My Simple Solana 34G

plyle02

Active member
Helo Nano Reefers out there!
My name is Perry, I have been around RC for quite some time :) Last Spring, I broke down my dream 70 gallon Zeovit SPS dominated tank, due to a move across the state. Once I arrived at my new place and set back up, I never dialed back into zeovit, lost some corals, became frustrated and ultimately I needed a break! Here is a pic of my previous tank:

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That was it, out, no more, everything, and I mean everything was sold! Almost a year later, had to check out Craigslist and see a $300 deal for a Solana AIO setup a couple weeks back, oh crap here we go again...lol... I will try for KISS(Keep It Simple Stupid) approach this go around, I will rely solely on water changes, good husbandry, and regular maintenance. My plan is for a ric garden, zoo garden down low, maybe a frogspawn. As you move up the reef, I plan on select sps corals and clams to make up the top portion. I will limit fish to a pair of clowns, a cleaner shrimp, pistol shrimp, shrimp goby. I want to keep bio-load low for now, can always add food if nutrients fall too low... Here is a pic of the tank:


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Filtration:
1. Stock Skimmer
2. Passive Carbon
3. Middle chaber will be chaeto
4. Active GFO in a reactor

Lighting:
1. Standard 14k (will upgrade to phoenix 14k)
2. Thinking of supplemental led spots, as the inhabitants warrant

Other equipment:
1. JBJ ATO
2. Controlled Heater-JBJ
3. Nano Tunze
4. Cooling Fan (on with halide)

That's about it for now, updates as they are made with pics to follow, thanks for checking this one out...
 
very nice tank, lets see more pics!

Thank You :)
I will try and get some additional pics of the current status. Many equipment pieces on order right now, WOW, to contemplate replacing of sooooo many things I had and gave away, ouch I am punching myself in the face right now...lol... Free PO4 photometer, salifert and lamotte test kits, refractometer, random powerheads, etc...just makes me sick how much all that stuff costs, that said, it will be a slow go...

Good news...
A few people I have taken care of during the sell, and just in general all have some high $ frags ready for me, at least stocking won't be so bad on the wallet...lol
 
Update:
Today I noticed salinity off, so started making ro/di water, only to find that my old unit needed some filter updates... So, off to Purely H2O I go... New RO membrane, new DI resin, new carbon filter and new sediment filter all in place, TDS meter officially reading 0.00... Time to make some water!!!
 
Update:
Salinity in check at 1.025 S.G... All good :)

I also have decided to dose BW's Bacteria and C-Source for speeding up the biological cylce and to induce a bacteria bloom that should drive nutrients really low. I will not be running a c-source dosing system, but feel that with new liverock and sand that it would be necessary to avoid a massive algae bloom, and keep po4 low, as well as NO3...

No fish or corals yet. I have purchased and in holding a pair of extreme misbarred clowns. These guys were so cool looking at the LFS, each of them have a single white dot on their forhead... :)
 
Recent trip to the LFS faired well, picked up my clowns, and also a few other sweet deals I could not pass up...

Frogspawn:

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Efflo:

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Blue Milli:

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Ricordea(Soon to be garden):

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FTS:

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had not been to photobucket in awhile, lol... A walk down memory lane, as I post a pic of my beautiful Pearlberry that exploaded with color in my previous tank! Just seeing my old pics has me amped up for this 34 gallon Solana :)

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The old tank and the pearlberry were awesome!! Looks like you are off to a good start on your nano adventure. Look forward to progress!
 
The old tank and the pearlberry were awesome!! Looks like you are off to a good start on your nano adventure. Look forward to progress!

Hey thanks for the + comment... I had to move this tank due to relocation with work, when I arrived and re-setup, epic FAIL... I took time off to enjoy another hobby that I missed out on for 15 years due to being away from the coast... I now can have balance with my hobbies, I think before I was WAY too addicted to reefkeeping and too attentive to the point of excessive, surfing allows keeps me out of the house, allowing nature to simply do it's thing:)

My other passion!!!

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Great corals Perry! I'm digging the Efflo. I'm liking the idea of keeping it simple more and more. Your thread is an encouragement, nudging me to stick to the basics.

Again, great work!
 
Great corals Perry! I'm digging the Efflo. I'm liking the idea of keeping it simple more and more. Your thread is an encouragement, nudging me to stick to the basics.

Again, great work!

Thanks for the kind words Kasey! I like having the smaller tank, thought being, a 5 gallon weekly water change along with skimming should be enough to control nutrients and keep ionic balance and trace elements, at least while the tank is still young:) Will likely add 3 part when I add more demanding corals. You really cannot screw up...lol :spin2:
 
Exactly, if I change 3 gallons, there's a 20% water change. I love the simplicity of it. Nano's have always been my real passion. ATO and 3 part dosing are something I foresee down the road, as well, if things go alright. Right now, I'm skimmerless. :p

Anyway, I can't wait to see the Mille and Efflo blow up! They're going to be stunners.
 
Exactly, if I change 3 gallons, there's a 20% water change. I love the simplicity of it. Nano's have always been my real passion. ATO and 3 part dosing are something I foresee down the road, as well, if things go alright. Right now, I'm skimmerless. :p

Anyway, I can't wait to see the Mille and Efflo blow up! They're going to be stunners.

Kasey,
Thank You,
The corals were a score, if I went with a name brand "Palmers Blue" for example, I would get a 1/2" frag for more than I paid this brown/blue tip milli, which incidentally, is already showing blue on base and branches:) The efflo, was less than the cost of a 1/2" frag of name brand efflos we see, showing green base leading to purple leading to whitish new growth, simply amazing! Each coral has its place planned in my mind, each will be purchased specifically for each location where space is available. I will likely not overcrowd with a ton of frags, just some really pretty corals aesthetically placed for success. I am laughing inside right now as I have seen these corals color in only a few days, I have a mj400 and standard pump in Solana for flow, of course the sps are receiving the majority of available flow, but all corals and my extreme misbarred clowns are happy:beer:
 
hello fellow Solana owner! I look forward to tracking your progress and stealing your ideas!

Thank You!
Your questions and comments are welcome here, I am just happy to be doing this again, I have been runnng sps tanks for a long time, at least 6 years... The nearly year break has shown me how far behind the times I am in terms of technology, so for that, be careful of which ideas you steal...lol... :spin2:
 
Update:
20% water change today, sps PE insane... Loving how simple keeping up on water changes is running a small tank:-) Using coralife salt, parameters are great, think I will continue its use. More updates to follow as my reef evolves...
 
Oh boy, couldn't help myself on this one, I am thinking green granulosa :) This was a deal I just could not pass up!

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Update time :)

Tank is going very well, I added a Reef Octopus BH100 skimmer today, easier on the budget, seems well crafted, and after a slight mod, it is up and running. I added a 2 little fish reactor today with phosban tumbling ever so lightly as to not disturb the animals in the tank. I also added another coral today as well, a beautiful stag, this one is going to be a stunner!

Next week, I will add a mp10, JBJ ATO, and a new Phoenix 14k DE bulb. This should be all the upgrades and accessories I plan for this this tank. I feel with water changes, good skimming, po4 removal, and and this 150 watts of halide should more than suffice for this simple little sps dominated reef...

Pics to follow, just waiting for the skimmer to break in and some of the micro-bubbles to go away before I snap a pic, hopefully in a couple of days...:)
 
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