12 week update on my Solana 34 gal

denMk · 11-30-2008, 05:49 PM

In a previous thread I showed my 34 gal Solana cube tank progressing over a 6 week period. It is now going into week 12 and I've had a couple minor failures but now seem stable. The first fish I added after my tank cycled were two TR Ocellaris clowns and one bi-color blenny. The clowns died within a week for no reason I could find. I did have a heater failure that caused the water temp to drop about 5 degrees in one day, but don't know if that had anything to do with it. The blenny hid for a while when the clowns were acting stressed but after they died he came around and began acting fine. However two days after I added a new fish – a pygmy angel - I found my blenny dead on the floor in my living room. Jumped the tank for some reason! Before adding more fish I made a top out of egg crate that I cut to fit.

Current fish: Pygmy Angel, Maroon Gold Striped clown, Diamond Goby – all are young and small and doing very well.

The goby does an amazing job on my sand! He works every inch and corner of the tank and has made more than one hole under different rocks for his own private caves. He seems extremely happy and always busy.

So my tank houses those 3 fish and the following corals: Long polyped toadstool leather, pulsing xenia, various zoas - pink, orange, green, 3 ricordia heads – yellow, blue, and orange/green combo, green star polyps, and various mushrooms. Inverts include 1 peppermint shrimp, 2 turbo snails, 4 astrea snails, 2 margarite snails, 1 Hawaiian fan worm, 1 CoCo worm.

Modifications to tank – removed skimmer because it added bubbles to tank, added 1 small power head in the back filter chamber for more oxygenation and current. It sits where the skimmer use to be and I have it pointed up a bit to break the surface of the water in the filter area. Live rock rubble in bio chamber rather than bio-balls. Added a Koralia 1 power head to display area of tank. Changed the pendant lighting from an HQI 14K metal halide bulb to a HQI 20K. I prefer the look of the tank plus I heard the corals will actually grow slower with that light. Since I have a small tank I really don't need the corals to grow all that quickly. I also added a moonlight.

Recap of tank specs:

34 gallons water
32 lbs. live rock
40 lbs. live sand
960 gallons per hour of water circulation via the 400 gph Koralia, 400 gph filter pump, and a 160 gph power head in the skimmer chamber (is that overkill?)
150 watt 20K HQI lighting on a timer, runs 12 hours daily
1 watt moonlight on timer, runs 8 hours
1 Stealth 200 watt heater – love it, temp varies LESS than 1 degree daily

Invert/Coral Food: Kent Coral Vite every other week, Kent Phytoplex every other week (alternating).

Water parameters:

Temp 78.6
PH 8.4
SG 1.024
NO 2, NO 3, Ammonia – all zeros

I'm going to try to let my tank just sit now, with the current livestock, and see how things mature. I will probably shop for a skimmer that won't add bubbles to the tank. If anyone has skimmer recommendations for my size tank please let me know! The attached pictures don't do the fish justice because they won't hold still!

Thanks for looking.

denMk · 11-30-2008, 05:51 PM

A few more photos

baugherb · 11-30-2008, 06:01 PM

Nice looking tank...

denMk · 11-30-2008, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baugherb

Nice looking tank...

THANKS! Here's some live action as well.

fireykat · 11-30-2008, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by denMk

shrimp, 2 turbo snails, 4 astrea snails, 2 margarite snails, 1 Hawaiian fan worm, 1 CoCo worm.

Modifications to tank – removed skimmer because it added bubbles to tank, added 1 small power head in the back filter chamber for more oxygenation and current. It sits where the skimmer use to be and I have it pointed up a bit to break the surface of the water in the filter area. Live rock rubble in bio chamber rather than bio-balls. Added a Koralia 1 power head to display area of tank.

I'm thinking about a Solana; did you replace the pumps that came with the tank?

Av8Bluewater · 11-30-2008, 10:54 PM

Looks great!

denMk · 12-01-2008, 05:55 AM

I'm thinking about a Solana; did you replace the pumps that came with the tank?[/quote]

No. I didn't replace the filter pump. With adding the Koralia 1 and the other small power head I've got good circulation right now. However that's a thought for the future if I don't want to have that extra pump in the back.

Camilsky · 12-01-2008, 05:58 AM

Hey! Very nice tank! I especially like young diamond-spotted goby

Thanks for sharing with us! K+

Dakota569 · 12-01-2008, 08:25 AM

Very nice setup, well done

denMk · 12-03-2008, 06:07 AM

Thanks all.

Here's a some shots playing with the macro setting on my camera. The last photo is for Camilsky .

