Solana tank owner thread.

[Jeff_NJ]

I was battling higher than i liked temps with my giesemann and quiet one pump. not to forget to mention the pump on my RS-100 and a small Rio for the TLF.

I love that XL 60.. If I wasn't moving in the next 18-24 months, I would have had me one of those. The wife was pushing for it but since I would be the one stuck moving it 600 miles south, I chose to wait.

Looks like the skimmer is producing nicely. Good luck with it

 

[Nereaga]

Right now my tank stays at 77 degrees with everything running and the lights on. I love the LED for that.

Anyone know offhand what the wattage draw is on the stock pump? I was trying to shine a flashlight in the third chamber to see, but unfortunately I have too much stuff in the way!

Yes, I am trying to justify in my own head that it's a good idea to replace that perfectly fine pump.. just like I did the skimmer.

Good luck with Round 2 - I am afraid to ask what happened with Round 1 :beer:

Oh nothing bad, just too many tanks at the time and now I am downgrading to the Solana.

http://www.rockaroundtheblock.com.au/product.asp?pID=448&cID=10&c=224157

25w

Brad

 

[Jeff_NJ]

Oh nothing bad, just too many tanks at the time and now I am downgrading to the Solana.

http://www.rockaroundtheblock.com.au/product.asp?pID=448&cID=10&c=224157

25w

Brad

So let me think about this... 5 watts of power difference between the MJ1200 and stock pump.. 5 Watts over the course of 1 year at 22 cents a KW hour... Totally kidding... hah

Thanks Brad, for the link! Cheers.

/Jeff

 

[navychief]

I love that XL 60.. If I wasn't moving in the next 18-24 months, I would have had me one of those. The wife was pushing for it but since I would be the one stuck moving it 600 miles south, I chose to wait.

Looks like the skimmer is producing nicely. Good luck with it

Thanks. I'm with ya brother. I moved down from my 70gal BF to the Solana when I moved. I had to get another tank (chose the Solana) to have set up in the house I had built so I could move my stock without it living in a trash can.

Once you get the Solana, let me know. Would love to see pics and provide inputs if so requested.

 

[Wind]

I was battling higher than i liked temps with my giesemann and quiet one pump. not to forget to mention the pump on my RS-100 and a small Rio for the TLF.

How is that giesman? It seems perfect for a cube tank. I've been going through a few pendants but nothing seems of quality built.

How did you hang it up? Where did you purchase that? Can't seem to find a place.

 

[navychief]

Giesemann experience

Giesemann experience

Wind...

I love the light. It's a finely built piece of equipment (now). I did have some problems with the light when it was received. Keep in mind it was brand new from MD:

1. Bad ballast. Would not fire the metal Halide. Marine Depot contacted the Giesemann distributor after they verified it was bad by sending me a new MH bulb. I told them that they didn't need to send the bulb since I knew that the ballast was bad (worked electronics in the Navy). Oh well. Got a $130 bulb out of it. Got the replacement ballast shipped quickly.

2. Also Missing 2 of the 4 T5 Actinics. MD replaced.

Even though I had a problem with quality control from Giesemann, it works like a champ and looks awesome over the tank. Fits perfectly being 24"

The lanyards to hang the light DO NOT come with drywall toggle bolts. You will need to buy a couple 1/8" X 3" toggle bolts. Since the threads to screw the barrels into the ceiling are metric, you will not be able to find a toggle bolt threaded to that metric size. So what you will do is slip the toggle bolt thru the barrel and screw the toggle on the end.

Heres a pic or three. Let me know if you need more pics or have questions.

 

[Wind]

Wind...

I love the light. It's a finely built piece of equipment (now). I did have some problems with the light when it was received. Keep in mind it was brand new from MD:

1. Bad ballast. Would not fire the metal Halide. Marine Depot contacted the Giesemann distributor after they verified it was bad by sending me a new MH bulb. I told them that they didn't need to send the bulb since I knew that the ballast was bad (worked electronics in the Navy). Oh well. Got a $130 bulb out of it. Got the replacement ballast shipped quickly.

2. Also Missing 2 of the 4 T5 Actinics. MD replaced.

Even though I had a problem with quality control from Giesemann, it works like a champ and looks awesome over the tank. Fits perfectly being 24"

The lanyards to hang the light DO NOT come with drywall toggle bolts. You will need to buy a couple 1/8" X 3" toggle bolts. Since the threads to screw the barrels into the ceiling are metric, you will not be able to find a toggle bolt threaded to that metric size. So what you will do is slip the toggle bolt thru the barrel and screw the toggle on the end.

Heres a pic or three. Let me know if you need more pics or have questions.

I have searched MD, but they dont' seem to carry this anymore. I've even googled and amazoned it, but this seems like a discontinued item?

