Smoq's 34g Solana- it tastes like salt for the first time!

[smoq]

Smoq's 34g Solana

I'm sitting in front of LCD's screen trying to compose few forwarding words to this journal. It's hard, taking under consideration a glass of bourbon in my left hand, hard rock music playing in the background and English translator sweating in my head. But I'll try...
First of all, I'd like to thank all kind people on this great forum who helped me get to the point where I am today with this hobby, without you I would probably make tons of mistakes and throw out a lot of money. For all your help, :beer: for everyone.
I thought about setting a saltwater tank many years ago, but I've never made any steps in that direction. My main inspiration came one day when I jumped from the catamaran's deck to South Florida's warm water with a snorkel mask on my face... I saw a different, beautiful world that amazed me from the first second I looked at it...
And here I am, 2 years later with my first saltwater tank, the soon-to-be reef 34g Solana. I considered many different setups (biocube, cadman's, red sea max) but finally decided to get the tank from Current. And I don't regret it- it's a great tank that don't need a lot of modding to serve it's purpose. It has three things I especially like about it:
-it's rimless
-it has perfect size (not to small and not to big)
-it allows more customization than other tanks I considered.


Here's the hardware side of my setup:


Tank: 34g solana (20? cube)
Stand: Custom made by Bueller
Lightng: Aquaticlife T5HO 24? 4x24W fixture with stock 2x1000K and 2xactinic bulbs + 4 moonlight diodes
Current Powerbrite LED strip for shimmering effect that I grabbed brand new on craigslist
Filtration:
1^st chamber- Tunze 9002 skimmer with StevieT cup and 200W marineland stealth heater
2^nd chamber (in progress) eggcrate cage with cheato inside, chemipure elite and filter floss on top of that

3^rd chamber stock return pump, ATO sensors


Water movement: Vortech MP10
Controller: Reefkeeper Lite lvl 1



Two things I would like to say before I start to bore you with the tank progress:
-I've spend A LOT of money, which will not shock you but I can't say the same thing about my girlfriend
-I don't have any money and will have to beg my other half to give me some for CUC, fish and frags
-I'm gonna go bankrupt soon so check marketplace regularly
-I will have TONS of questions ant the end of this monolog


So it all started when I contacted Russ and Jim at saltwatercritters.com about the solana tank. It was a great experience dealing with those guys and they've got a loyal customer I picked the glass only and decided to get the light and stand myself.


STAND


I got my stand custom made by John (Bueller) who did a great work and I can truly recommend him to anyone looking for a solid stand. I especially like the fact that it's 35? high so I have it on my eye-level.
I finished the stand myself with oil-based stain and wipe-on poly. Pictures:


Me like staining

Finished stand

Details

As for lighting, I've chosen Aquaticlife fixture and I couldn't be happier. The light is great and when I first saw it has built-in timer/controller I was already sold out. The case itself is very sturdy, even the splash guard is made out of thick acrylic, not like those cheap thin ones others use. We'll see how it performs, but as for now, I'm very satisfied with my purchase.


This is the controller panel:

Then I pulled out the solana skimmer and installed a Tunze 9002 in it's place ( I needed to relocate the magnet to the side so it holds on back wall). The only other mod I did was cheato light (I found a project of this light online and did it almost the same way). Pictures:


About to build it:

3 beers later

I installed everything under the stand and ended up with one million wires

Couple of days later I ordered my rock from premiumaquatics (heard nothing but best reviews on their rock and go it shipped ground which wasn't that expensive. I ordered 20# of Bali Alor rock and 15# of Timora Sea rock.



It came three days later:


Whole shipment

Closeups:

Both rocks are great and very porous, not much live on it thought ( just some coraline algae and dying macroalgae)


I've snapped some pictures of the rockwork I managed to create, I'd like to know your opinion and critique. The inspiration for this cave is gained from James' tank (Educator). Thanks man, your reef kicks ass. I hope you don't mind I copied your scape


With all the lights on:

Actinic only

Current Powerbrite only

Close-up

Finally filled this bastard with saltwater-let the cycle begin


Now the questions part

 

[smoq]

Questions-a lot of it

1. When my cycle ends, how much water should I change?
2. I was thinking of clean-up-crew and I think I'm gonna contact Russ or Jim about this one, but I have some questions about it:
a) snails- what kind and how many
b) shrimp cleaner vs fire(blood) which one should I get
c) crabs- I'd like one emerald and few hermit crabs- am I thinking right?
d) Me and my girlfriend would like to sea a seastar in the tank- what options do we have here?

I thought about fish too and here are my preliminary choices:
-pair of clowns (which ones, I like onyx ones but would like to hear comments)
-one goby, yellow watchman or else?
-one fairy wrasse (which one would you recommend?)

