Current USA Solana Build Up thread (PHOTOS GALORE)

[Dirt4dinner]

Well,
The new tank is finally cycling. I got the water and sand put in yesterday, screwed around with the skimmer and pumps to make sure everything was good, and added 30lbs. of live rock today! I opted for black sand...which was a tough call. But I think it will look good...so far I am happy with the choice!

This is the new Current USA Solana tank, the stand and light are bought seperate but designed for this tank. It is a 20 gallon glass all-in-one tank, with skimmer, media chamber, and auto top off system (more on that later).

The light is the part that attracted me...people either love it or hate. I like it because it's different! It looks really nice in our house. The stand is decent quality, it's sturdy...reminds me of a piece of IKEA furniture. I love the built in drawer!

The only other thing I added to the tank was the Koraline #1 powerhead, a thermometer, and a DJ light switch box to turn things on and off.

The "hair dryer" light is a HQI 150W metal halide. 15K is a little to blue for me, so the next bulb will be a 10K I think. I have two 1 watt moon lights on order from Coralife and I will place them on the back edge of the tank, and shine them towards the front of the tank (I think...we will see when I get them).

So for those of you who don't know much about this tank...it is pretty new to the market, so not a lot of reviews or info out there yet. Current USA just updated their website this week with a LOT more information on it. I didn't have that luxury, I had to go with hope when I made the order!

The auto top off system is to small bottles that are placed upside down into the back of the tank. The lids of the two bottles have small holes in them and they rest just under the water surface of the return chamber, when the water drops below the cap it allows a bubble into the bottles and water comes out. It's that simple! We will see how long the two small bottles last before they go empty...I am guessing two days. But then you just take them out and fill them back up. Easier than pouring out of a 5 gallon jug into the tank!

Here are photos of the tank when it was dry, and then with the rock I just added today. The rock has already been rearranged 3 times today...and I still am not happy with it. So I will figure that out while it cycles.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/Dirt4dinner/Solana/Solana001.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/Dirt4dinner/Solana/Solana002.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/Dirt4dinner/Solana/Solana009.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/Dirt4dinner/Solana/Solana005.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/Dirt4dinner/Solana/Solana006.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/Dirt4dinner/Solana/11-10-07DAY1.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/Dirt4dinner/Solana/11-10-07DAY12.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/Dirt4dinner/Solana/11-10-07DAY11.jpg

[Whoyah]

Pretty sleek looking. Very stylish. It will be cool to see you load it with stuff.

[Reptoreef]

keep us posted.

[graphixx]

I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA FOAM THE BACK???

[eldiente]

Very nice, I like the black sand!!!

[Dirt4dinner]

Greg,
I was fully intending on foaming the back. I even bought the foam. but the more I stared at it...the more worried I became about seeing the top of the foam. Foam in a tank with a canopy or top looks great. But foam that is not in the water, but exposed to light can turn yellow and looks terrible! I didn't know exactly where the water line would be, and I didn't think I could make a clean edge 1-2" down the back wall....so I bagged it. It was just to risky, and that crap is permanent.

[melev]

Looks great. Looking forward to seeing this tank mature.

[Sweetpea]

Great work! I can't wait to see it grow!

[spookey]

wow nice job there...

[dakar]

Welcome back Tyler!! LTNS

Going with some modern tank design eh? mind your pipe fittings and let's see that filled with critters!

[Dirt4dinner]

Thanks Dave! Glad to be back. The old tank was on autopilot, and I wasn't paying any attention to it...and subsequently my activity on reef forums dropped off the radar. I finally hit a wall with the old tank where I just didn't want to have it around any more. I never liked the layout of the rocks, or the plumbing and it was just giving me headaches, and to get it up to par it would have taken a lot of money, time and more headaches.

So I sold everything, now it's time to start over with this smaller tank. I love the size! I don't need to go bigger...smaller is less work, and easier to scrap if I get bored with this one down the road. If I hit the same wall with this new tank in a few years, I can just sell all the rocks and livestock and start a new tank with the same equipment and it won't break the bank!

More updates on this tank as it develops. I am already starting to see a little bit of algae and my skimmer has gone into overdrive since yesterday!

I have more fun setting up a tank than I do maintaining it apparently!

[dakar]

I have more fun setting up a tank than I do maintaining it apparently!

Seems we suffer from the same malady. :rolleyes:

[Dirt4dinner]

I got my Aquacontroller Jr. in the mail today!!!! Took me a few hours to get it all programed, and set up. It's a pretty easy process...except for when I accidentally deleted all the programs right when I got done. Oops...don't select Init. Memory, bad idea. So, I got to program mine twice.

While I was gone for the holidays my buddy didn't remember to empty the skimmer, so my algae problem got 10 times worse over the 5 days I was gone. I am running a super wet skim trying to get it cleared up a little. I am going to do the first water change tomorrow. Other than that the 8 snails are doing well, and keeping it fairly clean, but they couldn't keep up with the skimmer overflowing the whole time I was gone. Oh well. That's exactly why I didn't add any fish or corals before I left.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/Dirt4dinner/Solana/AquacontrollerJr001.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/Dirt4dinner/Solana/AquacontrollerJr002.jpg

[Reef_Angel]

Good thinking Tyler! We tend to be in a similar situation. We need to decide what we can combine, and make that final big decision on which tank comes up as our show tank. Glad to see you back here too! ...Angel :angel1: