dailydriven911's 34g Solana rimless tank thread

[dailydriven911]

I'm back on the saddle again! I splurged and bought the new 34g Current Solana cube from Blue Sierra today (local lfs). I've missed my little piece of the reef since I sold everything back in late August of this year. I wasn't really looking at tanks and found this one on accident on RC and fell in love with the design and it fit's perfect in our condo. So basically this is my second tank thread and I just wanted to share my ideas and also listen to any suggestions you guys might have. I know for sure this is going to be another sps dominant tank w/ some lps and zoos. I need help w/ a fish list and aquascaping So here we go...

Equipment list

34g Solana rimless cube http://www.current-usa.com/solana.html
Built in skimmer, auto top-off, chemical filtration, 400gph return
(2) Hydor Koralias (600 gph)ea (1 Hydor Koralia nano)240gph
150w Current Sunpod (pheonix 14k)

Aquascaping...Done! Two tall islands with shelve like overhangs 30-40lbs of Kaelini/tonga L/R


(Tenative) Fish...

Looking for ideas aggressive and peaceful or a good mix...

Fish list as of now...
1 fourline wrasse
1 green or spotted mandarin (in the future)
1 flame hawk or Falco Hawk
1 yasha Hase shrimp Goby w/ candycane pistol
1 black and white ocellaris clown

Corals...

Like I said mainly sps, monti's, lps, zoos, and ricordea

Inverts...

I want to do 2-3 small clams Maxima, Crocea, Derasa, 15 turbo's, 10 nassarius snails 10 bl hermits, 5 scarlet hermits, cleaner shrimp, cb shrimp, anything else?

Sandbed...

1" SB because it worked well before (ps I'm against bb)

I want to also maybe plumb in a refugium underneath the tank hidden in the stand. Just a simple 10 gallon refugium. Eventually I will probably want to mod the skimmer but I actually read the skimmer does a good job. Only time will tell I guess.
The refugium is pretty much all planned out I just need to source everything. It will consist of a 3" dsb, 15-20 lbs l/r, cheato, lots of red sea xenia, feather dusters and other filter feeders. It will then spill into the sump (which will be seperated from the refugium by a divider). The skimmer (Tunze 9005) will be located here and then a return pump will go back to the main display. The refugium is done but I'm thinking of adding a larger return pump so I can add a wavy sea at some point. As of now I have a mj900 from the main display to the refugium and a mj1200 as the return. A 36w t-5 lights the refugium.
Here is my original thread I started on Reef frontiers... http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31656

On to the pictures from day one (Dec 10th) to current (Dec 29th)

First day...
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics010.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics014.jpg

Plumbing in the refugium (I did not drill the tank)
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics002.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics006.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics013-1.jpg

Diatoms!
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics043.jpg

As of 12/29/07
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics055.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics059.jpg

[dailydriven911]

I tested my water yesterday and results are as follows...

NH4 0ppm
NH2 0ppm
NH3 less than 5ppm
PO4 less than 0.05ppm
PH 8.3
ALK, CAL, MAG will test before I add corals.

Well I think I'm good to go and can now add fish I've narrowed down my fish list to the following.

1. Fourline Wrasse
2. Falco Hawkfish or Flame hawk
3. Black and White Ocellaris clown
4. Yasa Hase Goby w/ candycane pistol
5. Another Goby or Mandarin when the tank matures a bit more.

[Xandernfs]

Any heat issues with the sunpod?

[Chorethorious]

Wow.. that look really good! I have the same tank, but the 150 MH pod that goes with it instead. I like that idea more.. and might actually convert if heating becomes a big issue.

Thanks for posting pics! I'm really liking the idea you did with the rock work. I might steal that concept >:D

[dailydriven911]

Nope none at all. I do live in Washington state and right now the temp is 35 degrees so I'm sure in the summer I may have an issue. I try and keep the tank between 78-80.

[dailydriven911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11479124#post11479124 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Chorethorious
Wow.. that look really good! I have the same tank, but the 150 MH pod that goes with it instead. I like that idea more.. and might actually convert if heating becomes a big issue.

Thanks for posting pics! I'm really liking the idea you did with the rock work. I might steal that concept >:D

Cool I noticed your thread as well. Get some pics up I'd love to see your tank in action! I went w/ the sunpod because of looks mainly. It's black and matches well, plus I'm not sure I like the disco ball look...haha. I figured I can attach frags all up and down the rock work so they can grow up and out giving it a more realistic look. Thanks!

[boozerell]

Tanks looks really cool. Could you show another view of the refugium?

[Chorethorious]

That growth look is exactly what I would like to have in my tank.. or at least what I envision. I've seen more and more Solana threads pop up around here. I'm actually pretty happy about that. It will help with everyone doing mods and such.

I do have a question though, is heat the reason you left the glass plate off the top?

[LaurentSeattle]

Very nice rock-scaping...

On top of that, I guess it will be easy to safely place corals on these platforms with having to struggle with epoxy putty...

[dailydriven911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11479626#post11479626 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Chorethorious
That growth look is exactly what I would like to have in my tank.. or at least what I envision. I've seen more and more Solana threads pop up around here. I'm actually pretty happy about that. It will help with everyone doing mods and such.

I do have a question though, is heat the reason you left the glass plate off the top?

I agree hopefully we will see more mods here soon. About the plate I hate it! I like the open top look 1000x better and it's nice because you don't have to take the glass every time you reach in or feed the fish.

[dailydriven911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11480817#post11480817 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LaurentSeattle
Very nice rock-scaping...

On top of that, I guess it will be easy to safely place corals on these platforms with having to struggle with epoxy putty...

Exactly! Very easy to place frags on and around the rock. Thanks for looking!

[Chorethorious]

DD911,

My wife had a question about your rocks. Did you have to put your rocks together like that, or did you actually find 2 rocks that were structured in that way? She saw your setup and said pretty much what I did, "That is what I want!" haha

[dailydriven911]

I used two little fishes putty to attach each rock to one another. I took all the rock layed it out on the table and stacked them how I wanted. It takes 5-10 min to dry so be careful moving them around. You could also aquascape in the tank but it might be a bit of a hassle. :)

[gsusfreak]

wow..nice rock work!

[new_world_disor]

woot. love the tank. looks amazing !! love the rockwork as well !

[racksteris]

Looks very good, Nice job on the rocks.

[dailydriven911]

Thanks guys I wanted a way to incorporate 40+ pounds of l/r w/o stacking it in a big pile. I think it gives the tank a different dimension and plenty of places to mount corals and plenty surface area for the fish to graze on food within the l/r.

[dailydriven911]

Forgot to mention that today I added a falco hawk and fourline wrasse to the tank as well as a cleaner/blood/cb shrimp and a cleaner crew. So far so good. I'll post pics later tonight.

[ZooZ]

Very nice tank dailydriven911. Just like everyone else I like your rockwork. Can we get some more shots of your plumbing aswell? Where did you get your tank? Cant wait to see more pictures. I will be tagging along the way:D

[Xandernfs]

Got any more pics of the fuge setup?

[thin crust]

i love these tanks. i really like the sunpod in place of the disco ball looking MH fixture. :P

[dailydriven911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11486935#post11486935 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Xandernfs
Got any more pics of the fuge setup?

Here are a few pics I need better tubing but it works for now and I'm dripping kalk at the moment...

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics100.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics101.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics102.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics103.jpg

[CamBarr]

the skimmer looks like it pulls out some serious gunk

[dailydriven911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11489247#post11489247 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CamBarr
the skimmer looks like it pulls out some serious gunk

It does and I just cleaned it the day before! Probably fills almost half the cup every day or two. I'm also adding a Tunze 9005 that should be here Wednesday.

[Xandernfs]

thanks for the pics. So you have a siphon going from the main tank to the fuge. Then a pump back to the main tank or a pump on both ends?

[Chorethorious]

I was curious about the siphoning as well.

[dailydriven911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11490775#post11490775 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Xandernfs
thanks for the pics. So you have a siphon going from the main tank to the fuge. Then a pump back to the main tank or a pump on both ends?

Pump on both ends a mj900 located in the under the top off bottles in the return chamber pumping water down to the sump/reugium and a mj1200 located in the return section of the sump/refugium pumping water back up to the filter chamber (look at the last pic you can see both hoses.) I'm going to upgrade the tubing as well as the pumps so I can run a wavy sea eventually. Hopefully this helps.

