Solana tank owner thread.

[poolkeeper1]

Contrary to popular belief the Ocean does not get 50% calmer at night, Although many controllers have this feature It Is not a natural Phenomena and may actually do more harm than good. Corals need a constant supply of fresh nutrient rich water to keep their structures clean and free of any type of buildup on their polyps and have food come their way. SPS are more so dependant than other types of coral on a good soft multi directional current. JMHO and 2 cents.
Bill

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Brand new and never used, but you had to clean it up?
Was it just collecting dust? :wildone:

No I had to clean off all the dust from the packing material.

 

[nirvanaandtool]

I Used two way tape to mount Moonlights to my old Disco ball and It worked great, Just keep them In the rear and you don,t even see them. You may be able to do It with a LED bar If It Is not too heavy by making some kind of bracket the shape of the ball. Just a thought
Bill

Did they handle the heat of the disco ball? Been wanting to mount some moonlights to the discoball for awhile now.

 

[rreed]

Contrary to popular belief the Ocean does not get 50% calmer at night, Although many controllers have this feature It Is not a natural Phenomena and may actually do more harm than good. Corals need a constant supply of fresh nutrient rich water to keep their structures clean and free of any type of buildup on their polyps and have food come their way. SPS are more so dependant than other types of coral on a good soft multi directional current. JMHO and 2 cents.
Bill

Well considering the amount of flow in my tank I have it alternating and creating so much randow flow even at a 50% cut in power

 

[rreed]

The doser tests the water too?!? That has to be the best thing since the glass box!! :fun4:

No doser does not test water. When setting unit up I was testing alkalinity daily to dial it in an now I test once per week.
My alk readings are 3.2 meg
Calcium 400
Magnesium 1400 I will keep it at 1400 until whats left of the neomeris is gone then will bring it down to about 1380

 

[poolkeeper1]

Moonlights/Heat

Moonlights/Heat

Did they handle the heat of the disco ball? Been wanting to mount some moonlights to the discoball for awhile now.

They sure did, I had no problems at all they stuck great! Plus they are In the perfect spot on the light to make the tank look good.
Bill:wave:

 

[slojmn]

Thanks for the info on how best to fix the stock skimmer at the seams. I think I will try the super glue first.

What are the skimmers that fit the Solana, I know of the Tunze and the "now defunct" Sapphire...any others. I am considering a different skimmer.

What mods need to be done to the Tunze to make it fit and work? I see there are some issues with tweaking but it seems once you get it set it runs pretty good, right?

 

[ronbis]

Did they handle the heat of the disco ball? Been wanting to mount some moonlights to the discoball for awhile now.

Looking at some DIY LEDs and they have operating temp up to 85 celsius so I think it would depend on the package it was mounted in.

I was thinking about something brighter than moon lighting personally but maybe just a bunch of moonlights would be good. I'm reading the massive DIY led thread in the DIY forum and I might try something similar, but not sure yet.

 

[nirvanaandtool]

They sure did, I had no problems at all they stuck great! Plus they are In the perfect spot on the light to make the tank look good.
Bill:wave:

Awesome. Thanks for the info Bill.

Looking at some DIY LEDs and they have operating temp up to 85 celsius so I think it would depend on the package it was mounted in.

I was thinking about something brighter than moon lighting personally but maybe just a bunch of moonlights would be good. I'm reading the massive DIY led thread in the DIY forum and I might try something similar, but not sure yet.

Would something brighter than moonlights even be visible with the halide on? Thats my only question about that situation.
I think we can get away with no actinic supplementation with a 14k bulb. My tank is running a Phoenix 14k bulb and its plenty blue and really makes colors pop much better than the stock bulb.

I may look up just some simple LED moonlights cause I like the night time look under moonlights. Get to see all my LPS extending their feeder tentacles to eat.
I wonder if I can mount the RKL's Lunar LED pods to the disco ball.... Time to research.

 

[ronbis]

Awesome. Thanks for the info Bill.



Would something brighter than moonlights even be visible with the halide on? Thats my only question about that situation.
I think we can get away with no actinic supplementation with a 14k bulb. My tank is running a Phoenix 14k bulb and its plenty blue and really makes colors pop much better than the stock bulb.

