Solana tank owner thread.

I usually see about 1/2 gallon every 2 days. the fan i have doesnt hit the water directly too much more so the glass of the tank just merely skimming the top of the water..
 
Here's where my tank sits in my living room...

fishtank004-1.jpg
 
TriggerHappyDude said:
You guys with the MH need those fans though right? Otherwise, you'd be pretty warm?
Click to expand...

Probably, I've never run it without the fans, so I couldn't really say. I am running a 400 watt MH, so I knew I would need something.

amheck said:
what sort of water evaporation do you guys with fans see? a gallon a day?
Click to expand...

I really don't get a lot of water evaporation. I filled my 10gal top off about three weeks ago. So far it has only used about half of that. I run it with the glass top on.
 
micro-bubbles and particles

micro-bubbles and particles

Im getting tons of microbubbles, I think not coming from skimmer I had it turned off 2 days until I got it repar and same thing during those days.

I replace my MJ900 with Koralia, same thing powerheads expelling micro-and big bubbles.

changed the position of powerhead, no difference.

bubbles and particles are floating around all the time. Im running high water level with ATO keeping it high all the time.

have nano balls in skimmer.

in the middle chamber I have carbon, new bio balls (not-nano), phosban, ceramic and filter pad.

the bubbles and particles don't seem to come from the return flow, they just are always on the tank and not going away.

any ideas?
 
river3847 said:
Im getting tons of microbubbles, I think not coming from skimmer I had it turned off 2 days until I got it repar and same thing during those days.

I replace my MJ900 with Koralia, same thing powerheads expelling micro-and big bubbles.

changed the position of powerhead, no difference.

bubbles and particles are floating around all the time. Im running high water level with ATO keeping it high all the time.

have nano balls in skimmer.

in the middle chamber I have carbon, new bio balls (not-nano), phosban, ceramic and filter pad.

the bubbles and particles don't seem to come from the return flow, they just are always on the tank and not going away.

any ideas?
Click to expand...

I am having the same problem the last couple of days. It looks like for me it was being caused by my UV sterilizer which is in the third compartment. I shut it off last night and will have to see if things are better after work.
 
lpsouth1978 said:
I am having the same problem the last couple of days. It looks like for me it was being caused by my UV sterilizer which is in the third compartment. I shut it off last night and will have to see if things are better after work.
Click to expand...

So this brings up a question...what are you using the UV Sterilizer for?
Which one do you have for your Solana? How is it hooked up? On your return pump?

Is it killing anything that would normally be a pest to your tank?
 
anybody having the tank immaculate with zero microbubbles and particles?

Ive been looking videos @ youtube and any tank I see is the same, maybe Im getting obsessed and it is the way it is..

my water is crystal clear, it is not cloudy just have particles swimming around and bubbles.

thanks..

lpsouth1978 said:
I am having the same problem the last couple of days. It looks like for me it was being caused by my UV sterilizer which is in the third compartment. I shut it off last night and will have to see if things are better after work.
Click to expand...
 
another question related to flow..

anybody having the powerheads in the bottom of the tank pointing to the middle to remove particles between the rocks?

or the powerheads always go in the top pointing to the bottom?


river3847 said:
anybody having the tank immaculate with zero microbubbles and particles?

Ive been looking videos @ youtube and any tank I see is the same, maybe Im getting obsessed and it is the way it is..

my water is crystal clear, it is not cloudy just have particles swimming around and bubbles.

thanks..
Click to expand...
 
river3847 said:
anybody having the tank immaculate with zero microbubbles and particles?

Ive been looking videos @ youtube and any tank I see is the same, maybe Im getting obsessed and it is the way it is..

my water is crystal clear, it is not cloudy just have particles swimming around and bubbles.

thanks..
Click to expand...

No microbubbles here.

The particles are probably suspended detritus. You want it to be in suspension so it can leave the display and get trapped in your filtration, so your powerhead arrangement seems to be working. The better question might be why do you have so much detritus? Excessive feeding, dirty live rock....?

I'm not sure how old your tank is..... but some live rock can be loaded with a shocking amount of detritus that it will shed for a very long time.
 
TriggerHappyDude said:
So this brings up a question...what are you using the UV Sterilizer for?
Which one do you have for your Solana? How is it hooked up? On your return pump?

Is it killing anything that would normally be a pest to your tank?
Click to expand...

