Gort's Solana 34 - a journey of a thousand mistakes...

[Gort]

Photo taken while filling was underway - lots of RO-DI water to schlep from the LFS. Caused a minor sandstorm by adding the water a bit too fast a couple times, but it's clearing already. The substrate is CaribSea Ocean direct live sand.

The tank is now full - pump and heater are running. I got nervous as the water level kept rising in the display tank but wouldn't rise to the fill line in the filtration chambers. Things seem to be stabilized now. The tiny loose bio-balls in the skimmer reducing chamber seem useless for now - they all floated up and out of that channel onto the top of the filter floss pad.

The Vida Rock scape piece is shipping today; I'll add that plus a couple of rubble live rocks for seeding.

More pics to come... :juggle:

 

[WABlonde]

I really like the size/shape of your tank. What are you doing for a top or light?

 

[Gort]

The Solana 34 comes with a glass top - it works okay but is a bit of a pain. I'd like to try an open-top or one of the cool screen-frames I've seen. The light fixture will be a Prism AC from Unique LED Lighting

 

[DonW]

Hey bud, that looks good. Did you get some finish on that stand?

Don

 

[Gort]

Hey bud, that looks good. Did you get some finish on that stand?

Don

Don - I put on several light coats of rub-on poly. I added a few more passes to the top - already was glad as there was a bit of slop-over during the fill process.

I gotta tell you how impressed I am by the obvious workmanship you put into the stand - everybody says it looks great - thanx again.

 

[Gort]

Day 2

• Still waiting for the Vida Rock (supposedly shipping out today) - I'll aquascape with it plus a couple tiny pieces of live rock from the LFS.
• The skimmer so far is giving me nothing but grief - the airline won't stay on the pump. Clipped a 1/8" section of tubing off the end and tried again.
• Depending on how I configure the return pump Y-tubes I'm still creating small sandstorms and dunes on the bottom; hence the cloudiness continues.
• Found out I'm missing the skimmer cup adjusting screw plus the skimmer pre-filter sponge. I know most people ditch the sponge but without it I get a loud waterfall-effect in the overflow.
• Got a little nervous seeing the display tank level rise after I first turned on the pump. The water level hadn't risen enough in the filtration/return sections - was barely covering the return pump. I added water directly to the return pump chamber to bring it up to the level of the ATO bottle holder. Seems to be holding steady now.

 

[Russter]

Looks good! I would maybe try to point your returns at the surface to let the other sand settle out for now. Otherwise you may be in for a long wait if the sand stays in suspension. Looking forward to seeing this thing 'scaped. Should look great with that light too. Are you going to hang it or did you buy the legs?

 

[Gort]

Looks good! I would maybe try to point your returns at the surface to let the other sand settle out for now. Otherwise you may be in for a long wait if the sand stays in suspension. Looking forward to seeing this thing 'scaped. Should look great with that light too. Are you going to hang it or did you buy the legs?

I pointed the return nozzles towards the surface this morning - I may pull off the Y-tube temporarily later today. I guess the CaribSea mfg instructions re: "no rinsing" are bogus..

As for the light fixture, I plan to use the legs.

 

[Brie]

I'd recommend junking the skimmer altogether, which is what I did after a month of playing with it. The pump wouldn't stay put in the bottom of mine and was really loud, plus I could never get the skimmer cup adjusted perfectly. There's a couple options for skimmers... If you want to put it in the main tank(instead of in the back chamber), there's the AquaticLife Nano Skimmer and the Hydor SlimSkin Nano. Both are good skimmers for nano systems. I bought and tried out the AquaticLife for my tank, but I like to use the glass top to keep my fish from jumping out, so that skimmer ended up not working out for me. As for INSIDE the original skimmer chamber, pretty much the only thing that fits is a modded Tunze Nano Doc. You have to take a hack saw and cut the magnet off where it comes mounted, and reglue it to the side, which is pretty easy to do. The original round cup doesn't fit in the back of the tank, so a SUPER SMART guy started making custom cups to fit. I HIGHLY recommend this route, and its what alot of Solana owners have done. I've heard Steve is also coming out with a line of media baskets to fit the solana too, which i'm waiting anxiously for. I made my own out of egg crating, but i'd love some more professionally made ones. lol.

