Cody's 34g Solana, round two!

[cody6766]

I think I actually posted a few responses in your thread about these lights, but I don't mind rehashing things.

I'm very happy with my A350s. I have 2 on my 120 and one on my Solana. I'm using the narrow version on both tanks. There is a little spill against the wall, but most of the light is in the tank. It's no obnoxious with the lights off. As for wanting to use a controller, I have a controller on my AI Nano that's over my 6g Edge and, while it's cool to have step up/down lighting, it's not all that great. Because the A350s are $250, it was a no brainer for me to get them over the A360 line. Even on my 120g, balancing the two lights is really easy. The fish don't have a problem with the instant off/on timer. I can't really see a benefit of it aside from the cool factor. I've never used or seen the A160 or A150 in person, so I can't comment on the difference. Since these lights are adjustable, I'd go bigger to be more future proofed. Your stocking goals may change or you may want more intensity down low one day. You can always turn lights down, but you can't get extra light.

Any way you go, I'm very happy with my Kessil lighting. My only complaint, and it's not much of one, is the reds aren't as bright as the Radions or Hydras. I prefer the overall look of the Kessils more, though. I added the supplement lighting on the 120g (seen in the pic you quoted) to get a little more light fill in the tank. LEDs are very directional and leave a good bit of stark shading under overhangs. I've noticed that T5s and MH don't do it so bad, so I added some T5s to my Kessils. I'm hoping that I'll be able to squeeze a little more red out too, but that's just a bonus. I'm not really itching to do this in the Solana because the open scape makes it less affected by the shadows.

 

[araziza]

Heh, nice work so far! I just restarted my old Solana, I'm about 3 weeks in. I have an occy pair and the beginnings of a clean up crew.
Looking forward to updates!

 

[cody6766]

Thanks. I'm looking forward to it getting to the point of being update worthy. I don't hink I washed the sand well enough, so I'm having some water quality issues. They were bad enough to kill some SPS and cause some LPS to look sub par. The fish are all acting normal and eating well, so I pulled the coral and left the fish to ride it out. I have some really nice stuff to go in there that's just sitting in my 120g, waiting and growing.

So far this is the list of what is probably going in there:
Frogspawn - green w/purple tips and purple with metallic green tips
Hammer - Green with purple tips and a gold hammer
Duncans
Acan - a nice orange/red morph
Chalice - frags from my miami hurricane, a bright red one, a nice green/orange one and a red/blue one.
Zoas - Tubs blues, nuke greens, Keds reds, some other common, but neat stuff
Monti, plating - a green that looks like Tyree Flowerpetal...but not quite as nice, and a nice orange
Monti, digi - blue, orange and green
monti, encrusting - Rainbow, sunset, superman, chili pepper, a beautiful deep red one
War Coral
Sour Apple Birdsnest and maybe some frags as my acros grow out (red planet, pink lemonaide, tri-color, blue milli)
Green Nepthia

and maybe some other stuff. I'm lucky to have a few people locally that buy the nice stuff and sell it for $10-20/frag.

Hopefully I can get an anemone in there before moving most of the corals in so it can settle. I'll be using the birdsnest as my 'coral canary' to test the water since I have a bunch of it.

 

[cherubfish pair]

^^^yup. I have to refill my ATO a few times a week, so stagnation isn't an issue. Everything will have a light slime layer, like he said, but it's not problematic.

It's actually a bonus if it gets in the tank because coral eat bacteria.

 

[reeferaddict]

Stoked to see this post- I'm trying to get another set-up going and had questions about the 34gl Solara -
Are you happy with the tank set-up in general? I've never used a RR sumpless tank before.
Also I was going to have a Current USA Sunpod 250 MH pendant over it and I was curious if this would cause too much heat? Any thoughts?
I was thinking an RW-4 but not sure if I would need 2-
Love to see some pics of the shrimp and goby if you can get any-- that's something I also hope to have in this lil tank. DId they pair up easily?