[LaurentSeattle]

Hi,

The Solana brochure mentions a so-called "micro-bubbles eliminator". Does it truly work? Any MB in the tank?

Thanks

[pardalis]

Love your rock work!

[dailydriven911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11491901#post11491901 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LaurentSeattle
Hi,

The Solana brochure mentions a so-called "micro-bubbles eliminator". Does it truly work? Any MB in the tank?

Thanks

Well I think they help but I still notice them. I'm going to throw on a tunze 9005 skimmer in place of the stock one and see if that helps. I have had mine setup for 3 weeks so maybe it takes a bit longer for the mb to go away.

[Chorethorious]

*sigh* The only thing I have put together is the light pendant, haha.

Hey, are you making your own kalk mix?

[dailydriven911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11493223#post11493223 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Chorethorious
*sigh* The only thing I have put together is the light pendant, haha.

Hey, are you making your own kalk mix?

Yep just a teaspoon in 1 gallon of ro/di water let sit for 12 hrs and it's ready.

[Xandernfs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11491303#post11491303 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dailydriven911
Pump on both ends a mj900 located in the under the top off bottles in the return chamber pumping water down to the sump/reugium and a mj1200 located in the return section of the sump/refugium pumping water back up to the filter chamber (look at the last pic you can see both hoses.) I'm going to upgrade the tubing as well as the pumps so I can run a wavy sea eventually. Hopefully this helps.

AHHH, ok i see. How did you figure out your head to get both equal?

[dailydriven911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11502015#post11502015 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Xandernfs
AHHH, ok i see. How did you figure out your head to get both equal?

It worked for awhile but honestly it was a pita and I decided to remove the fuge. Instead I added the cheato to the overflow box (topoff section) and I'm going to throw one of these over it...

http://www.championlighting.com/product.php?productid=28103&cat=711&page=1

In time I may redo the fuge and plumbing/pumps but for now it works like a charm!

[Xandernfs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11502524#post11502524 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dailydriven911
It worked for awhile but honestly it was a pita and I decided to remove the fuge. Instead I added the cheato to the overflow box (topoff section) and I'm going to throw one of these over it...

http://www.championlighting.com/product.php?productid=28103&cat=711&page=1

In time I may redo the fuge and plumbing/pumps but for now it works like a charm!

Good idea!!

[dailydriven911]

Just an update...

I added a TLF phosban reactor running seachem phosgaurd and elos carbon. I'm going to add a wavy sea and possibly upgrade to a lumenarc mini and also add an AC jr. Hope you enjoy the pics just sps frags for now including cali tort, various tricolors, chipps acro, blue, pink, and yellow milles, green, red, and purple rim caps and various others. This week I will be adding or tort, rainbow monti, superman digi, ora german green, pokerstar monti, and a couple other rare ones. Then a couple clams and various zoos and ricordea to cover the lower section of the tank.

A few pics...

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics139.jpg

ora chipps...

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics143.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics144.jpg

falco hawk
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics135.jpg

fourline wrasse

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics136.jpg

side shot...

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/jmilsrt4/solanacubepics149.jpg

[i2go]

What is the green sps on the top right? Great job, I love the shelves. Did the phosban reactor help a lot? How do they working, is it like a skimmer?

[dailydriven911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11556217#post11556217 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by i2go
What is the green sps on the top right? Great job, I love the shelves. Did the phosban reactor help a lot? How do they working, is it like a skimmer?

The green sps is a green slimer. The phosban reactor works wonders. I had a HA bloom that seemed it didn't want to go away. I added the reactor and within 2 days half of it is gone and my po4 dropped from 0.05ppm to 0-0.02ppm using the elos test kit. it's not a skimmer, water flows through it around 80 gph and po4 is removed using po4 remover and I you can also run carbon through it.

[Xandernfs]

Looks nice....Still no heat issues (i hope)

[dailydriven911]

Nope not really it gets up around 81 degrees or so but I just open the window and the temp will come down a bit. I'm sure in the summer I will have issues but I have AC so I should be ok.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11557953#post11557953 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Xandernfs
Looks nice....Still no heat issues (i hope)