I'm looking for additional lighting before the MH comes on and after it goes off. I like having just the blue lighting up the corals. I don't think the MH needs anything else when it's on. Just don't know that I want to take on a DIY right now - way too busy.

 

[Hooked4life]

I Used two way tape to mount Moonlights to my old Disco ball and It worked great, Just keep them In the rear and you don,t even see them. You may be able to do It with a LED bar If It Is not too heavy by making some kind of bracket the shape of the ball. Just a thought
Bill

What moonlights did you use and do you have a pic?

 

[poolkeeper1]

Moonlights

Moonlights

What moonlights did you use and do you have a pic?

I used the standard 2 bulb ones that daisy chain together and used two way tape on the side of the light so It was pointing down on a slight angle off the bottom edge of the disco ball. The hardest part was hiding the extra wire you have from plugging the units together, I used small zip ties to hold It In a rolled up state. Sorry I don't have any pictures that show those lights as they were on the back of the ball.
Bill :wave:

 

[Hooked4life]

I used the standard 2 bulb ones that daisy chain together and used two way tape on the side of the light so It was pointing down on a slight angle off the bottom edge of the disco ball. The hardest part was hiding the extra wire you have from plugging the units together, I used small zip ties to hold It In a rolled up state. Sorry I don't have any pictures that show those lights as they were on the back of the ball.
Bill :wave:

I know which one that is--the Current USA lunar light and link. Thanks for the info

 

[poolkeeper1]

Your welcome
Bill

 

[nirvanaandtool]

I'm looking for additional lighting before the MH comes on and after it goes off. I like having just the blue lighting up the corals. I don't think the MH needs anything else when it's on. Just don't know that I want to take on a DIY right now - way too busy.

Ah ok. I understand what you mean.
Good luck setting that up. That will look good when you get it going. :thumbsup:

I used the standard 2 bulb ones that daisy chain together and used two way tape on the side of the light so It was pointing down on a slight angle off the bottom edge of the disco ball. The hardest part was hiding the extra wire you have from plugging the units together, I used small zip ties to hold It In a rolled up state. Sorry I don't have any pictures that show those lights as they were on the back of the ball.
Bill :wave:

Ah cool. Thanks Bill. :wave:

 

[amheck]

Hey guys, I see some of you are running 24" fixtures over these tanks. Does anyone have a pic of this setup? I'm curious to see exactly how it looks. There seem to be a lot more variety in 24" light fixtures.

 

[BPro32]

No doser does not test water. When setting unit up I was testing alkalinity daily to dial it in an now I test once per week.
My alk readings are 3.2 meg
Calcium 400
Magnesium 1400 I will keep it at 1400 until whats left of the neomeris is gone then will bring it down to about 1380

darn I must have read the post wrong... that would have been awesome.

 

[bruce922]

CAN EVERYONE IF ITS NOT TOO MUCH TROUBLE POST OF PICTURE OF THIER ATO SYSTEM. I HAVE A PLASTIC TUB IN MY STAND THAT I USE AND IM LOOKING FOR SOME OTHER IDEAS, MAYBE HOW I CAN HOLD MORE WATER. THANKS!

Bruce

With the second pic that is my old float switch, I have a newer one I got from autotopoff.com.

 

[poolkeeper1]

Ato

Ato

CAN EVERYONE IF ITS NOT TOO MUCH TROUBLE POST OF PICTURE OF THIER ATO SYSTEM. I HAVE A PLASTIC TUB IN MY STAND THAT I USE AND IM LOOKING FOR SOME OTHER IDEAS, MAYBE HOW I CAN HOLD MORE WATER. THANKS!

Bruce

With the second pic that is my old float switch, I have a newer one I got from autotopoff.com.

Most people use 5.5 gal tanks for their ATO as two of them fit side by side In the Solana Stand. One for ATO and the other divided for two part. FYI
Bill:wavehand:

 

[bruce922]

Most people use 5.5 gal tanks for their ATO as two of them fit side by side In the Solana Stand. One for ATO and the other divided for two part. FYI
Bill:wavehand:

I was thinking of that but didn't know if the stand could take another 5.5 gallons of water in it, thanks for the idea!

Bruce