James's 34G Solana - new to saltwater, YIKES

[jgalvin]

Hi everyone, Reef Frontiers has been such an incredible resource for me. I thought I'd start a thread to show my aquarium. I have zero exprience with saltwater fish or equipement; 20 years back i has cichlids, but that's about it. Always loved the look of a reef tank and felt like it'd be a great hobby. So far it has been.

My tank: 34G Solana with espresso stand and wood trim top. I also put a slab of black granite between the tank and the stand so water does not get on the wood and warp it. Tank was started around February 1st. The live rock,fish, CUC, bristle worms (as well as mushrooms/pink kenya) came from a 55G tank I bought off craigslist (with lots of other goodies). My only fatalities in the past 5 weeks have been two crabs and a sailfin blenny (RIP).

Here's my current inventory of what's in my tank...
LPS
Mushrooms
Pink Kenya
Xenia
Leather
radioactive green dragon eye zoas
green dragon zoas
rign of fire zoas
blow pop zoas
purple purple zoas
torch coral
hammer coral
frogspawn coral
Pink/White Acans

SPS Orange digi polyps

Fish
Two false percula clowns
Two Sand Sifting (Diamond) gobies
Sailfin blenny RIP little Bubba

CUC Red and blue legged hermits
Various snails

Everything stock in tank
Heater: Stealth 150W heater
Light: switching tomorrow from Current Extrme to AquaticLife T5 High Output with 2 Lunar LED`s; tried using the 250W sunpod, but was too bright for our living room, so sold it.

I keep around 78 degrees, salinity is at 1.024, nitrates are on the high side at 40 or so.

Open Questions
I can't seem to get anything out of my skimmer, its either a cup of clear water or nothing at all. Is there any trick to setting the cup height?

My first picture FTS

Thanks for looking will update from time to time.
James

 

[ashton]

Very nice james, I see the frags you got from me by the clowns. Lookin good.

 

[jgalvin]

thanks

Very nice james, I see the frags you got from me by the clowns. Lookin good.

Thanks, yep those two look really really good in my tank, i did buy some additional zoas and the frogspawn yesterday from Seattle Aqua Farm, and those zoas have not opened up yet.

 

[str8juizy]

Really nice! My favorite reef tank I ever owned was a nano... post more pics when you can!

 

[iroll253]

Diggin the aquascape. Just remember don't be afraid to ask questions. Happy reefing.

 

[jgalvin]

new pictures (and coral, fish, and a little more rock)

I've now hit the two month mark with my tank, i've added more corals (zoas and acans), and yesterday (for my birthday) added a 6-line wrasse, a cleaner shrimp, and a bunch of snails. I know I'm moving too quick, but when i enter the LFS, I seem to have little restraint.

New FTS (i added a couple small pieces of rock to the top)

Closer FTS

left side shot

Front cove (home of my gobies and where my cleaner shrimp is hanging out this morning)

- James

 

[jgalvin]

AND questions for anyone

thanks for looking at my thread, few questions

(1) i've superglued frags to the live rock, the corals have moved, is there any way to remove the white superglue, i tried an exacto knife/razor blade, no luck?
(2) my stock skimmer, doesn't seem to pull much of anything out of my tank. after a week there is a small amount of kinda dirty water. For how loud the skimmer is, etc, seems kinda useless. Is there a trick to get "skim"? How far under the water line works best for the cup?
(3) my nitrates are still high (40) - after 2 months, i feed once a day and do weekly water changes of about 15% (4 gallons) and am treating with Amquel+, nitrites are zero. any ideas?

Other than that, eveything is doing okay in the tank, a couple of the zoas are not opening up, but think its the snails i put in the tank slithering all over them. Thanks again for looking and appreciate any suggestions.

- James

Oh - also got a reefkeeper lite for my bday this week, LOVE IT.

 

[jgalvin]

too many snails?

I think i over did it on the snails. If anyone have a LPS to trade for a bundle of pulsing xenia, green/red mushrooms, and a couple turbo snails, let me know...

 

[scottmdebord]

What kind of skimmer are you running

 

[CRASHFIREJOE]

(1) i've superglued frags to the live rock, the corals have moved, is there any way to remove the white superglue, i tried an exacto knife/razor blade, no luck?

The glue will be coverd in time with pink Coraline and you won't see it. I usually just leave it alone.

(2) my stock skimmer, doesn't seem to pull much of anything out of my tank. after a week there is a small amount of kinda dirty water. For how loud the skimmer is, etc, seems kinda useless. Is there a trick to get "skim"? How far under the water line works best for the cup?

Maybe if you give more info on the type of skimmer someone here who knows about it will chime in.

(3) my nitrates are still high (40) - after 2 months, i feed once a day and do weekly water changes of about 15% (4 gallons) and am treating with Amquel+, nitrites are zero. any ideas?

At 2 months your tank is still cycling and has had alot added to it in a short time frame I can't stress enough to add occupants slowly over time and keep doing regular water changes using R/O water in your mix.


Just got done looking at your tank on the computer instead of my blackberry and Your tank looks GREAT. I love the scaping with good looking rock keep up the good work and welcome to reef frontiers.
Joe

 

[Myteemouse]

+1 on the skimmer info
Also a better skimmer will help drop nitrates.
Love the tank very goof for the first one ever..
Well done....
Keep doing water changes and your rock should catch up with the nitrates over time

 

[jgalvin]

Thanks much for the replies!

Yeah, i know i'm moving quick, i bought the rock/sand from an very established tank, so didn't see much of a cycle. My girlfriend keeps telling me to slow down, but new to the hobby, and my control is weak

The skimmer is the stock one what comes with the Solana (which is an all in one tank) which is built by current USA. From what i understand for a stock one its supposed to be pretty good (forgot who makes it for current). I don't know if there is a "best practice" for the skimmer cup height, the directions that came with the aquarium say 1/4 inch below the water height, but that doesn't seem to be giving my any thick skim.

Thanks again for the reply
James

 

[jgalvin]

oh, forgot to mention, i am using an RODI filter, although the water in Kirkland that i tested (even tap) tested well, but still using a spectrepure RODI. I ran it this week (connected to my downstaires bathroom), and forgot to turn it off, woke in the morning to a flooded house i will now be using a timer hung around my neck. thanks again.

 

[thatguy559]

i was debating about starting a nano....how much harder is it to keep them in check?

 

[jgalvin]

i have zero experience with saltwater tanks. My last fish tank was an oscar (freshwater) back in 1994. So far its been very easy. My parameters are not that great yet though (nitrates high). As soon as things level out, i hope to just do biweekly water change which takes me less that 30min. The Solana is 34G, I would not go any smaller (well guess that depends on the location), just do to the lack of space in the tank. Salinity, PH, and temp I have had no problem controlling. So far, really enjoying it, just discovered a feather duster. Let me know if any other questions.

i was debating about starting a nano....how much harder is it to keep them in check?

 

[jgalvin]

clean up crew?

i'm starting to feel my clean up crew is not work the hassle. i added 20 snails this weekend, still the same amount of algae on the glass, but now a coral removed from the rock every morning.

What's you thoughts on the value of the CUC? Hermits or snails?

As alway, thx much for all replies!
James

 

[FreakinReefin]

i'm starting to feel my clean up crew is not work the hassle. i added 20 snails this weekend, still the same amount of algae on the glass, but now a coral removed from the rock every morning.

What's you thoughts on the value of the CUC? Hermits or snails?

As alway, thx much for all replies!
James

CUCs are absolutely essential to the health of your tank. I can tell you that having turbo snails in a tank is a little like using a bulldozer instead of a broom. They are good eaters but they knock everything over. You really should make sure to get appropriate sized snails and hermits for your tank. For a tank your size, getting Astrea(sp) or even bumble bee snails would be perfect. You have to make sure that the snails and hermits are small enough to fit in the cracks and crevices in the rock so they can clean. As far as the algae on your glass...tough luck. Most of my snails eat that but it really is just your job to clean your glass. Get a magnet cleaner and cowboy up. One of the things you can use instead of super glue is epoxy putty. You can get it online or at a more stocked LFS like Blue Sierra. I use this for my more delicate corals that are in spots that are too difficult to glue or would be easy to knock off if glued. It's good stuff since you can form the putty to really fill in the gaps and make the fit look more natural.

About the Nitrates...your tank is going to go through many cycles. Just because your rock and sand came from another tank doesn't mean that you won't see a cycle. In fact you might even see a worse cycle since there more than likely was plenty of detritus in the old sand and trapped in the rock. The sand bed is used as an anarobic filtration system and can be very dangerous when disturbed. Biweekly water changes are completely unnecessary, except for right now. Although it is still good to let your tank cycle. You need to test the water frequently to see where your water is in the cycle and then when the water starts to get higher nitrates, you know the cycle is coming to the end. This is when you do the water change. But you shouldn't just do random water changes. Your tank needs the Nitrogen cycle to develope properly.

Above ANY advice out there though, BE PATIENT! That will save you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much stress, pain, money, time, effort, money, money, money, communicable diseases, money, relationships, money...you get the point.

 

[mcvicker]

I recommend mesh modding the stock skimmer. I did this and it was night and day. I am currently considering replacing with a Warner Marine H1 hang on skimmer, but the stock works pretty good. I went with a half dozen snails in mine and 2 hermits which seem to do pretty good. You will always have to clean the glass since the snails just leave random tracks through the glass.

 

[jgalvin]

thanks for the comments!

how would a mesh mod improve the skimmer, doesn't that just make is more quiet?

on the snails, i agree, the turbo's are bulldozers, anyone need some cool zebra pattered one inch turbos? otherwise they are going back to the LFS this weekend.

- james

 

[jgalvin]

okay in an attempt to improve the stock solana skimmer, i wrapped wire around the propellar (thinking this does the same thing as the mesh mod), and drilled 3 more holes in the plastic thing in the skimmer that does on the pump. From my eyes, the bubbles look the same. oh well

question: i'm heading to europe for two week on a cruise in july (can't wait), we'll have a pet sitter, but can anyone recommend a good automatic feeder?

- James