A lot of other pendants dont' seem to have the quality. Mistmatched vents, screws not fitting. But I have always held these 'German' brand lights a bit higher, so I'm thinking of purchasing one.

I thought about just going w/ a pendant, but would love the supplement in light.

 

[navychief]

I have searched MD, but they dont' seem to carry this anymore. I've even googled and amazoned it, but this seems like a discontinued item?

A lot of other pendants dont' seem to have the quality. Mistmatched vents, screws not fitting. But I have always held these 'German' brand lights a bit higher, so I'm thinking of purchasing one.

I thought about just going w/ a pendant, but would love the supplement in light.

Hummm. It looks like they still sell the exact light, but only in 150W. Look at the reviews. One of them is mine.

http://www.marinedepot.com/Gieseman...hting_Systems-GL1711-FILTFIMHMTMDNMM3-vi.html

 

[Jeff_NJ]

My Solana has REALLY been frustrating me. Right now I have a love / hate relationship with it. I swear if I could have picked it up and thrown it, it would have ended up on the front lawn last night.

I had one of those "take a deep breath and walk away moments". While trying to adjust the primary filter return, the lockline fell apart and then when I finally got it back together, I lost half my rockscape. Thankfully the wife was there to make it pretty again. I need to mod that return line.. I hate lockline.

So few things are obvious learning experiences. This is my first Nano type tank and it's also my first All-in-one tank. I really thought I would love the AIO tank, but I must say.... it's the source of 90% of my complaints. For example, sticking my arm in the tank made the ATO freak enough to drop my salinity a little bit. So now anytime I work on the tank I have to remember to turn it off and back on when I am done.

Right now my biggest struggle is the mechanical filtration (or lack thereof). I've read every single post in this thread, including the splits and have yet to find a definitive way to add adequate and safe mechanical filtration to this tank. I just don't seem to have enough water flowing through the overflow to keep the water clean. The Vortech's keep the water flowing nicely and all particulate seems to stay in the water column, but the overflow never seems to catch it. If the overflow does catch it, it seems to blow straight out the return pump. I also have a problem with micro bubbles. The skimmer is off and has been for over 24 hours. The water level is very high in the third chamber. I have no idea where they are coming from.

I am going to try a filter sock in chamber two, but fears of it clogging in short order and my ATO going nuts come into mind. I am seriously considering the addition of an external canister filter with the sole purpose of polishing the water.

I actually considered taking this tank down before I get into it too far and replacing it with a custom 20" cube that is not an AIO...

/rant off..

Sorry guys, I know this tank is a great tank... I am just not having a good time right now. I dumped a significant amount of cash into this setup and so far it's the most troublesome.

Any advice here would be appreciated.

 

[Jeff_NJ]

And lastly - we've had some freakishly warm weather in NJ these past few days. My tank was hitting 83 degrees with an ambient air temperature of 77. Throughout the summer and winter there won't be a problem as the AC / Heat are always on, but for spring and oddly warm days in the fall I will need to likely have a chiller. Finding a spot for another pump is going to be GREAT!!:hmm5:

 

[MedRed]

My Solana has REALLY been frustrating me. Right now I have a love / hate relationship with it. I swear if I could have picked it up and thrown it, it would have ended up on the front lawn last night.

I had one of those "take a deep breath and walk away moments". While trying to adjust the primary filter return, the lockline fell apart and then when I finally got it back together, I lost half my rockscape. Thankfully the wife was there to make it pretty again. I need to mod that return line.. I hate lockline.

So few things are obvious learning experiences. This is my first Nano type tank and it's also my first All-in-one tank. I really thought I would love the AIO tank, but I must say.... it's the source of 90% of my complaints. For example, sticking my arm in the tank made the ATO freak enough to drop my salinity a little bit. So now anytime I work on the tank I have to remember to turn it off and back on when I am done.

Right now my biggest struggle is the mechanical filtration (or lack thereof). I've read every single post in this thread, including the splits and have yet to find a definitive way to add adequate and safe mechanical filtration to this tank. I just don't seem to have enough water flowing through the overflow to keep the water clean. The Vortech's keep the water flowing nicely and all particulate seems to stay in the water column, but the overflow never seems to catch it. If the overflow does catch it, it seems to blow straight out the return pump. I also have a problem with micro bubbles. The skimmer is off and has been for over 24 hours. The water level is very high in the third chamber. I have no idea where they are coming from.

I am going to try a filter sock in chamber two, but fears of it clogging in short order and my ATO going nuts come into mind. I am seriously considering the addition of an external canister filter with the sole purpose of polishing the water.

I actually considered taking this tank down before I get into it too far and replacing it with a custom 20" cube that is not an AIO...

