My Solana Superbrite Build

Lots of great advice cody. Thanks! So far all of the wiring that is fastened in place is related to the controller. The power cables for skimmer, return pump etc will be floating more freely.

I also appreciate the advice on the switch from my established tank to the new one. It's definitely a little sketchy and I've heard of people losing coral in even the quickest and most carefully planned moves.

I'm planning on using only live rock from my established tank along with a piece or two of dry rock that's been in a tub with my new skimmer for a few weeks now. I think when I make the switch I'll drain at least 15 to 20 gallons from the new tank and replace it with water from the old tank so parameters aren't as drastically different.

I'm also planning on using live sand (CaribSea Special Blend) so I'm hoping that I won't experience any real significant nutrient spike. I suppose I could run the new tank minus the light for a few weeks. We'll see.

Oh, and yes...I'm definitely borderline OCD! :lmao:
 
I'm really digging the sump and stand layout, looking very clean as everyone has already said.

I need to get off my butt and get some work done to mine as well.
 
I've done tank swaps two different ways, both with good results. The first time I just swapped everything from one tank to the next in one go. I don't remember if I used new sand or brought the old sand over (I don't advise this). The tank was only 4 or so months old and didn't have any really sensitive corals.

The second time I started the new tank with new rock and sand. I brought in a few pieces of rock and a scoop of sand from the old set up to seed the new one. I waited a good 3 weeks or so before beginning to move coral over. I moved a few testers (zoas and rics) and gave it a week. After that I slowly introduced coral from the most hardy to the most sensitive. I probably spent 2-3 weeks doing that. I had no losses or problems and would do it that way again if I had the means.

You're going to have some die off to contend with from your live sand. I used dry sand to avoid that issue on my new tank and would definitely recommend a few weeks to let things balance out if you use LS.
 
Thanks for the insight cody. I would definitely prefer to make the move slowly rather than all at once. With keeping all the same rock and a good chunk of the old water I would think I should be OK. Although I wouldn't be shocked to lose a frag or two.

Unfortunately I have a couple of issues with the slow move. The biggest issue is that I only have one light. I sold my old Kessil to make it hurt a little less when I bought my Apex.

The other issue I have is that I'm pretty sure I want to keep the new tank exactly where the old one is. That means that I'd have to move my current tank out of the way without breaking it down completely. It's a pretty small tank but still a huge PITA.

I still haven't decided which way I'll go but it'll either be a swift move or I'll let the old tank run with just sand and a little rock but no light for 2 to 4 weeks and then make the switch.

My current dillema is which sand to go with. When I got my current tank used it had sugar sized sand and I've hated everything about it.

I thought I had my mind set on Caribsea special grade reef sand but now I'm not sure I'll dig the size of it. Now I'm leaning toward Arag-alive Fiji pink. Being predominantly SPS I like to try to keep a lot of flow. I'll be starting out with one MP10 on 100% Reef Crest but I'd like to add a second one and go with both of them on 70-75% sometime down the road.
 
Honored that you used your very first post to "Wow" my build! Seriously!

And welcome to RC BigBlueReef!!

:beer:
 
I forgot about another switch...I've done a few I guess.

It was a 40br to a 30 cube. I did it right away, using dry sand. I drained water down to the last few inches and saved it so it was basically like doing a big water change in the end. I emptied everything into a big plastic tub, swapped tanks out and filled the new one up. I didn't have much for SPS then, but what I did have survived. It was a 1 for 1 swap, same location, different dry sand. So, I guess the moral of the story is, make sure your tank is healthy before the swap. I dont' know how I forgot about that tank change. I threw my back out lifting the 40br off the stand and made a HUGE mess in the entry way with all of my gear/critters strewn about as I changed things over.
That leads to my second moral of the story (wait, there may be more!)...ask for help when lifting your tanks, don't do it alone. Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD. Your back will let you know if you shouldn't. haha.
 
1. Set up the new tank next to the old tank and run rodi water first.
Trial run making sure there are no leaks in plumbing.
2.Drain rodi into a brute garbare can and mix some fresh salt. Drop a heater and power head in.
3. Put the live sand in and put enough new salt water to cover the live sand.
4. Drain the old water into another brute can and remove your live rock, coarls and fish into the brute can with the old water.
5. Slide the old tank out of the way and slide the new tank in.
6. Start to drain the old water into the tank. When the tank is half full (or empty):spin1: start designing your new aquascape.
7. Make sure you have a power head and heater in the bucket with the corals and fish.
8. Put more old water in until 3/4 from full and then finish with new salt mix.
9. Move over your fish and coarals.
10.Get systems up and running. ask a local reefer for some help always good to have an extra person.