11-30-2008, 05:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
denMk Flamingo Tongue Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 106 Skin: Mint Karma: 76	12 week update on my Solana 34 gal In a previous thread I showed my 34 gal Solana cube tank progressing over a 6 week period. It is now going into week 12 and I've had a couple minor failures but now seem stable. The first fish I added after my tank cycled were two TR Ocellaris clowns and one bi-color blenny. The clowns died within a week for no reason I could find. I did have a heater failure that caused the water temp to drop about 5 degrees in one day, but don't know if that had anything to do with it. The blenny hid for a while when the clowns were acting stressed but after they died he came around and began acting fine. However two days after I added a new fish – a pygmy angel - I found my blenny dead on the floor in my living room. Jumped the tank for some reason! Before adding more fish I made a top out of egg crate that I cut to fit. Current fish: Pygmy Angel, Maroon Gold Striped clown, Diamond Goby – all are young and small and doing very well. The goby does an amazing job on my sand! He works every inch and corner of the tank and has made more than one hole under different rocks for his own private caves. He seems extremely happy and always busy. So my tank houses those 3 fish and the following corals: Long polyped toadstool leather, pulsing xenia, various zoas - pink, orange, green, 3 ricordia heads – yellow, blue, and orange/green combo, green star polyps, and various mushrooms. Inverts include 1 peppermint shrimp, 2 turbo snails, 4 astrea snails, 2 margarite snails, 1 Hawaiian fan worm, 1 CoCo worm. Modifications to tank – removed skimmer because it added bubbles to tank, added 1 small power head in the back filter chamber for more oxygenation and current. It sits where the skimmer use to be and I have it pointed up a bit to break the surface of the water in the filter area. Live rock rubble in bio chamber rather than bio-balls. Added a Koralia 1 power head to display area of tank. Changed the pendant lighting from an HQI 14K metal halide bulb to a HQI 20K. I prefer the look of the tank plus I heard the corals will actually grow slower with that light. Since I have a small tank I really don't need the corals to grow all that quickly. I also added a moonlight. Recap of tank specs: 34 gallons water 32 lbs. live rock 40 lbs. live sand 960 gallons per hour of water circulation via the 400 gph Koralia, 400 gph filter pump, and a 160 gph power head in the skimmer chamber (is that overkill?) 150 watt 20K HQI lighting on a timer, runs 12 hours daily 1 watt moonlight on timer, runs 8 hours 1 Stealth 200 watt heater – love it, temp varies LESS than 1 degree daily Invert/Coral Food: Kent Coral Vite every other week, Kent Phytoplex every other week (alternating). Water parameters: Temp 78.6 PH 8.4 SG 1.024 NO 2, NO 3, Ammonia – all zeros I'm going to try to let my tank just sit now, with the current livestock, and see how things mature. I will probably shop for a skimmer that won't add bubbles to the tank. If anyone has skimmer recommendations for my size tank please let me know! The attached pictures don't do the fish justice because they won't hold still! Thanks for looking. Last edited by Matt Rogers; 12-03-2008 at 09:54 AM. Reason: line breaks to fix layout

11-30-2008, 05:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
denMk Flamingo Tongue Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 106 Skin: Mint Karma: 76	More Photos A few more photos Last edited by Matt Rogers; 12-03-2008 at 09:53 AM. Reason: line breaks for page layout

11-30-2008, 06:01 PM	#3 (permalink)
baugherb Nanolicious Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: niles, ohio Age: 33 Posts: 4,803 Skin: Mint Karma: 28057	Nice looking tank... _________ 12 gallon cube with 10gal sump Est. 2/8/10 150w MH Outer Orbit Pendant 10gal sump Air-Driven Skimmer Corals----Too many to fit in my sig. Fish-------Allens Damsel in the display. Inverts----Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Future 3Reef Nano Moderator)

11-30-2008, 10:54 PM	#6 (permalink)
Av8Bluewater Hammer Head Shark Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Old Town-22314 Posts: 2,629 Skin: Mobile Karma: 17869	Looks great! _________ 20 Gallon Transfer tank. Garf Bonsai, Superman Monti, Purple haze,WellsoBrain,Pink Goniopora,GSP,Strawberry Fields Acro& Strawberry Monti,ORARedPlanet,ORABlueChips & ORAGrnBirdnest,Yellow,Pink&AquaMill,Tyree PinkLemonade,TyreeIdahoGrape,Green Slimer,Acans,Various zoas My former 180: .http://www.3reef.com/forums/fish-tan...ter-52764.html

12-01-2008, 05:58 AM	#8 (permalink)
Camilsky Stylophora Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Groningen, The Netherlands Age: 27 Posts: 998 Skin: Mint Karma: 3715	Hey! Very nice tank! I especially like young diamond-spotted goby Thanks for sharing with us! K+ _________ My FlickR Photo Gallery My 45g. Cube Thread

12-01-2008, 05:55 AM	#7 (permalink)
denMk Flamingo Tongue Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 106 Skin: Mint Karma: 76	I'm thinking about a Solana; did you replace the pumps that came with the tank?[/quote] No. I didn't replace the filter pump. With adding the Koralia 1 and the other small power head I've got good circulation right now. However that's a thought for the future if I don't want to have that extra pump in the back.

12-01-2008, 08:25 AM	#9 (permalink)
Dakota569 Spanish Shawl Nudibranch Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: So Cal Age: 40 Posts: 85 Skin: Mint Karma: 405	Very nice setup, well done _________ 24gal AquaEuro w/ 2 230gph pumps built in (upgraded from 160gph stockers), 10 lbs of Live rock pieces in filter media compartment, Tunze 9002 Skimmer, Next Reef MR1 Phosphate reactor w/ a 300 gph pump dialed down a bit w/ Rowa Phos, JBJ Mini Arctic Chiller w/ Mag 5 pump, #1 and #3 Koralia and a 160gph PH across the back wall to pick up any low flow areas. 150w Hamilton MH fixture 14k and 2 24" Coralife 65w PC w/ Actinic blue ... 90x total water turnover rate

12-03-2008, 06:07 AM	#10 (permalink)
denMk Flamingo Tongue Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 106 Skin: Mint Karma: 76	Thanks all. Here's a some shots playing with the macro setting on my camera. The last photo is for Camilsky . Last edited by Matt Rogers; 12-03-2008 at 09:54 AM. Reason: line breaks to fix layout

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