View Full Version : Tony's sps solana 34g build...
fla_tony
12/26/2010, 10:33 PM
so i was going to do a 18x18x18 build but for christmas my fiance got me a solana 34g! i am happy with the tank, this is going to be my first aio. We will see how it goes. Im pretty much going in the same direction as i was planning. So enough with the talk.
equipment:
solana 20x20x20 34g
coral life 150w hqi MH w/ 14000k
2x led strip for actinics
3 led moon lights
custom built hood to house all lighting and fans (going to be suspended above tank)
vortech mp10
Future equipment/ upgrades:
i haven't decided yet if im going to go with the rkl level 3 to control everything.
9002 skimmer
upgrade return pump
tank as of right now, it sits dry with 25 pounds of beautiful marco dry fiji rock in the nano sizes. Im hoping to get it wet tomorrow or Tuesday and get my cycle going.
Ok now for some pics!:
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2010-12-25_01-38-25_530.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2010-12-25_09-14-51_472.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2010-12-25_23-50-10_538.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2010-12-26_09-33-34_947.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2010-12-26_13-33-00_335.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2010-12-26_18-02-31_990-1.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2010-12-26_17-17-48_27.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2010-12-26_21-22-04_398.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2010-12-26_21-22-16_893.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2010-12-26_21-22-27_214.jpg
thats all for now.....
keithrett
12/27/2010, 01:18 AM
Great start so far, can't wait to see it up and running.
Kalmed
12/27/2010, 08:38 AM
Very nice start, loving the rock work. You should marry that girl!
nvdiz
12/27/2010, 08:50 AM
thats one sweet aquascape
fla_tony
12/27/2010, 11:13 AM
Thanks guys! The scape came out pretty good. Im satisfied with it. Im really hoping to have some time to get substrate and water tomorrow, So I can get my cycle going. Next week ill start building the hood.
Im planning on weekly water changes of 5 gallons and dosing nano code a & b daily.
Stocking: it will be sps dominant with some zoas. A pair of gold stripe maroon clowns a cardninal and a goby. I haven't decided on my inverts yet. A basic cuc. One clam down the road and possibly a anemone for the clowns.
vresor
12/27/2010, 11:26 AM
All that PVC would have made a killer jawfish home.
Kalmed
12/27/2010, 12:14 PM
To form your rock work did you use a epoxy stick or porland cement? Looks really stable for PVC, zip strips and putty. I am just starting a nano and have changed my rock 3 times last week trying to get it to look right and more so hold together.
fla_tony
12/27/2010, 12:37 PM
I used an epoxy stick actually a few epoxy sticks lol. I used the pvc to make sure the structure wont fall and hit the glass. Most of the zip ties were temporary untill the epoxy set. The only zip ties left are the ones holding a few of the rocks in the back to pvc stand.
ayckorea
12/27/2010, 09:38 PM
nice aquascape
what pump have u upgraded?
fla_tony
12/27/2010, 09:53 PM
nice aquascape
what pump have u upgraded?
thank you.
I havent upgraded it yet. i see a lot of people going with the ehiem 1250, but i heard its a tight fit and may be noisy due to it touching the sides of the chamber around it.
fla_tony
12/28/2010, 03:22 PM
So I've been going over this cycling process in my head. I've never cycled a tank with cured dry rock. I have an established 75 with nice live rock and sand. I know I need to seed the dry rock with some live but does the dry rock effect the cycle at all. Im planning on throwing about 7-10 lbs of my live rock in and that should start the cycle if there even is one considering im using cured dry rock and established live rock. Someone please chime in!! :confused:
clowndude
12/28/2010, 10:21 PM
Can't wait to see the tank running. I wish I knew about solana tanks before I got my biocube. I think solana's look better with the rimless look. I'm considering a solana xl 60 next year. Great tank choice
clowndude
12/28/2010, 10:23 PM
Your dry rock shouldn't affect your cycling. Just be sure to rinse it really good. I started my tank with half dead liverock and then slowly added liverock. After about two months coraline started to grow on the dead rocks. Now if you look at my rocks you really can't tell the difference between which rocks were dead and which ones I bought live. Hope this helps.
fla_tony
12/30/2010, 07:57 AM
Yea I've rinsed it well. I just don't know how the dry rock effects the cycle. I was figuring it should only have a mini cycle because of using the established live rock and cured dry rock.
Higgy2010
12/30/2010, 10:47 AM
Your aquascape looks great. I assume you only used epoxy and zip strips and did not drill? Good idea.