Good luck
Make sure to post results and pictures
Floyd
 
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Whew!! Thanks fltt but man...I almost had an anxiety attack just reading that.

Don't get me wrong. It's great advice and makes perfect sense but I could see myself sweating and rushing and freaking out about everything sitting too long.

My only concerns would be
a) having my new tank water temp being off due to the combination of old water and new water which may not be up to temp yet.

b) my heater on the new tank being adjusted properly. I could just crank it because the Apex will be controlling it but I'd like it dialed to 78* just in case.

c) my children being scarred by the constant cursing from my frustration of trying to put together my scape in a hurry and not being satisfied with how it's turning out.

We'll see. I'm leaning toward just setting up the new tank by the window and keeping the blinds down in the afternoon. I'll be moving in the next 4 to 6 months anyways so it's pretty temporary.

This way I could just fill the new tank with RODI and leak test it. If everything is fine I'll add salt followed by live sand. Then I could add the little bit of base rock that I've had in a tub and get everything running. I think I'll let it run for 2 to 3 weeks just to make sure everything is settled and all my parameters are good. I could also add 10 or so gallons of old water to the tank over this time with weekly water changes. Then when I'm ready to make the swap I just have to pull out some new water, add some more old tank water and move over the rock, coral, fish and light. It's a slower move and not perfect but I think it'll be a little less stressful on my livestock...and myself.

So I got the return pump and now the plumbing is complete. I just need to clamp down the vinyl tubing on the pump.
One last boring sump-shot with the pump tied on:


Bored at home on a Saturday night so I thought I'd throw in a couple of cruddy cell phone pics of some inhabitants that will be making the move over to this new tank.

Here's my new snowflake. This fish is a weirdo. He cruises the rock and stares at it picking at stuff all over my tank including the return locline. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's an angelfish. It's pretty entertaining.


Here's my new Swales basslet. I didn't plan on getting one of these. It was the ever-dangerous impulse fish purchase. Went to my LFS and fell in love with it. It's shy so far for sure. Starting to come out a little more and more but living up to it's reputation as "the most expensive fish you'll never see":lmao:
Sorry for the horrible pic. I'll have to add a better one when it comes out more.


Got this in a trade as an "orange digitata". I thought eh, it's OK I guess. I like how it branches. Then it started getting a bunch of killer bright green color. I guess it's a forest fire digitata? Anyways, it's not rare or anything but I like it.


I promise my pics will get better as this thread goes on but here's my turquoise stag that dulled out a lot after shipping but is making a return to nice color and a blue matrix and green acro in the background.


OK, I promise...no more horrible pics and no more boring updates until this tank gets wet! Probably mid to late next week. As always...fire away with any questions, thoughts, suggestions, random insults etc.
 
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1. Set up the new tank next to the old tank and run rodi water first.
Trial run making sure there are no leaks in plumbing.
2.Drain rodi into a brute garbare can and mix some fresh salt. Drop a heater and power head in.
3. Put the live sand in and put enough new salt water to cover the live sand.
4. Drain the old water into another brute can and remove your live rock, coarls and fish into the brute can with the old water.
5. Slide the old tank out of the way and slide the new tank in.
6. Start to drain the old water into the tank. When the tank is half full (or empty):spin1: start designing your new aquascape.
7. Make sure you have a power head and heater in the bucket with the corals and fish.
8. Put more old water in until 3/4 from full and then finish with new salt mix.
9. Move over your fish and coarals.
10.Get systems up and running. ask a local reefer for some help always good to have an extra person.

Good luck
Make sure to post results and pictures
Floyd


HAHAHA, A little much sorry I did a tank change a few years back from a 90 to a 150. I guess it was kinda hectic. Sound like a good plan corals and fih look great.
 
Very clean setup.

I've had my solana (AIO) running for about 18 months. After seeing this thread, I really want a go wit a sump.
 
Very clean setup.

I've had my solana (AIO) running for about 18 months. After seeing this thread, I really want a go wit a sump.

Thanks calistyle. I'm pretty sure I'm following your build...or rebuild. Can't recall.

Sumps are awesome !

Indeed. As long as they're set up right with some forethought. Haven't run a sump since before I left the hobby. It was a ticking timebomb.

Baller setup.

Papa likes...

Thanks pimp.

Clean build!!

Really dig the tucked away wires on the SOL.

Thanks. So far I've strung the controller wire up the square tubing. It was a mild PITA but nothing too bad. Now the power cable may be another story. We'll see pretty soon.

