MedRed's 34 Gallon Solana

[MedRed]

The tank has lift off!

Sorry for the cloudy water... I was moving sand around with the vortech on and ended up with a cloudy mess. I will not be keeping the bulb long term. It's a left over 10,000K Ushio I had lying around. I'll be using a 14,000K Phoenix bulb. I didn't want to waste the new bulb while the tank was cycling.

Equipment:
34 Gallon Solana
Solana Black Modern Stand
Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155
Vortech MP20
Custom Dry Dock (Thanks Davey Jones Locker!)
Sunpod 150w with 14,000k Phoenix (planning a 250w w/ Actinic upgrade at some point)
Sapphire Aquatics Solana/Cardiff NanoSkimmer (arrives this week)
150w Stealth Heater



I've had quite a few hitchhikers already...

1 hermit crab

3 of these corals (I have no idea what they are)

I also have noticed some tiny starfish, a few bristle stars, and a few small zoas I forgot to take a picture of.

 

[diveman05]

looks like it will be really nice! my friend has the same tank and once their all cycled and aged they look amazing!

 

[wastememphis]

Tank looks very nice!
Do u have any pictures of the dry doc and ato sensor placement??

 

[MedRed]

Thanks diveman05 and wastememphis!

wastememphis, Here are some pics of the dry dock. I'm out of town until later this week so can't get pics of the sensor placement. I used one rail and mounted both sensors on the rail. The black "eye" piece is pushed down the rail just far enough so that it doesn't turn the pump on. If the water drops it will then activate the pump. I arbitrarily mounted the white float valve at a height less than the top of the tank.

as for the dry dock, I used the one on the left with the lip. These were pics I took after install...

 

[macclellan]

Nice tank 'Red. Choice rock.

How are you going to clean the glass on the left side? Nimble nano?

 

[MedRed]

Thanks Mac'

The rock doesn't touch the glass. The magfloat fits everywhere except for two small spaces. The scraper will reach those. I can reach my hand in there. it just looks covered up.

 

[wastememphis]

Did u have him do special dimensions?? I have an intank too... Mine won't fit there I think

 

[MedRed]

yes, I brought the tank to him and he took all the measurements for the two concepts.

 

[MedRed]

Been gone a couple of days. The tank is all clear now. Diatoms have set in already.

Here's a better picture of the coral

Lucked out on some truly live rock!

Just noticed this monster today... there were two near each other, now there's only one. Time for some apt killin'!

 

[foofooree]

hey man. Nice tank.
Look familiar

 

[KevinYates]

nice looking tank, ive seen pheonix bulbs and have to say my radium wins the color contest anyday, even pheonix with added atinics!

like the scape! what have you decided on as far as clean up crew goes?

 

[MedRed]

I haven't given much thought to a clean up crew yet. soon though.

 

[sarahh]

I am looking for advice on a "clean up crew". Thoughts? We ordered a 34 gal Solana (should be in Wed). Suggestions on what we should get?

 

[MedRed]

So after chasing aiptasia around the tank, I couldn't get my scape back to a way that I liked it. I decided to go for coral surface area this go around. Presenting: "The Atoll". It's a little cloudy as made quite a mess moving the rocks and sand around.

I tried to offset it, but the rocks and the size of the tank weren't cooperating too much. I have pods all over the glass. I think i'm about ready for a clean up crew. hopefully the param check agrees.


You can see I have bryopsis on the glass. The FW world has an algae that's just as much of a PITA (cladophora). i'm going to check my paramaters and then begin dosing the kent mg and raise my mg levels to 1600 ppm.

*PS, sarahh , Sorry I missed your post. didn't see it until just now. I filled out the form on reefcleaners.org to get an idea of what I should stock. I'll probably be picking up a clean up crew on sunday.

 

[MedRed]

Tank parameters:

Calcium: 440 ppm
KH: 8/143.2 ppm
PH: 7.8 too low! what should I do? I don't have an alk test I noticed
Phosphate: 0
Nitrate: 5 ppm
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0


Clean Up Crew Time!

 

[rhoptowit]

you can bring up your pH with kalkwasser but why go chasing perfect numbers?

 

[MedRed]

I hear you rhoptowit. I think i'll acclimate everything to what I'll get normally so that It will be easier to maintain.


My clean up crew has landed.


10 Nassarius
10 Florida Ceriths
1 Peppermint shrimp

I'll let these guys marinate for now before i figure out what else I'd like to add. I just noticed my blue leg is wearing the same shell as a Cerith... Aacck! :scarry: He may have to go sooner rather than later. Raised my mg up to 1600ppm. *points at bryopsis* Avada Kedavra! :wizard:

 

[cerobbins]

You should test your Kh. My guess is it will be in an acceptable range, and therefore your ph will also be fine. From my experience some nanos will just never get a ph to test in the 8s. I have had a few like this and never had a problem

 

[MedRed]

latest full tank shot:

My stupid peppermint shrimp is constantly in hiding. All I ever see are his antennae waving around from inside some crevice. Will he become more comfortable overtime? with tank mates? It's quite easy to see the one rock on the left introduced the bryopsis to my tank. almost all the other rocks are clear of it. It is only infesting that rock and the walls. Bryopsis:Clado as SW:FW.

 

[CurvBall]

Very cool. I love these Solano systems. Pity we don't get them here in the UK. Remember seeing one at an LFS in LA last year, very very good looking tanks.

Don't stress about the PH - just ensure your dKH stays stable and you'll be good. My PH ranges from 7.8 through to 8.1 over 24 hours while my dKH stays steady at 7. (my levels are maintained at NSW levels before you ask why such a low dKH )

...might have to create my own Solano/Elos nano clone soon