/rant off..

Sorry guys, I know this tank is a great tank... I am just not having a good time right now. I dumped a significant amount of cash into this setup and so far it's the most troublesome.

Any advice here would be appreciated.

When I had my Solana, I found an awesome mechanical filtration method. The Marineland Rite Size A pads fit on top of the chamber 2 grate really snugly. They don't move or float, and they are obviously designed to have water flow through them, and there are two little cut outs that would prevent clogging as the water can bypass the full pad in the event of a clog.
You also get the added benefit of chemical filtration as they have activated carbon in them.



They aren't cheap, but I found a 6 pack for $10 on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Marineland-Pe...IFIE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1250499229&sr=8-1

I was changing them every week, but I'm sure you could go a lot longer. I had them in Freshwater application with a much higher level of detritus, and could use them for several weeks. I think every 2 - 3 weeks would be good. That'd a $30 - $40 investment for an entire year's worth of filtration.

 

[Jeff_NJ]

When I had my Solana, I found an awesome mechanical filtration method. The Marineland Rite Size A pads fit on top of the chamber 2 grate really snugly. They don't move or float, and they are obviously designed to have water flow through them, and there are two little cut outs that would prevent clogging as the water can bypass the full pad in the event of a clog.
You also get the added benefit of chemical filtration as they have activated carbon in them.



They aren't cheap, but I found a 6 pack for $10 on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Marineland-Pe...IFIE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1250499229&sr=8-1

I was changing them every week, but I'm sure you could go a lot longer. I had them in Freshwater application with a much higher level of detritus, and could use them for several weeks. I think every 2 - 3 weeks would be good. That'd a $30 - $40 investment for an entire year's worth of filtration.

Thanks for the response. I did see you talk about that in this thread a while ago and I considered it.

The only challenge I have is I put a mj900 in the second chamber to feed my BRS reactor which has carbon and gfo. What I will likely do is upgrade that to a 1200, split off the feed so I can control flow to the reactor and pipe it all in and out of a chiller. I really don't like 6 degree temp swings.

The question becomes, can I fit everything in the third chamber... ATO, Return Pump and a Maxijet plus some odd probes...

 

[navychief]

feeling your pain

feeling your pain

My Solana has REALLY been frustrating me. Right now I have a love / hate relationship with it. I swear if I could have picked it up and thrown it, it would have ended up on the front lawn last night.

I had one of those "take a deep breath and walk away moments". While trying to adjust the primary filter return, the lockline fell apart and then when I finally got it back together, I lost half my rockscape. Thankfully the wife was there to make it pretty again. I need to mod that return line.. I hate lockline.

So few things are obvious learning experiences. This is my first Nano type tank and it's also my first All-in-one tank. I really thought I would love the AIO tank, but I must say.... it's the source of 90% of my complaints. For example, sticking my arm in the tank made the ATO freak enough to drop my salinity a little bit. So now anytime I work on the tank I have to remember to turn it off and back on when I am done.

Right now my biggest struggle is the mechanical filtration (or lack thereof). I've read every single post in this thread, including the splits and have yet to find a definitive way to add adequate and safe mechanical filtration to this tank. I just don't seem to have enough water flowing through the overflow to keep the water clean. The Vortech's keep the water flowing nicely and all particulate seems to stay in the water column, but the overflow never seems to catch it. If the overflow does catch it, it seems to blow straight out the return pump. I also have a problem with micro bubbles. The skimmer is off and has been for over 24 hours. The water level is very high in the third chamber. I have no idea where they are coming from.

I am going to try a filter sock in chamber two, but fears of it clogging in short order and my ATO going nuts come into mind. I am seriously considering the addition of an external canister filter with the sole purpose of polishing the water.

I actually considered taking this tank down before I get into it too far and replacing it with a custom 20" cube that is not an AIO...

/rant off..

Sorry guys, I know this tank is a great tank... I am just not having a good time right now. I dumped a significant amount of cash into this setup and so far it's the most troublesome.

Any advice here would be appreciated.

I'm feeling your pain, and I think it comes with the territory of the hobby that we fawn over. I think we are always battling some sort of problem, whether it is noise, heat, water quality, the spouse, etc.

I'm battling heat right now in the tank. Just yesterday it reached 84 so I turned my halide off. tomorrow I'm to receive my trim line drop-in chiller. So now I know the next issue that I will be back to is the noise of a chiller running with the wife complaining. So the solution to my setup as shown in previous pictures will be to move the sump down to the basement, plumbing into the walls. Lots of freaking fun.

I've been using the filter socks provided. Granted, they're rather cumbersome, but what isn't when truely caring for a salt setup?

