Solana tank owner thread.

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Thanks for the reply. Can you elaborate on your setup? How do you run the chemipure elite and you grow the cheato in the 2nd chamber?

Ron
 
I've been using the same reefkeepinging philosophy and it works very well for me. I use ChemiPure Elite, no skimmer, no sump, no fuge. Weekly 5 gallon water changes take about 5-10 minutes. My tank has been set up for about a year and a half and I've had no major algae problems and have great color and growth.

The one thing I'd add to Felix's comments is a reliable ATO to maintain a constant salinity is also very helpful. Mine includes a kalk solution.
 
Glad to hear Hooked4life
I also add a cap of KENT Essential Elements to my freshly
mixed 5g just in case the salt doesn't do it's job.

and yes i also have great growth/colors/health
and it also takes me about 10 minutes for Water Changes
f.
 
Very interesting indeed. Can you two speak about your setup in more detail? I am not sold on the refugium and eliminating the skimmer wouldn’t bother me. One less item to deal with (micro bubbles, etc...) .
felix1021 - anxiously waiting for pictures... :)
Hooked4life - What ATO do you use? How is your sump arranged?

Ron
 
Searched Chempure Elite and I may try it. Looks like you buy the 5oz container which has the granules already in a bag. Is this what you get? You place it in the 2nd chamber and do you add floss on top of it?

Ron
 
my sapphire skimmer is starting to break in. now I have a heat issue which is causing algae growth. I really don't want to run a chiller on this tank.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15296737#post15296737 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seth&angelle
Has anyone upgraded to a Tunze Doc skimmer? I did and I'm not too impressed.

I had a tunze and was also unimpressed... I now run a deltec and there is really no comparision between the two.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15294556#post15294556 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ronone10
Searched Chempure Elite and I may try it. Looks like you buy the 5oz container which has the granules already in a bag. Is this what you get? You place it in the 2nd chamber and do you add floss on top of it?

Ron

Yes the bag is there in the bottle, just rinse it and put it in the 2nd chamber thats what I did. I've ended up putting the floss on the bottom of the chamber, because I think the chemipure was letting out little bits of stuff into the display. This should catch it. I don't know if anyone else has that trouble, but I noticed my display had a lot of floaties and I didn't know what they were. When I do my weekly rinse of the chemipure/purigen/seagel bags, I noticed the chemipure would leave residue behind in the sink, so I put the floss down first now and the tank is a lot clearer.
 
RING AROUND THE COLLAR...

RING AROUND THE COLLAR...

Maybe it's just the hard water we have, but I notice when I turn off the return pump to feed the seahorses, there is a "ring" (looks like calcium deposits or similar) at the normal water level of the tank. It won't just wipe off with a clean rag - any suggestions on how to remove it without scratching the glass or introducing unwanted chemicals into the tank?

I do need to buy a new mag cleaner for the tank... maybe that will take care of it?

LL
 
Got a question setup my tank for initial cycle and i have the sapphire aquatics skimmer. my problem is that the collection cup fills with water, I have the gate valve all the way down. is this just breaking in? or am i missing an adjustment or my water level too high?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15297225#post15297225 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TriggerHappyDude
Yes the bag is there in the bottle, just rinse it and put it in the 2nd chamber thats what I did. I've ended up putting the floss on the bottom of the chamber, because I think the chemipure was letting out little bits of stuff into the display. This should catch it. I don't know if anyone else has that trouble, but I noticed my display had a lot of floaties and I didn't know what they were. When I do my weekly rinse of the chemipure/purigen/seagel bags, I noticed the chemipure would leave residue behind in the sink, so I put the floss down first now and the tank is a lot clearer.

Thanks for the reply and tip...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15300201#post15300201 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TAttel
Got a question setup my tank for initial cycle and i have the sapphire aquatics skimmer. my problem is that the collection cup fills with water, I have the gate valve all the way down. is this just breaking in? or am i missing an adjustment or my water level too high?

What a coincidence...check my question under Solana Skimmer. I too just received my Sapphire Skimmer and have tons of micro bubbles. My gate is down according to the instructions. Not much you can do so I am hoping this is just the break in period. Let's hope so because this is one reason why I went with the Sapphire Skimmer.

Ron
 
yeah I am having trouble with my water level in the back though how high should the 1st-3rd chambers be? It seems like the 3rd is always too low and this is possibly my problem with the first chamber/skimmer
 
What I have found for ideal skimming, all three should be level with the top of the partition between chamber 1 and 2 with chamber 1 being chamber skimmer is placed. If higher, then you will have to adjust to prevent excessive wet skimming. I would guess the level impacts the pressure for skim formation but physics was my week point in college.
 
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15300801#post15300801 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TAttel
yeah I am having trouble with my water level in the back though how high should the 1st-3rd chambers be? It seems like the 3rd is always too low and this is possibly my problem with the first chamber/skimmer

The 2nd chamber should be right at the level of the grate where the blue sponge sits, or maybe a little above it. If its there, then the 3rd chamber should be right about the same and level with the plate that holds the ATO bottles.

If the 2nd chamber isn't that high, use a pitcher of RO/DI water and fill it up till it is at the level suggested, and that should also even out the 3rd chamber too. If I'm not mistaken, all 3 chambers should be right around this same level, when looking at it from behind, and thats where you want to try to keep them.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15300987#post15300987 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GeoffM1968
What I have found for ideal skimming, all three should be level with the top of the partition between chamber 1 and 2 with chamber 1 being chamber skimmer is placed. If higher, then you will have to adjust to prevent excessive wet skimming. I would guess the level impacts the pressure for skim formation but physics was my week point in college.

I agree with Geoff here!
 
Update on my Sapphire from 5 hours ago

Update on my Sapphire from 5 hours ago

Mine arrived this afternoon and it finally stopped foaming up and over the collection cup. I still have tons of micro bubbles coming through the gate, which is set at the lowest position.

I also did a 20% water change because I read from another posters that using epoxy will change the water tension. Well, I used almost the entire tube two days ago to secure some rocks, corals, etc. The tank was moved and I used new water and new live sand.

Let's hope it goes away. One big difference is the pump is very quiet compare to the stock skimmer. Nice...

Ron
 
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