Looks great and really like the rock-scaping...
Can't wait to see the hood
fla_tony
01/03/2011, 08:07 AM
UPDATE: So I got a lot accomplished over the weekend on the solana. I built the hood, frosted the front glass on the stand, got some water and sand in it and got it running last night. Well here are the pics. (The tank is still cloudy so hopefully when I get home from work it will be cleared up some.
I used pine for the hood.
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-01_12-27-53_144.jpg
Here is the hood assembled and empty
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-01_13-13-12_987.jpg
Here is the corallife hqi mounted in the hood. I drilled an 1 1/4 hole to run the wires down the pipe used for mounting the hood.
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-01_17-42-16_10.jpg
I bent the pipe 90 degrees and welded on a 2 bolt flange to bolt the hood to the stand
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-02_11-57-05_592.jpg
Loosely bolted up
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-02_14-55-02_488.jpg
With the fans mounted, lacquer dried.
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-02_22-46-08_141.jpg
Mounted and running over the tank.
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-02_23-07-21_847.jpg
Sand and rock in place
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-02_19-28-21_288.jpg
The frosted glass.
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-02_23-18-23_55.jpg
Here is fts cloudy water and all.
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-02_23-06-24_816.jpg
I still need to get my 2 led strips for actinics and my moon lights. That's next.
Sorry for the poor picture quality, they were taken from my droid x. Ill try to take some with my camera when the tank clears up.
Im excited to have this thing going!!
marius880
01/03/2011, 02:28 PM
wow good job on the hood... looks neat. and i like the tank.. are you goin to have any gobies in the tank? they will jump out.. mine did till i put a mesh on top.
marius880
01/03/2011, 02:31 PM
oh what type of LED will you buy...
fla_tony
01/03/2011, 04:13 PM
I forget what the brand is. The lfs here has these really nice led strips, they have 5 leds in them with reflectors. They price match so I might just get them there.
fla_tony
01/03/2011, 10:28 PM
The tank cleared up some.
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-03_20-02-57_834.jpg
Better view of the hood
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-03_20-04-20_366.jpg
fla_tony
01/07/2011, 07:41 PM
The tank has cleared up. I have a TON of micro-bubbles. I have narrowed down to the skimmer, once unplugged for a few minutes the micro-bubbles clear up. Can't wait for the skimmer to break in. I also added about 10lbs of live rock from my 75g. Here are some updated pics:
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-07_17-43-55_886.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-07_17-44-49_383.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-07_17-45-46_145.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-07_17-44-29_13.jpg
pwwfish
01/08/2011, 12:35 AM
Off to a great start! I love the aquascape. Looking forward to seeing some more life in
there, keep up the great work.
fla_tony
01/09/2011, 06:18 PM
so i tested the water parameters today and this is what i came up with:
ph-8.0
alk-10
ca-420
no2-0
no3-0
po3/4-0
sg-1.0235
temp-77.9
i dont have an ammonia test, i need to pick one up. the 10lbs of live rock and 30lbs of live sand should start the cycle. i started to get some algae on the sand bed today. should i be not have the light on while cycling? i've heard both light on and light off.
here is a picture of the algae, and any advise on the cycling would be awesome.
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-09_18-52-17_437.jpg
nvdiz
01/09/2011, 06:37 PM
seems like a good start :)
id definitely keep the tank on a light cycle. cut it short if you want to, just have it on for some time IMO.
fla_tony
01/11/2011, 06:56 PM
so i have left the light cycle. The algae is getting worse with air bubbles forming. I really need to get an ammonia test to see if its high since all other params are on point. I HATE ALGAE!!! i had one diotom outbreak in my 75 and i fixed that with lowering phosphates and a diamond goby :thumbsup: he has continued to keep my sand bed spotless without making too much of a mess. Now im battling red slime in my sump. it doesn't bother me so long as it stays in my sump, but id still like it gone!
fla_tony
01/16/2011, 12:26 PM
I just ordered a digital aquatics reef keeper light w/ 1 x ReefKeeper Lite head unit
1 x PC4 (four outlet power strip)
1 x SL1 (pH, ORP, temp, and 2 x switch inputs)
1 x iTemp temperature probe
1 x (FREE) DA pH probe
1 x SID (USB system interface device)
6 x Mounting screws
for 179 shipped!! Ships out tomorrow!
fla_tony
01/31/2011, 08:14 PM
UPDATE: So i finally have added some stuff to this tank!! I have had my basic cuc in for about 2 weeks. I got my first fish for this tank yesterday, it a gold stripe maroon. Im hopefully going to get another one tomorrow that is a little bit larger to try to get them to pair. I have also added an rbta from my 75g in for the clown. I know a lot of people will says its a little early for a nem but i wanted to get him in and settled before i put any sps in. I isolated the nem on a rock in the sand to try to keep it from moving. He opened up almost immediately after acclimating and being put in the tank. I have also set up my RKL which is an awesome piece of equipment!! i also ordered my vortech mp10es today!