I originally used it to help with algea and diatom blooms. It also helps to kill free floating parasites that may be present in the tank. It is not a must have but I like that it can help keep things in check. Even with it on my tank is filled with copepods and amphipods, so it is not killing all of the beneficial things in my tank.

I got the Green Killing Machine 24 watt. It is submersible and comes with it's own power head. I just have it sitting in the third compartment. I have to keep the water level in there a little bit higher than usual, but I have an ATO. It is somethig like 95gph which is low enough to kill most parasites.
 
lpsouth1978 said:
I originally used it to help with algea and diatom blooms. It also helps to kill free floating parasites that may be present in the tank. It is not a must have but I like that it can help keep things in check. Even with it on my tank is filled with copepods and amphipods, so it is not killing all of the beneficial things in my tank.

I got the Green Killing Machine 24 watt. It is submersible and comes with it's own power head. I just have it sitting in the third compartment. I have to keep the water level in there a little bit higher than usual, but I have an ATO. It is somethig like 95gph which is low enough to kill most parasites.
Click to expand...

Thanks lpsouth1978, so do you think it would help me with algae? I've seemed to start getting some hairy coraline (if it is even coraline it has bubbles in it), and red slime on some of the sand bed, along with bubble algae. Do you think it would help with that stuff?
 
Probably not. It will only have an effect on free floating algea. The only way to get rid of the hair and bubble algea is to have the right lighting cycle and water quality. How long are your lights on for? I keep mine on for 8 hours a day. Macro algea will help to keep your nitrates down as well. I keep chato in the middle compartment. It grows like crazy and needs to be trimmed often.

If you can keep those under control you should see some improvement in a couple of weeks. Emerald crabs are also good at ridding the tank of bubble algea. It can be tricky to get rid of. Good luck!
 
river3847 said:
another question related to flow..

anybody having the powerheads in the bottom of the tank pointing to the middle to remove particles between the rocks?

or the powerheads always go in the top pointing to the bottom?
Click to expand...

Two of my koralias are almost at the bottom, pointing up. I find it really helps keep the water stirred up and keeps detritus moving around in the water column. Also has less chance of blowing the sand around.

Tyler
 
lpsouth1978 said:
Probably not. It will only have an effect on free floating algea. The only way to get rid of the hair and bubble algea is to have the right lighting cycle and water quality. How long are your lights on for? I keep mine on for 8 hours a day. Macro algea will help to keep your nitrates down as well. I keep chato in the middle compartment. It grows like crazy and needs to be trimmed often.

If you can keep those under control you should see some improvement in a couple of weeks. Emerald crabs are also good at ridding the tank of bubble algea. It can be tricky to get rid of. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Ok, so I added 3 emeralds a few weeks ago, we'll see how that bubble algae does with them around. I will add some cheato to the middle compartment. I even had a small submersible led light to help it grow back there. I guess thats the idea with cheato (just one form of macro algae right?) is to have a controlled area where it lives (sumps usually or in our case the middle chamber), and let it suck all the nitrates down? But at least its controllable and in the middle chamber out of sight from the display, instead of allowing other algae to grow in the display?

I also recently reduced my lighting and have noticed it helping there as well. I think I run them from 10AM - 8PM, and again, I think its helping some.

Now I'm off to find a local reefer with some cheato and maybe a few nudibranch to help with my apitasia issues.
 
about apitasia.. my 4 peppermint shrimp made friends with the apitasia and move along the current together.

I didn't know what apitasia was until it was eating my zoas.

so I bought that solution you inject with syringe and kill the 2 big ones I had in 2 seconds.

no more..

TriggerHappyDude said:
Ok, so I added 3 emeralds a few weeks ago, we'll see how that bubble algae does with them around. I will add some cheato to the middle compartment. I even had a small submersible led light to help it grow back there. I guess thats the idea with cheato (just one form of macro algae right?) is to have a controlled area where it lives (sumps usually or in our case the middle chamber), and let it suck all the nitrates down? But at least its controllable and in the middle chamber out of sight from the display, instead of allowing other algae to grow in the display?

I also recently reduced my lighting and have noticed it helping there as well. I think I run them from 10AM - 8PM, and again, I think its helping some.

Now I'm off to find a local reefer with some cheato and maybe a few nudibranch to help with my apitasia issues.
Click to expand...
 
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