Phil's Solana

[pweissma]

It's been a long slow process that started with an expensive mistake but my tank is finally alive. I put in a couple ORA ocellaris and 3 hermit crabs this past Sunday. The opening act happened as soon as the hermit crabs hit the sand when one made a show of trying on different shells.

Thanks to everyone here and also on nano-reefs.com for all the great info. Russ & Jim at Saltwater Critters as well as Jeremy at Premium Aquatics have been great in orienting me and putting what I read into perspective.

<O:p</O:pThe mistake – I got a Marineland 18" cube reef ready with a Marineland stand and sump. There were lots of problems. Nothing insurmountable but also not what I want to be dealing with starting out. So I got a Solana based on its popularity and the success of the people who have it. I also got the Solana stand and Nova Extreme Pro light. I'm also one of the few who purchased the trim kit. It's a wood trim that sits on the top of the tank and it has a glass canopy.

My live rock came from Premium Aquatics but more on that later.<O:p</O:p

 

[pweissma]

There were a few challenges with the stand. My floor dips over 1/4" from the wall to the front of the tank. To level the stand and to spread the weight I made skids out of 1/2" red oak. It worked nicely. I used a 35mm forstner bit to remove about ?” of material on the skids under the rear tank stand legs. The final step was a coat of clear satin poly to match to floor.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

With the tank in my living room and with young kids I wasn’t comfortable with the clear glass so I took the door to a glass shop and got a piece of frosted laminated glass. I also put Safety 1st Magnetic Tot loks on the door and drawer. They work nicely and don't show at all from the outside. They use a little magnet that opens the lock when it is held against the lock from the outside of the door/drawer. My algae scraper magnet also works to open the locks. I had to cut a grove in the back of the drawer to allow space for the latch.

 

[pweissma]

Mods

So far the only functional tank modification was to replace the overflow bottles with a Reef Fanatic ATO and a Maxijet 1200 pump. I got some cheap connectors from HD to go from the 1/2" ID outlet on the MJ 1200 to 1/4" OD RO/DI tubing. The RO/DI runs up into the sump.

I first tried the more expensive Maxijet 900 untility pump but it didn't have the head room although it was slightly quieter. I have my 3 1/2 gallon top off bucket on the lower cabinet shelf. This gives a head height of about 46" to the top of the Solana.
I'll be replacing the suction cups holding the sensors either with eggcrate and cable ties or with heat moldable plastic strips from Chicago Sensor.
<O:p</O:p
The fans in the Nova Extreme Pro created some wind noise. Hoping that the T5s don?t really generate too much heat I disconnected the fans. If the bulbs go prematurely or if the ballasts go I?ll get an LED fixture.<O:p</O:p

I am looking forward to replacing my Koralia 1 with a Vortech and perhaps getting a legitimate controller someday but for now I made the ultimate poor man's controller. I put a couple of outlets on an extension cord controlled by a switch on a 4 foot length of lampcord. I use the switch to turn off the circulation and sump pumps at feeding. The 4 foot cord extends up from the cabinet section into the drawer from the back. This lets me have the switch for the pumps next to the food. Cheesy but it's wireded correctly and it works.

 

[Aquabacs]

Tank is looking good, Phil. I really like the aquascaping. What are you planning to keep in this aquariam? LPS, SPS, soft corals, mixed reef?

Mike

 

[pweissma]

Tank is looking good, Phil. I really like the aquascaping. What are you planning to keep in this aquariam? LPS, SPS, soft corals, mixed reef?

Mike

Thanks. In addition to the Occ, I'm planning on getting a Yasha Haze (with a Randalls PS) and a Bangaii Cardinalfish. I much prefer aquacultured fish and the Yasha Haze would be an exception. Before I get the fish I want to be sure that I'm not contributing to the extinction of the species but I'm having trouble finding information. The Bangaii Cardinalfish is available farm bred but I'm not sure if it's the best choice. Will it go after the PS? Are they often inactive during the day? I read that they are nocturnal.

I am looking to create a mixed reef, possibly with some easier SPS. I do want a bubble tip anemone and hope that the Occ will host. I'm still pretty naive about corrals at this point and need to do lots of reading.

I'll post a lot more pictures of my aquascape. I created it with 3/8" acrylic bar and epoxy. I drilled holes in the live rock and stacked the rock on the bar creating the height. I used the epoxy to create the arch and to stabailize.