Ok enough talk here are some pics!!!
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-30_18-17-42_285.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-30_22-55-55_21.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-30_22-55-28_535.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-30_22-55-12_440.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-31_18-37-29_228.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-31_18-36-21_538.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-31_18-37-29_228-1.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-31_18-39-05_549.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-30_20-53-40_845.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-01-30_20-54-01_503.jpg
thats it for now!!!
aquaenthusiast
02/01/2011, 12:46 AM
Great tank and aquascaping is beautiful! I just got a RKL too, so if you need any help let me know :)
bruce922
02/01/2011, 06:22 AM
I really like your tank, especially your rockscape
fla_tony
02/01/2011, 07:54 AM
Thanks guys!!
The RKL is pretty easy to set up. i had some problems getting my fans to kick on. The temp setting was only showing 3 zeros instead of 4. ie 00.0 for the setting when it should say 000.0. i dont know what i did to change it but it works great now. Im going to set up an ato through it next, As well as my true lumen led strip im waiting for in 453nm actinics.
Im hoping i can get another gs maroon today!!
sprayed99
02/01/2011, 08:10 PM
All these solana threads make me miss mine :(
fla_tony
02/02/2011, 06:38 PM
All these solana threads make me miss mine :(
I am very happy with the solana. i know i will eventually add a sump to expand and upgrade the system. So far so good, i like it.
fla_tony
02/04/2011, 10:33 PM
i got my mp10es today!! its awesome. watching the flow changes is really cool. I have it set on tidal swell mode on 75%.
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-02-04_17-51-29_159.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-02-04_20-46-13_28.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-02-04_20-46-03_850.jpg
i cant wait to get some sps in there!
If anyone has any opinions on what to set the mp10 on. im open to ideas. i just set it quick and left it. i dont have any corals so i dont know how they would react.
Thanks for looking!!
fla_tony
02/05/2011, 09:21 AM
i dont have a build thread for my 75g so i figured i would post a couple pics here and a video of both tanks. The 75 is all softies with one brain coral, yellow tang, b&w occ clown, occ clown, diamond goby, 6x blue green chromis and a flame angel. I had a hermit crab take over a shell that was buried in the sand with a red mushroom on it so now i have a traveling mushroom.:lolspin:
enjoy!
here is a pic of the mushroom hermit.
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-02-04_20-01-23_300.jpg
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid1023.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faf355%2Fajpesce21%2F2011-02-04_20-31-24_556.mp4">
Reefsnob
02/05/2011, 09:44 AM
[QUOTE=fla_tony;18290661]
here is a pic of the mushroom hermit.
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-02-04_20-01-23_300.jpg
Tats pretty scweet, Did he grab a shell with a mushroom attached? or did you attach it to his shell?
fla_tony
02/05/2011, 10:49 AM
he grabbed the shell with the mushroom on it. it was buried in the sand with just the mushroom out on top he dug it up and started roaming around with a mushroom on. lol
fla_tony
02/06/2011, 03:23 PM
Fixed the video sorry:
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid1023.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faf355%2Fajpesce21%2Ffishtank.mp4">
fla_tony
02/08/2011, 12:51 PM
UPDATE: So i have been trying to get some gs maroons to pair. I've read the difficulties of doing so and was determined i could do it. So i had my one gs maroon w/ its rbta for one day before i found another of a similar size. I had them separated in the tank, the new one was in a container. Well after a full day of being in there he managed to get out while i was at work and the resident clown had banged him up pretty bad. I got him out asap and put him in a qt. My lfs had a larger maroon that was believed to be a female. So i gave them my clown for them to treat and keep in quarantine. He was swimming fine before i ever got him to the lfs. Now he is swimming 99% eating and interacting with other fish fine, with no infections. So the female came home with me. After acclimating her i put her in a container and moved her around the tank throughout the day for 5 days. I started to notice the little guy swimming next to the container with her. So finally last night i had the guts to let her out. She was very calm and just swam around while the little guy was excited and charged at her a few times but never made contact. She went to the rbta almost instantly which frustrated the little male. Then she started showing signs dominance. The difference in the actions of the large female and the small male was she was bumping him not biting him. He would do his submissive shake and she would leave him alone this continued, but she wasn't showing aggression just dominance. As where with the two of the same size they were fighting and fins were getting torn off. So she would let him come in the nem with her and still push him around a little but so far so good they are getting along. This morning i woke up and shined a flash light to check on the two of them and they where both nestled up in the nem together!!!! I really hope this behavior continues and gets better i will keep you guys updated but its looking good!!
