Solana tank owner thread.

[351winsor]

where can i find a replacement pump for my stock skimmer?? I cant seem to find it locally, also is there any upgrade pumps? My stock pump kicks in and out as i wishes.

 

[lastduke]

Anyone changed the 150W disco ball to 250W version? I am planning to upgrade the MH bulb with a new ballast and bracket. Only concern i have is the disco ball reflector, with 150W I can feel the center area is much much lighter than the corners. Dont know the coral will like the 250W bulb in the center area.

 

[rick4him]

Quick question. ON the stock skimmer. The white air tube coming from the pump on the bottom. Does that go back into the water? Or does it just hand up top? (Do i want that hose to suck up water, or suck up air? The instructions aren't very clear..

 

[Hooked4life]

Quick question. ON the stock skimmer. The white air tube coming from the pump on the bottom. Does that go back into the water? Or does it just hand up top? (Do i want that hose to suck up water, or suck up air? The instructions aren't very clear..

sucks air

 

[MVlk]

Quick question. ON the stock skimmer. The white air tube coming from the pump on the bottom. Does that go back into the water? Or does it just hand up top? (Do i want that hose to suck up water, or suck up air? The instructions aren't very clear..

That is the air feed tube for the skimmer. If under water you no longer have a skimmer. You may want to replace the tube as well. The stock tubes can kink to easily and reduce the performance. Try to change for a stiffer tube.

 

[Hooked4life]

Anyone changed the 150W disco ball to 250W version? I am planning to upgrade the MH bulb with a new ballast and bracket. Only concern i have is the disco ball reflector, with 150W I can feel the center area is much much lighter than the corners. Dont know the coral will like the 250W bulb in the center area.

Is the 250w bulb bracket the same size as the 150? Not much room for a bigger one.

 

[lpsouth1978]

Is the 250w bulb bracket the same size as the 150? Not much room for a bigger one.

The 250 watt bracket is deffinately bigger. If there is not a lot of room then the upgrade will not work on it. The 150 is the same size as the 70, otherwise they are all different.

 

[river3847]

talk to the local store maybe they can order to current or you can contact current ..

where can i find a replacement pump for my stock skimmer?? I cant seem to find it locally, also is there any upgrade pumps? My stock pump kicks in and out as i wishes.

 

[351winsor]

talk to the local store maybe they can order to current or you can contact current ..

Thanks, i tried that this week...twice.. both said that they would call back and never did. I was hopeing that someone here had replaced the stock pump with a better pump? thaks again!

 

[river3847]

I tried to get a new skimmer last week in toronto and had the same issue nobody knows how to order, checked online and no luck either I ended up fixing it myself but the problem was not related with the pump but the plastic so I used superglue and here we are with skimmer again it would be nice to know how to order one as a backup anyways..

 

[Grizzy]

That is the air feed tube for the skimmer. If under water you no longer have a skimmer. You may want to replace the tube as well. The stock tubes can kink to easily and reduce the performance. Try to change for a stiffer tube.

Anyone know where to get such a tube?

 

[MVlk]

You should be able to pick up some more rigid tubing at Home Depot or Lowes. Not a big deal to do, just helps prevent kinks. Several owners on this thread have done some other mods which really kick the skimmer up in performance.

 

[351winsor]

You should be able to pick up some more rigid tubing at Home Depot or Lowes. Not a big deal to do, just helps prevent kinks. Several owners on this thread have done some other mods which really kick the skimmer up in performance.

Can you link any of these, the search here is way to wide and i keep coming up with useless crap. thanks man!

 

[OctaviousMonk]

do a search on the pump replacement. I know it has been replaced by others with a
maxi-jet 900 and 1200 as well as an eheim (forget which model). If you really have your heart set on a stock pump send me a PM as I have an extra one laying around.

 

[MVlk]

Can you link any of these, the search here is way to wide and i keep coming up with useless crap. thanks man!

I do not run my skimmer in the tank and never used the stock one which is sitting unused in storage. All the info on modding it is within this thread. One of the owners posted some good stuff within the last month I believe.

 

[poolkeeper1]

Actually IMO as I have owned both the stock skimmer and the Sapphire skimmer, I really never saw any Improvement over the stock one as It did pretty good IMO. If you just get It set at the right height It works darn well out of the box. Just my 2 cents...
The one Mike has Is a better upgrade If you choose to go that route.
Bill

 

[bigal20874]

I have lots of microbubble in my tank and I suspect the stock skimmer creates all these microbubble. Anybody has the same problem? Any idea how can I get rid of the microbubble? Thanks!

 

[river3847]

Hi, I think I fixed the detritus thing.. it was a flow issue. but still getting microbubbles.

can u please share your setup: stock skimmer? with or without nano balls in skimmer? what about middle chamber do you have nano balls and carbon or any modification? water level? thanks in advance!

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.

 

[krak256]

what lighting are you sps keepers using? i have a 150w sunpod over my sps dominated solana and its been growing sps fine, but growth isnt as fast as i'd like. i noticed that the sps closer to the left and right glass panes tend to be less colorful and grow slower.

do u think an upgrade to the 250w sunpod, nova extreme pro 20', or 24" 6x24W SunPower T5 is warranted? im guessing since the sunpod bulb is centered, it doesnt reach the sides and corners well...

 

[dyer_maker]

what lighting are you sps keepers using? i have a 150w sunpod over my sps dominated solana and its been growing sps fine, but growth isnt as fast as i'd like. i noticed that the sps closer to the left and right glass panes tend to be less colorful and grow slower.

do u think an upgrade to the 250w sunpod, nova extreme pro 20', or 24" 6x24W SunPower T5 is warranted? im guessing since the sunpod bulb is centered, it doesnt reach the sides and corners well...

I have the 150w sunpod as well, using the legs and a Phoenix 14K. Most of my SPS are frags on left/right side racks. My SPS growth was fairly minimal until I got my water params in check, especially Alk and PH. I'm using Kalk in my topoff water also. Frags have been growing quite well since. Now I just need to make sure I never get hit by nudis again. I was able to save my frags but the bigger they get the harder it will be if it happens again.