 

[Gort]

Brie - I appreciate the input. I've bugged you about the Solana a couple of times by phone at the shop. I have a few more questions I'd like to run by you when you have some time.

 

[Brie]

Brie - I appreciate the input. I've bugged you about the Solana a couple of times by phone at the shop. I have a few more questions I'd like to run by you when you have some time.

Feel free to shoot me a PM or somethin anytime.

 

[mcvicker]

Regarding the skimmer, for about $20 you can get the TAAM rio RVT 800 and swap the pumps out. I used a 3/8" air tubing instead of what came with the pump. Also pull off the 90 degree on the venturi. You have to sort of force the bottom plate back on the skimmer. It works a lot more consistent. The pump it comes with's venturi always crusted up on me and the air was inconsistent. I have been running with this pump for a couple months, seems to be a good low cost fix. The skimmers Brie mentioned are a good way to go, also look at the aquamax hob, which is pretty nice.
-chris

 

[Shane and John]

Gort...We are running the Tunze with the StevieT sup on our solana now...It only took a day for it to break in and The StevieT cup is Great..Bri is right.I have seen the prototype of the solana media basket and its sick..He told me they shoud be ready in about a month or so..We took of the Y on the return as well..We are currently running the stock return pump and it seems to be working ok for us..

Bri was a great help to us and will stear you in the right direction...

We just finished our cycle and now have the pair of clowns in the tank..We used all very established rock and let the tests guide us as to when the cycle was complete...We then added a small cuc and waited a few days..Then added the clowns...

If you have any questions just ask...Everyone is soo great to help out......Shane

 

[Gort]

Regarding the skimmer, for about $20 you can get the TAAM rio RVT 800 and swap the pumps out. I used a 3/8" air tubing instead of what came with the pump. Also pull off the 90 degree on the venturi. You have to sort of force the bottom plate back on the skimmer. It works a lot more consistent. The pump it comes with's venturi always crusted up on me and the air was inconsistent. I have been running with this pump for a couple months, seems to be a good low cost fix. The skimmers Brie mentioned are a good way to go, also look at the aquamax hob, which is pretty nice.
-chris

OY !! you gave me a research project.. thanx amigo. (I think)

 

[Gort]

Gort...We are running the Tunze with the StevieT sup on our solana now...It only took a day for it to break in and The StevieT cup is Great..Bri is right.I have seen the prototype of the solana media basket and its sick..He told me they shoud be ready in about a month or so..We took of the Y on the return as well..We are currently running the stock return pump and it seems to be working ok for us..

Bri was a great help to us and will stear you in the right direction...

We just finished our cycle and now have the pair of clowns in the tank..We used all very established rock and let the tests guide us as to when the cycle was complete...We then added a small cuc and waited a few days..Then added the clown...Shane

I'm both proud of you guys and really jealous!! Congrats...

 

[Shane and John]

No Need to be Jealous...You will be right there with us in a month or so!!

 

[Gort]

No Need to be Jealous...You will be right there with us in a month or so!!

Somebody tell me again why a guy who craves instant gratification (me) got into reefer-ism .. :fear:

 

[Krish]

Man, Don did a really nice job on that stand!! Love the shape of your tank and anxious to see how the new rock looks!! Tagging along.

 

[Gort]

Man, Don did a really nice job on that stand!! Love the shape of your tank and anxious to see how the new rock looks!! Tagging along.

The Vida Rock supposedly shipped yesterday. I spotted some small pieces of fully cured live rock at the LFS - completely covered with purple coralline - I'll have a good seed source.

 

[Gort]

Day 3

• Vida Rock is being shipped today - I sure hope it will worth the wait :doh:
• It turns out the bag of CarbSea Ocean Direct live sand was missing the little packet of their Biomagnet water clarifier. I got a small vial from the LFS and voila! The tank water cleared within minutes. Now I can see already how much I need to clean the glass - inside and out.
• I spied a small chunk of live rock at the LFS - completed covered over with coralline - it'll be a good seed source
• Salinity was high so I replaced some tank water with fresh RO-DI
• Turned off the stock skimmer for the moment
• Removed the Y-tube return pump diverter - also temporarily