Here are some pics and a couple videos:
in the container:
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-02-07_16-41-29_853.jpg
in the container again:
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-02-07_16-41-35_793.jpg
she went right to the rbta:
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-02-07_20-35-30_742.jpg
the two getting along:
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-02-07_20-35-25_21.jpg
this morning in the rbta together:
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-02-08_07-17-06_592.jpg
again the morning in the rbta:
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-02-08_07-17-29_588.jpg
video of her being dominant:
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid1023.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faf355%2Fajpesce21%2Fmaroons1.mp4">
video of this morning in the rbta together:
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid1023.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faf355%2Fajpesce21%2F2011-02-08_07-18-01_557.mp4">
fla_tony
02/08/2011, 01:36 PM
I haven't seen them since this morning before i left for work and my fiance just sent me a video of the two of them. They are taking turns playing in the rbta and getting along great she said. I think i've made some progress!!
jwpick42
02/08/2011, 09:56 PM
Awesome build!! I am thinking about purchasing the RKL. Where did you buy yours?
I cant wait to see some nice SPS in there. BTW From the front, your rock scape sort of looks like a star.
fla_tony
02/09/2011, 08:04 AM
Thank you! I bought my rkl from marine depot. They had/have a special for 179. It was a package deal i mention earlier in the page.
I cant wait to get some sps in. im just taking it slow.
jwpick42
02/09/2011, 05:02 PM
I must have missed the $179 sale. They currently have the same package priced at $229.99. It is still a pretty good deal.
I am working on a build myself. I just bought a CAD 39g, but they cant seem to get my tank here in one piece. I am on my 3rd shipped tank already.
fla_tony
02/10/2011, 07:33 AM
Yea keep checking because there sales come and go everytime you click on the page lol. It was there one day and not the next. Then back on sale again. So keep checking, im sure it will be on sale again shortly.
fla_tony
03/13/2011, 04:59 PM
a few updates i guess..nothing too spectacular. I added a few frags/ pieces to the tank including: pink birdsnest, green digi, red monti cap, green monti cap and three cup corals. The large green digi, green monti and cup corals were giving to me by a friend who took down his tank. The corals from his tank were under a normal florescent aquarium light for sometime before i got them. The green monti is very bleached and had almost no polyp extension when i added it. It seems to be gaining some color back and has some PE now! The green digi is also bleached in some areas but seems to be making a full recovery. As for my frags The green digi is doing great but my birdsnest not so much. I think it is to much in direct flow from my mp10 thats on 100% reefcrest. Params look good so not sure.
Pics:
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-03-12_18-05-57_776.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-03-12_18-06-16_335.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-03-12_18-06-23_702.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-03-12_18-06-36_985.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-03-12_18-06-49_355.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-03-12_18-07-01_546.jpg
FTS
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-03-12_18-07-17_510.jpg
Powederblue
03/13/2011, 10:17 PM
love the mushroom crab haha
fla_tony
05/04/2011, 10:28 AM
So i changed up the tank recently since my upgrade. Im changing the solana to a mixed reef so i can get the flow of the soft coral ad m 150 now is going to be an sps dominant tank.
FTS:
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-04-27_22-30-13_41.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-04-27_22-31-04_565.jpg
Some of my RBTA and Maroons:
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-04-27_22-32-46_628.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-04-27_22-39-53_614.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-04-27_22-40-01_17.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-04-27_22-40-28_485.jpg
http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af355/ajpesce21/2011-04-27_22-40-55_361.jpg
black74
05/04/2011, 10:29 PM
Sweet looking tank Tony... I have a cube with similar dims... Im having trouble finding a stand. Where did you get yours and for how much?
fla_tony
05/09/2011, 09:16 AM
Thank you! Its a solana stand, i got my at my lfs. I believe its around $150.
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