New Solan 34g - Work in Progress

creefer · 11-18-2010, 09:57 AM

Hey all...

Been lurking around here for a year now and finally set up a system about a month ago. I set up a 34g Solana and so far so good. Since I'm at work, pics will have to wait until the evening. Here's where I sit currently.

Equipment:

Solana 34 g & Stand
Maxspect G2-110 LED
1 Koralia Nano 425gph
ATO from autotopoff
MJ900 for ATO
5-Stage RODI (more on this later....)
150w Stealth Heater

I have a few items on the wish list. Started the tank with Agra-alive sand, dry base rock, and seeded it with some choice coralline LR. Cycled fine, did first WC and now have GHA everywhere. I know this sometimes happens post cycle however I attribute some of it to my mistake in the RODI. I ordered a build your own RODI from BRS and forgot the DI stage when ordering

Should have ordered sober I guess. Anyway, I was getting some TDS out of the thing which inspired me to look further into it. That's when I noticed I had f'd up, so I ordered a DI canister (Should arrive today or tomorrow) and will now have a 5-Stage RODI. So, I will also need to do a larger WC as a result.

Right now, I'm running a mini fuge in the second chamber. I have it set up top down as follows: filter floss, purigen, chaeto, chemi-pure elite. Hopefully this, along with new water, will help with the GHA (just added chemi-pure elite yesterday, 6.5oz bag). Params are pretty good so far. Amm=0, trites=0, trates=5ppm, NO4=0, salinity =1.025, and temp=79*.

All I need now is an MP10 and a controller with some probes and I'm good to go.

Thanks for checking in.....Pics later....

jimsflies · 11-18-2010, 10:12 AM

Congrats on your new tank. I really like those Solana tanks. Looking forward to watching yours grow.

When you get a chance, enter a reefshow case for your tank. Here is a link to add it.

ReeferRob · 11-18-2010, 10:19 AM

Glad to see you started a thread over hear man!

Looking forward to many post in the near future!

Sounds like your ready for a little CUC in there.

creefer · 11-18-2010, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReeferRob

Glad to see you started a thread over hear man!

Looking forward to many post in the near future!

Sounds like your ready for a little CUC in there.

Thanks.

I have 3 small blue leg hermits, 3 medium red leg hermits, and a cleaner pack of snails from reefcleaners that should arrive this afternoon.

Looking forward to becoming part of the community, attending local swaps, etc. It's going to really fuel the addiction.

creefer · 11-18-2010, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimsflies

Congrats on your new tank. I really like those Solana tanks. Looking forward to watching yours grow.

When you get a chance, enter a reefshow case for your tank. Here is a link to add it.

Thanks. Will do. Need to learn how to take pics and get rid of the GHA first.

Sir Patrick · 11-18-2010, 11:30 PM

Nice tank man! Looking forward to watching the progress on this!

creefer · 11-19-2010, 05:06 AM

Thanks. I am too. Can't wait to beat my algae issue though.

creefer · 11-19-2010, 05:20 AM

Ok, I said I would have pics, so here goes. These are taken sequentially as things have progressed. It got filled with saltwater the weekend before halloween.

I think I experienced a minor cycle. I never really had any huge spikes of ammonia, tries, or trates. So, I added a true percula about 1.5 weeks ago. Still no spikes of anything and trates have consistently declined since I first started testing (2 wks after adding water, LS, and LR) and are in a holding pattern around 5ppm. I have added a pretty decent CUC from reefcleaners last night, so hopefully within a week I'll see some progress on the algae issue.

Future Plans:

I really would like and RKL and MP10 and maybe even a tunze 9002 skimmer. For now though, I'll be installing the DI cartridge this weekend and doing a 30% WC to try to get some more pure water in the tank. I'll also be installing the ATO that arrived last night.

That's it for now. Will try to get pics of the mini fuge in the second chamber if I can get a camera back there.

Thanks for looking.