Solana tank owner thread.

Pretty sure I see an AmericanDJ unit on the side... lol I have one of those but one of the buttons doesn't work... I am thinking I might use X10 since I have a couple of outlets already and the remote... Less clunky for my needs.
 
summoner12 said:
Pretty sure I see an AmericanDJ unit on the side... lol I have one of those but one of the buttons doesn't work... I am thinking I might use X10 since I have a couple of outlets already and the remote... Less clunky for my needs.
Click to expand...

Yep, standard PC-4 unit. It's real bulky though, I have a reefkeeper on order so I can get rid of it.
 
I can now officially be apart of this thread :D Got my old solana back and put on the stand I built for it quite a while ago and never had a chance to put this tank on it before I sold it until tonight.

 
Hentz said:
I can now officially be apart of this thread :D Got my old solana back and put on the stand I built for it quite a while ago and never had a chance to put this tank on it before I sold it until tonight.

Click to expand...

I highly recommend you not place the tank right against the wall. Just my $0.02.
 
Hey guys, thought id introduce my self and ask a couple questions if yall dont mind. I new to the nano world so obviously my knowledge is limited. I bought a used Solana 34g and im in the process of making sure everything is good to go before i add water, rock, and sand to start my cycle. Like i said i dont know much about this hobby yet so before you ask, i just want a simple set up for now, a couple clowns, some beginner coral etc. Just until i get a little more familiar with how stuff works etc...

1. The return pump that i have is a Jebao WP-1500... Is this pump good enough and how do i make sure its flowing enough. I took it apart and cleaned everything up and it seemed to flow alot better, just want to make sure its enough.

2. I have what im assuming is the "stock" skimmer. Which also has a pump and it is a SP-160 is all thats on it. How hard should the water be coming out of the skimmer to go to chamber 2? I filled my sink up and tested it and it flows up the tube in the center of the skimmer just fine, but it barely flows out of the skimmer, didnt know if that was normal or should a little more force be behind it. Also, the little cup at the top has a thick rubber piece around it im again assuming its to set the height level at which the cup sits, if im wrong please correct me, if not, what would be a good height to have it at?

3. What sort of media should i be running in chamber 2? There is a couple bags of bioballs, and thats it. So what should i start off with to get me going and change up if necessary later down the road.

4. I have the stock lighting which clearly isisnt going to cut it, so ive been looking into going with a LED set up, what are yalls thoughts on: http://current-usa.com/aquarium-led-lights/orbit-marine/

Ive read alot of reviews and it seems to be pretty popular and cant seem to find any used so that means people are either not buying them at all or buying them and never wanting to get rid of them.

5. A local pet store has a pretty decent salt water supply section, they sell "pre-mixed" water out of their own set-up at like $1.20/gal something like that, any who, would this be recommended or should i just buy salt and mix with tap water?

6. Heaters/chillers, im assuming id have to run the water for a week or 2 to see if i need either one?

Thats all i can think of at the moment but im sure i will have alot more. TIA
 
Crizoft said:
Hey guys, thought id introduce my self and ask a couple questions if yall dont mind. I new to the nano world so obviously my knowledge is limited. I bought a used Solana 34g and im in the process of making sure everything is good to go before i add water, rock, and sand to start my cycle. Like i said i dont know much about this hobby yet so before you ask, i just want a simple set up for now, a couple clowns, some beginner coral etc. Just until i get a little more familiar with how stuff works etc...

1. The return pump that i have is a Jebao WP-1500... Is this pump good enough and how do i make sure its flowing enough. I took it apart and cleaned everything up and it seemed to flow alot better, just want to make sure its enough.

2. I have what im assuming is the "stock" skimmer. Which also has a pump and it is a SP-160 is all thats on it. How hard should the water be coming out of the skimmer to go to chamber 2? I filled my sink up and tested it and it flows up the tube in the center of the skimmer just fine, but it barely flows out of the skimmer, didnt know if that was normal or should a little more force be behind it. Also, the little cup at the top has a thick rubber piece around it im again assuming its to set the height level at which the cup sits, if im wrong please correct me, if not, what would be a good height to have it at?

3. What sort of media should i be running in chamber 2? There is a couple bags of bioballs, and thats it. So what should i start off with to get me going and change up if necessary later down the road.

4. I have the stock lighting which clearly isisnt going to cut it, so ive been looking into going with a LED set up, what are yalls thoughts on: http://current-usa.com/aquarium-led-lights/orbit-marine/

Ive read alot of reviews and it seems to be pretty popular and cant seem to find any used so that means people are either not buying them at all or buying them and never wanting to get rid of them.

5. A local pet store has a pretty decent salt water supply section, they sell "pre-mixed" water out of their own set-up at like $1.20/gal something like that, any who, would this be recommended or should i just buy salt and mix with tap water?

6. Heaters/chillers, im assuming id have to run the water for a week or 2 to see if i need either one?

Thats all i can think of at the moment but im sure i will have alot more. TIA
Click to expand...

