now that I think about it, I would be wary of trying to bond acrylic to glass outside of the tank. A glass one would be fairly simple to make though - probably even easier than acrylic. Technically it would only need 3 sides + a bottom with a hole drilled in it for the standpipe. I think the guy in the link used a piece of black acrylic as a false back inside the tank to make the overflow "teeth".

 

 

I think you're right on all accounts. The more I think about this the more likely it is for me to use an external 3 sided overflow with a bottom. This way, the false acrylic piece can be put either in the tank, or in the overflow so I can get adequate surface skimming and protection from unwanted livestock in the overflow. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Anyway, enough of the thread jack. How's your tank doing? Any updates?

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How's your tank doing? Any updates?

 

Here you go.

 

Final part of the build: hooked up the ATO reservoir behind the stand using a slim line water container.

 

ATO_reservoir.jpg

 

Also finished up the 'scape. Check it out:

 

Front view

Rockscape_front.jpg

 

Front right:

Rockscape_frontright.jpg

 

Left side:

Rockscape_leftside.jpg

 

Right side:

Rockscape_rightside.jpg

 

Close-up:

Rockscape_close.jpg

 

 

I was going for a bonsai-style central pillar with lots of open room around it to take advantage of the cube shape. The tank is on the corner next to a hallway and is easily view-able from 3 sides. Note that there are a few random pieces of live rock scattered around the dry rock which will be removed once the dry rock is seeded.

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:oomgomgomg

 

 

Scape is SICK!

 

I agree with iDream!!! Awesome scape! This is going to look great once it grows in.

 

 

Many thanks! That is the result of numerous hours of watching mortar dry. At one point I got impatient and tried to move ahead while waiting for a bond to dry. Needless to say I flinched while positioning a rock and demolished the whole structure. Set me back a full 8 hours. Learned my lesson to take things slow after that.

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So my cycle appears to be complete in just over 1 week. Of course I cheated a bit. The process went as follows:

 

  1. Started with ~28# dry rock and 20# Arag-Alive Fiji-pink live sand
  2. Added a full dose of Dr. Tim's One and Only
  3. Dosed ammonium chloride until ammonia level reached 3ppm
  4. Waited for ammonia and nitrite to drop back to 0ppm
  5. Repeated steps 3 and 4
  6. Repeated once more to make sure ammonia and nitrite levels stabilized at 0ppm in 24hrs or less

 

Talk about an instant cycle. I expected the addition of One and Only would jump start it a bit, but didn't expect it to happen that quickly. Quality product.

 

I went ahead and ordered a quick crew from Reef Cleaners for delivery this Saturday. I'll probably continue to dose ammonium chloride for the next couple of days to ensure params remain stable then do a sizable water change on Friday. If I notice any issues I'll push the delivery back a week.

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  • 3 weeks later...
great build.

 

Thanks adinsxq!

 

Now time for an update:

 

The tank has now been up and running for about a month and is fully cycled. Ph swings were pretty crazy until settling in the 8.0-8.2 range about a week ago. I added a clean-up-crew from Reef Cleaners along with some macro algae in the 'fuge. I also added the first coral and inhabitant last Friday. Check 'em out below:

 

Display Refugium:

 

Fuge_3.jpg

Fuge_5.jpg

 

Coral Banded Shrimp:

 

CBS_1.jpg

CBS_hangin.jpg

 

Originally I had planned on going with a cleaner shrimp, but after seeing the CBS in action at the LFS, I couldn't resist (not to mention that someone bought all of the cleaner shrimp 5 minutes before I walked in the store).

 

Pipe Organ Coral (Tubipora musica):

 

Pipe_Organ_1.jpg

Pipe_Organ_2.jpg

 

These pics were taken 24hrs after adding the coral to the tank.

 

Clean Up Crew (from Reef Cleaners, thanks for hooking it up John!):

 

Clean%2520up%2520crew.jpg

 

Got lots of freebies in this one.

 

View from the right side:

 

Solana_Right_Side%2520%25289-25-11%2529.jpg

 

View from the left side:

 

Solana_Left_Side%2520%25289-25-11%2529.jpg

 

And finally, a full tank shot:

 

Solana_FTS%2520%25289-25-11%2529.jpg

 

 

More corals and livestock coming soon!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

 

How'd you go about making that aquascape? It would have been neat to see that step-by-step,

 

 

For the 'scape, I started with the basic idea of using a wide base with a large central pillar attached, and a variety of shelves coming off the pillar. I bought a combination of shelf and key-largo rock from MarcoRocks, as well as one of their "Prime Cuts' to use as a base (I told Marc what I was intending to do and he picked out an appropriate sized one for me. Then is was just a matter on situating each rock one-by-one where I wanted it and then bonding the structure with E-Marco400 mortar. I used leftover rocks, stacked paper cups, zip ties, and various other odds and ends to form a sort of scaffold to hold each rock in place as the mortar dried. I generally allowed 1 and 2 hours for the mortar to set before moving onto the next rock. Also, the whole thing was assembled outside of the tank and then, lowered inside after everything was dry.

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  • 4 months later...
So fresh...

overflow_front.jpg

 

So clean...

overflow_back.jpg

 

So glad I found this post. I'm hoping to do the same thing but I'm fairly new at this but I'd appreciate it if you could answer a couple of questions. First, the job you did was amazing! Second, I'm guessing you had to drill 2 more holes for the returns...where did you get the back piece (black) for the aquarium as well as the return fittings?

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