Anyhow. I'm not tracking with your lockline issue? Is that on the 60 gallon solana?

 

[navychief]

Did you find...

Did you find...

I have searched MD, but they dont' seem to carry this anymore. I've even googled and amazoned it, but this seems like a discontinued item?

A lot of other pendants dont' seem to have the quality. Mistmatched vents, screws not fitting. But I have always held these 'German' brand lights a bit higher, so I'm thinking of purchasing one.

I thought about just going w/ a pendant, but would love the supplement in light.

Wind.

Did you find the light?

 

[amheck]

hey guys, I'm sorry if I asked this before. I can't remember.

For those of you with the disco ball light, are you using any moonlights? I'm unsure of what will work the best.

 

[navychief]

moon lights

moon lights

hey guys, I'm sorry if I asked this before. I can't remember.

For those of you with the disco ball light, are you using any moonlights? I'm unsure of what will work the best.

I'd like some moon lights although I don't have a disco ball. Sorry, I'm no help.

 

[Jeff_NJ]

I'm feeling your pain, and I think it comes with the territory of the hobby that we fawn over. I think we are always battling some sort of problem, whether it is noise, heat, water quality, the spouse, etc.

I'm battling heat right now in the tank. Just yesterday it reached 84 so I turned my halide off. tomorrow I'm to receive my trim line drop-in chiller. So now I know the next issue that I will be back to is the noise of a chiller running with the wife complaining. So the solution to my setup as shown in previous pictures will be to move the sump down to the basement, plumbing into the walls. Lots of freaking fun.

I've been using the filter socks provided. Granted, they're rather cumbersome, but what isn't when truely caring for a salt setup?

Anyhow. I'm not tracking with your lockline issue? Is that on the 60 gallon solana?

No it's a 34 Gallon. Basically I just put the nozzle directly on the return when I initially set it up. After running for a while and unhappy with the performance of the overflow, I decided to make a few changes. This included adding some lockline to the return and getting the nozzle more toward the surface to add some surface agitation. While attempting to twist and turn the lockline, I managed to knock half my rockscape down. Oh the profanity that left my mouth. Thank god my son was over his friends.

So yeah... I am going to take lots of stuff apart tomorrow and reconfigure. I know salt setups are a lot of work... but they become a lot less troublesome once the mechanical bugs are worked out and right now they are plaguing me. Of all the reef tanks I've had, this one has been my biggest challenge. The good news is my water params are great so far.

The 60XL might be coming sooner than I thought. Just stinks that I'd have to buy a new light after the money I spent on the 17.5" fixture.

/Jeff

 

[navychief]

60Gal

60Gal

No it's a 34 Gallon. Basically I just put the nozzle directly on the return when I initially set it up. After running for a while and unhappy with the performance of the overflow, I decided to make a few changes. This included adding some lockline to the return and getting the nozzle more toward the surface to add some surface agitation. While attempting to twist and turn the lockline, I managed to knock half my rockscape down. Oh the profanity that left my mouth. Thank god my son was over his friends.

So yeah... I am going to take lots of stuff apart tomorrow and reconfigure. I know salt setups are a lot of work... but they become a lot less troublesome once the mechanical bugs are worked out and right now they are plaguing me. Of all the reef tanks I've had, this one has been my biggest challenge. The good news is my water params are great so far.

The 60XL might be coming sooner than I thought. Just stinks that I'd have to buy a new light after the money I spent on the 17.5" fixture.

/Jeff

I'm following ya now. I agree that the lockline can be difficult to adjust. hopefully once you have it set, you will be good to go.

I hear ya on the 60 gal. I downsized from a 72G BF which means my 48" sunpod was no longer useful. I'm glad to see the 72 Gal go since it was a water hazard waiting to happen due to using a hanging overflow. Once I moved, that was the perfect time to take th 60 G Solana plunge.

I really like the tank, but still working out minor issues and the major heat issue at this time. That's to be expectd since I went with the 250W Giesemann.

Keep pressing, dude. And keep us in the loop. I think we're all here to help each other where we can since we take the time on this forum.:wavehand:

 

[Kweli]

My biggest battle with microbubbles was fixed by "fixing/adusting" the tube that came from the return pump. Not sure if it was the elbow or the tube but i retightened it and made sure it was all 90degree turns (originally it was twisting) and it seemd to help...

Although i still have debris always floating around in my tank..

 

[Gamepro_inc]

hey guys, I'm sorry if I asked this before. I can't remember.

For those of you with the disco ball light, are you using any moonlights? I'm unsure of what will work the best.

I have the disco ball and I went with the powerbrites from Current I hung them from wall with shelving from lowes to match the swing arm of the disco ball, they weigh less than 2 pounds.

You can kinda see it in this pick