Current USA Solana Build Up thread (PHOTOS GALORE)
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.
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