 

[cody6766]

Are you happy with the tank set-up in general? I've never used a RR sumpless tank before

I really am. I ran it for about a year and a half or so, before setting up the 120g, and it was a great system. Before this tank, I had a 30g cube that was drilled, and it definitely had its advantages, but I like the Solana more.
The downside of a rimless tank shows up when cleaning. You have to be careful with the mag float or you'll splash water over the rim. It's not a big deal so long as you watch what you're doing.
The downside to the AIO setup is working room and possibly water changes. A sump makes packing in equipment much easier, and allows more working room for a fuge or skimmer. Filling the tank after a waterchange can suck since you have to lift the bucket up to the top. I have a 40g saltwater mixing tank with a mag pump to do the lifting for me. All in all, it's a great looking tank with enough room in the back to hold the stuff I need.

Also I was going to have a Current USA Sunpod 250 MH pendant over it and I was curious if this would cause too much heat? Any thoughts?

If you have it, it's worth a try, but I'd be careful with it. I ran a 250w SE light over that 30g I mentioned, but it was in a mediocre reflector. He was an issue, but easily mitigated by a fan on a timer with the light. That was before my controller-owning days, so now I'd tie the fan to a Reef Keeper Lite to keep temps in check. I'd also have an oversized ATO reservoir so you don't have to fill it so frequently. A 30'ish g tank, in my opinion, is right on that edge of 150/175w or 250w lighting needs. The Solana's disco ball grew SPS mid-tank, but the edges could get a little dim in the sand. I'm sure part of that is reflector design, but a 250w with a Lumenarc mini would certainly not have dim corners. I'm sure the sunpod would also work well, just be mindful of the heat.

I was thinking an RW-4 but not sure if I would need 2-

I'm not sure about those, I've used one. I ran two Koralia 750s and that just about did it, but not quite. I have an MP20 on it right now, cranked most of the way up, and it's plenty of flow. I had fewer LPS when I was running it last time, so I may dial it back when the euphyllia hit the tank. If the RW-4 is MP10'esque and cheap enough, I'd get two and dial them back. If they're a little pricey, I'd start with one and add more as necessary. There are also some great deals on MP10s and 40s in the classifieds if you want to go that route.
I'll try to get some goby/shrimp pics. I've had the shrimp for a few years and the new goby paired right up with. They're a cool tank feature, but be aware that they will destroy the bottom of your tank. My whole sandbed is a maze of tunnels and burrow entrances. Just be sure that your corals are going to get moved/buried if they're on or near the bottom. I have a mix of crushed coral and sand and it seems to be a really effective combo for tunnel building.

 

[reeferaddict]

Thanks for all the Info

I may go for LED's instead of the MH pendant, I dont have it yet. Just want to make sure I have good coverage and enough light for SPS at the least mid-tank

tanks again :wildone:

 

[cody6766]

The 'new' powerheads came in, so I pulled the Koralia from the tank. Right now I have my MP20 in there, but I'm considering tossing in one of the MP40s I bought to see if the extra flow is worth it. So, here's the system as it sits now, and the following pics are corals waiting in my 120 to be moved over.



Not all of these will go, but the Acan, zoas, war coral, and chalices will


Here are 2 frogspawn morphs and the orange hammer

 

[nicoli627]

Nice tanks.

 

[reeferaddict]

Nice... I thought an MP10 would prob suffice, lol... guess not huh

 

[cody6766]

It probably would, but I got the MP20 for a good deal a while back and also got the MP40s that just showed up at a good price. I now have 3 MP40s and 1 MP20, but only two tanks that could use them. I haven't decided if I'm going to run, on the 120g, 2x MP40s, 3x MP40s or 2x MP40s and an MP20. That leaves either an MP20 or MP40 available for this tank.