1. that pump will do
2. Water shouldn't be rushing out of the skimmer too fast, what you see is normal. Height of cup depends on the level of water in your back chambers, I keep mine relatively high but have an ATO and the level is constant. Try to get skimmate that's not too wet or too dry. There are a couple of easy mods to increase the efficiency of the stock skimmer too, do a search, few good threads with pics on the subject.
3. I run a bag with carbon and another with chemipure elite. No bioballs for me.
4. I switched from 250w MH to LEDs about 2 months ago and get better color in my corals but doesn't have the intense radiance of the MH. I would go with with a full spectrum LED unit if you go that route.
5. Salt down here is .50 cents / gallon and its from the ocean, I like to use that since I don't have to do huge water changes, if I had a big tank I would have to mix my own, for that I would use D&D. I do 10 gallons every couple of weeks. If you mix it yourself do NOT use tap water, you'll need a RODI unit to make filtered water. Should be the same water for your topoff.
6. I'm in Miami so no heaters needed. I keep my house at 75 and my tank hovers around 78 (it was higher with the MH and I had to use a quad fan unit on the back of the tank blowing over the surface to keep the temps in check). In the winter when we get cold fronts I open a window close to the tank and let it fall to the low 70s.

Hope that helps
 
sonic said:
1. that pump will do
2. Water shouldn't be rushing out of the skimmer too fast, what you see is normal. Height of cup depends on the level of water in your back chambers, I keep mine relatively high but have an ATO and the level is constant. Try to get skimmate that's not too wet or too dry. There are a couple of easy mods to increase the efficiency of the stock skimmer too, do a search, few good threads with pics on the subject.
3. I run a bag with carbon and another with chemipure elite. No bioballs for me.
4. I switched from 250w MH to LEDs about 2 months ago and get better color in my corals but doesn't have the intense radiance of the MH. I would go with with a full spectrum LED unit if you go that route.
5. Salt down here is .50 cents / gallon and its from the ocean, I like to use that since I don't have to do huge water changes, if I had a big tank I would have to mix my own, for that I would use D&D. I do 10 gallons every couple of weeks. If you mix it yourself do NOT use tap water, you'll need a RODI unit to make filtered water. Should be the same water for your topoff.
6. I'm in Miami so no heaters needed. I keep my house at 75 and my tank hovers around 78 (it was higher with the MH and I had to use a quad fan unit on the back of the tank blowing over the surface to keep the temps in check). In the winter when we get cold fronts I open a window close to the tank and let it fall to the low 70s.

Hope that helps
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, that helps alot. :reading:
 
E.intheC said:
Kind of a downer question, but has anyone had a leak or blowout with their Solana? My tank is slightly unlevel and is lower by about 1/6 inch on the back left hand side and I'm worried about it.

I know they're made pretty well and I've seen solanas with chips, etc in them, and I've never actually seen or heard about an issue. ...but I'm being pretty OCD about it :D
Click to expand...

I had a seam let go on my tank a few months ago. It started leaking 2 inches from the bottom and my wife found it, by the time I got home it was leaking bad. Duct tape and rope wrapped around the tank slowed in down for a day to get a replacement tank. The tank was about 5 years old when it happened.
 
My Solana has been setup for almost 2 years. No skimmer, nothing fancy, I change the water every 1-2 weeks.
I replaced the return pump with a Sicce, what a awesome pump.
Ligthing is a Kessil A350W Tuna Blue

My water change routine.
1-I add filter floss in back.
2-Scrape glass
3-Every month I have a extra pump with a hose attached. I place pump in back and blow off rock work. Makes a mess. So I wait 1-2 hrs for this to clear up before continuing. I leave the output for this extra pump in the tank, with the pump sort of on top of return pump. This way I am increasing the flow through the filter floss. I also have a cheap'o AIO filter, I will load with filter floss and leave in tank while I'm cleaning.
4-Turn everything off and change 5-8 gallons of water.
5-Run the filter pad for another day then remove completely.

I only run the filter floss during the water change time. Most of the time chambers 1&2 are empty.

Current
K3HO1490.jpg


f945feaa-dff6-4fcc-8de3-626610b4afc5.jpg
 
ballhog said:
My Solana has been setup for almost 2 years. No skimmer, nothing fancy, I change the water every 1-2 weeks.
I replaced the return pump with a Sicce, what a awesome pump.
Ligthing is a Kessil A350W Tuna Blue

My water change routine.
1-I add filter floss in back.
2-Scrape glass
3-Every month I have a extra pump with a hose attached. I place pump in back and blow off rock work. Makes a mess. So I wait 1-2 hrs for this to clear up before continuing. I leave the output for this extra pump in the tank, with the pump sort of on top of return pump. This way I am increasing the flow through the filter floss. I also have a cheap'o AIO filter, I will load with filter floss and leave in tank while I'm cleaning.
4-Turn everything off and change 5-8 gallons of water.
5-Run the filter pad for another day then remove completely.

I only run the filter floss during the water change time. Most of the time chambers 1&2 are empty.

Current
K3HO1490.jpg


f945feaa-dff6-4fcc-8de3-626610b4afc5.jpg
Click to expand...
Looks good. Also like the simplicity of the filtration. I bet it feels good to have the compartments free with just filter floss! What % do you run the intensity of the Kessil?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

sauceyreefOG
New (but old) Member - Hello!
Replies
12
Views
1K
Reefing102
Reefing102
S
Help with Overflow Design Issue
Replies
0
Views
145
SFMAquariums
S
T
Trying to identify what ate my Torch Coral
Replies
12
Views
259
Uncle99
Uncle99
sickman
Juwel Lido 200 - really reef tank ready all in one? Really Really?
2
Replies
39
Views
981
Reefing102
Reefing102
R
LFS can order "red" or "blue" peacock mantis?
Replies
2
Views
152
game misconduct
G
Back
Top