I've got a few things in the works that are update-worthy. Got some water in the display, mounted some DIY float switch holders in the sump, got some stuff on order...update coming in the next couple of days. Thanks again guys!
 
Finally got her up and running. Started filling it yesterday with RO/DI and luckily I had zero leakage. Today UPS brought me a breakout box for my Apex, a Neptune pH probe, some salt and calibration fluid.

Before filling it completely I wanted to fabricate some type of holders for my float switches in the sump. I'm still waiting for the float switches to arrive. I ended up getting some cheap ones on the bay. I got 3 float switches for just under $10 shipped. I figure if they're finicky or just don't work right they'll be easy enough to replace.

Here's what I ended up doing. I got a small sheet of clear acrylic on ebay for just a few bucks. Looks like this after making a few cuts and drilling it for the switches.


Once I had the pieces drilled and cut I used a simple torch style BBQ lighter to heat the acrylic and bend it to 90* like this

Notice the rounded corners for style points.:thumbsup:

This is the acrylic glue I used to bond the float switch holders to my sump. I was glad to find it. I was about to use simple super glue but I worried about it holding up long term. Then I found this stuff at Ace Hardware. Saves me from having to choose between compromising or splurging on a $12 jar of the Weld On stuff plus an applicator.


I added salt and moved the heater and skimmer over from my rubbermaid out in the garage. The sump is starting to get that familiar cramped look to it as you can see here. Once I make the swap from the old tank it'll also have the TLF reactor with GFO and at some point down the road a couple of dosing pumps.


As you can see in the picture I had to dial the pump back with the ball valve. The dial on the pump is turned all the way down but it was still too much because my overflow was gargling. I kind of figured I should have just gone with the Sicce Syncra 2.0 instead of the 2.5 but I wanted to push the turnover rate as much as possible. Plus I picked up the 2.5 for a good price. I'll probably pick up a 2.0 down the road but it's fine for now. It's not too loud or anything even with it being pushed back.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the Glass-holes overflow. As long as you don't try to push them too hard like I did they're pretty quiet. Plus I've read that they get quieter as after a couple weeks break in period. For the most part all I hear is the water falling down the pipe and hitting the 90* on the back of the stand.

I haven't even begun to utilize the Apex and I'm already loving it. Such and awesome tool to automate and monitor everything. I'm pretty useless with computers and I managed to program everything from the Sol ramping up and down to the heater and the float switches etc. The programming could probably be made more user friendly for people like me but if you search forums and watch youtube videos it's not that tough.

Tomorrow I'll add live sand and a few rocks. I'll monitor the parameters over the next couple of weeks and if everything looks good I'll make the switch then. I would have never had the patience to set up a tank the way I'm doing it back in the late 90s when I first got in the hobby. You live and you learn I guess.
 
OK so I've always felt like when you do a build thread you have to share the dumb stuff you do. After all, it's to help others too, not just to show off your new high-dollar equipment and mind blowing acros right?

So today I realized that I did 2 stupid things...

We all know that reefing is not for the impatient right? Which is why I really have no business taking part in this hobby. I have no patience. I fabricated my little float switch mounts and glued them inside the sump. Then the float switches came in today and I realized that I didn't drill the holes big enough. I was able to drill out one of them bigger without a problem but when I went to drill the second one it snapped. Too much pressure. Not a real biggie. I just made a new one because I had plenty of acrylic.

Here it is mounted next to the broken one. The $4 float switches from ebay seem to do the trick just fine.


The other dumb thing I did was that I forgot to glue one 90* elbow on my return plumbing. As I was messing with my float switch I saw a tiny bit of water on the PVC and when I followed it up I realized that there was one joint that was missing the blue primer stain...


Doh!! Easy fix but it's one of those things where you're scolding yourself for such a dumb oversight.:facepalm:

So the breakout box is installed and the float switches are working properly. The one you can see here in the front is my switch 2. It's there to keep the skimmer from overflowing in case the return pump fails or it's just turned off. You can see that there isn't much clearance. When water flows back into the sump the float switch cuts power to the skimmer. When the pump comes back on the skimmer comes back on only after a 1 minute delay to allow the water level to go back down to its normal place.


Finally, I got some live sand and a bit of rock in there. This is 30 pounds of Caribsea Fiji Pink. The rock is some dry rock that's been in a tub in the garage for a month or so along with a few small pieces from my old tank just to seed it. I also put about a half cup of sand from my old tank in there.


OK the updates should get more entertaining from here on out. I think my next update will be when I make the swap. I'm already nervous about losing some of my prized frags.:worried2:
 
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