New Vortechs are too rich for my blood, so I did my shopping on in the classifieds forum. That leaves me 'stuck' with what's for sale at the time. I got better deals on the 40s and 20, so no MP10 for me. If I bought new powerheads, I'd get the MP10 for this tank. there's no real need for an MP40.

 

[cody6766]

I snagged some shots of the clowns and the goby/shrimp today.

 

[reeferaddict]

Beautiful... I really wanna keep the combo.. not sure the exact goby yet

Where did you get the mounting bracket your using for the kessil? Doesn't look like the one they sell -- I'm in need of one

 

[cody6766]

The mount is just the stock Disco ball's arm. I had to cut the end off of the Kessil extension cable to run it through. I ran the wire through, reconnected and taped it up and hung the light with zip ties. I'd bend electrical conduit to make an arm if I didn't have the stock mount. 3/4" pipe should let you pull the cable through w/o cutting it.

 

[cherubfish pair]

I like your pistol shrimp. Never seen one with those colors or that big. Mine have always been really little.

 

[cody6766]

The ywg is pretty small and this pistol had been in my tank for 4 years before moving to this one.

 

[idisc]

Is it just your camera or are your tanks really that cloudy?

 

[cody6766]

Part of it's the camera and the angle, mostly actually, but the water is a little cloudy. I'm going to pull the sand from the tank and add new in a few days. I'm pretty sure it's causing quality issues that I don't want to ride out. The tank is improving, but slower than I want. This isn't one of those 'patience is the key' situations or 'stocked too early' mistakes. I used established rock for the transfer, but the rinsed sand is causing trouble. I'll probably do it tomorrow or the next day and move the fish and shrimp over to a 10g temp. tank while it clears and settles.

 

[cody6766]

The moral of today's story...Take Your Damn Time

...when washing old sand. Here's the long story, so newbies can learn. There will be some repeat info about the tank since I copied this post from another forum. Just pretend you didn't see it in posts above, haha.
I've used old sand on several nanos, but I was using less sand than this and it's much easier to clean sand for a 6g than a 34g. The rock was well established in another tank, so the sand was the only variable. It was half washed, old sand and half crushed coral (for the pistol shrimp to use). No harm done to the fish and I only lost a couple of SPS 'test frags' from my 120g. I tested before adding the fish and everything was in balance. I didn't bother testing after because I knew there was a problem.

So, the outcome...
I set up my empty 14g Biocube, barebottom, to hold the fish (2x Davinci clowns, bicolor blenny, YWG and shrimp, yellow tailed damnsel) with some rocks from my 120's sump. I siphoned about 30-40lbs of sand from the Solana and added new sand and crushed coral from the bag. I'll let it sit until the water clears and toss in the CUC when it makes sense. Algae is still on the rocks, so I"m going to put the turbos to work. The pistol and goby will go next, then the rest. The end result should be a rimless cube with nems and euphyllia, and a few other 'supporting' corals with minimalist rock structure greeting guests in my entryway.

No harm came to any of the corals I cared about and the fish are all fine. I'm lucky I have the extra gear to work this issue without incident. Newbies, with limited space and spare gear, spend the $20-30 and start with new sand. Honestly, after spending a few hours rinsing my old stuff, it's easier to buy new too.

The Solana is now half full, full of new sand dust, and the Biocube is making me want to keep it running. Also, just for fun, some Utter Chaos Palys from a LFS. They're by far the brightest things in my tank, and make my Sour Apple Birdsnest look dull. They'll probably find their way into the Solana when it's up and running.

Now I just have to convince the wife that a 120g, 34g, 14g and 6g isn't too much water for one livingroom/entry area. Hopefully my girls will beg to keep the BioCube as 'their' tank. Nemo and Dori, maybe? haha, I kid. ...unless Doir is another Yellow-tailed damsel in this story...humm.

 

[Mose]

Sand

Sand

Glad you were able to save it. Btw - agree about the sand, with it being a small tank, I just dumped a bag of live sand in and haven't had any issues.