I'd like to hear your comments and let you know that I would have more questions tomorrow (when sober)

Thanks a lot people and sleep well.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Answer to question 1 is 5 or 6 gallons.Astrea or small turbos,not the big ones,they're bulldozers about 10 or so.Always liked cleaner shrimp,Red or blue legged hermits,emeralds are tricky cause some will eat your sps corals and some don't.Add the gobies first before adding a wrasse cause in a small tank,they can be territorial.A linkia is a reef safe starfish

 

[E.intheC]

Looking good man. You might want to see if you can move the rock away from the back wall (if it's touching) so you can make sure the flow can get behind there.

As for your questions, you can (and should) definitely contact Russ and Jim for the clean up crew. In terms of crabs, I wouldn't add an emerald. They are scavengers and don't have a great reputation. I personally love the blue zebra hermits so I have some, but they're scavengers as well. (to a lesser extent)

As far as shrimp, the two you listed are both very similar in terms of care. I used to have a fire shrimp (aka blood shrimp) and a cleaner shrimp in my tank and they were great. The fire shrimp hid a lot more than my cleaner though.

Your fish selection sounds good. I wouldn't add more than what you have listed there though. Onyx clowns are nice, but it really depends on your personal preference. Maroon's are pretty mean though, in general.

 

[bruce922]

Looking good. Keep up updated with any new pictures you take.


Bruce

 

[James]

Marcel, that tank looks great! I love the aquascaping, you got that cave down (and am flattered you liked my tank). You have done your research and have approached this tank very patiently, I have 0 doubt this tank is going to be very very nice given time. I will try to help with some of your questions,
1. I changed all my water out simply because the water was horrible black due to a lot of die off. I would suggest 50%ish just because you have a smaller water volume and 15 gallons is not too hard to do (i like starting as fresh as possible). You could get away with 20% if you wanted.
2. a. turbos and nassarius (for the sand)
b. I prefer cleaner shrimp as they are more active but fire shrimp are cool too. Basically your call and you could prolly get away with both, I cant speak from experience on that though.
c. Hermits, I have blue leg, cortez red leg, and scarlet reef mixed in there. I like crabs even though they will pick off a snail for a home sometimes. I like to have lots of empty shells lying around so they are not as tempted. I have an emerald crab with no problems but others have had problems so I guess it is hit or miss. My big problem with the EC was he would knock frags off my rocks before I got a chance to glue them down, once you pick up some IC gel at the swap, that shouldn't be an issue.
d. can't speak on seastars, never have kept them.

3. Your fish choices sound good, I don't know about the wrasse because I have heard they are better for a bigger tank but if you get one and it is happy I will be getting one too , they are cool fish. Gobies are cool because you can pair them with pistol shrimp if you want to go that route.

I would say good luck but you won't need it, you will be more than fine. I am coming back to NYC this week from vacation (with some shells for my hermits) and would love to come check out your tanks in person. Let me know,

James

Questions-a lot of it

1. When my cycle ends, how much water should I change?
2. I was thinking of clean-up-crew and I think I'm gonna contact Russ or Jim about this one, but I have some questions about it:
a) snails- what kind and how many
b) shrimp cleaner vs fire(blood) which one should I get
c) crabs- I'd like one emerald and few hermit crabs- am I thinking right?
d) Me and my girlfriend would like to sea a seastar in the tank- what options do we have here?

I thought about fish too and here are my preliminary choices:
-pair of clowns (which ones, I like onyx ones but would like to hear comments)
-one goby, yellow watchman or else?
-one fairy wrasse (which one would you recommend?)

I'd like to hear your comments and let you know that I would have more questions tomorrow (when sober)

Thanks a lot people and sleep well.

 

[Master Shake]

ok answer to first question is to just let it sit and dont water change. let it sit and do its thing. Wait until tank is fully established to get clean up crew, then i would get 5-8 med. size turbo snails and probably 10-20 nasarius snails. Cleaner shrimp, blue and red leg hermits for crabs, and get a orange linkia for a starfish- fully reef safe(but a little delicate so get when sure your can handle it. For fish clown pair is ok, dont get a gold watchman- get a randalls or a yasha goby along with a yellow clown goby. and for the fairy wrass DO NOT get a six line, my favorites are the lineatus or the labouti but you are going to pay a pretty penny for either one of them. and someone said goby/pistol shrimp pair you cant have any other shrimp with them and harlequin shrimp will eat starfish.

 

[smoq]

Thanks for all your help. Right now I'm just staring at bare rock, but it is exciting enough to keep me patient untill the cycle ends. I turned on the light several times for few minutes to see if something crawled out from the rock and I spotted a very small snail yesterday and a lot of what I believe are copepods in hw corner of the tank. There are at least 50 of them in that corner. Other than that, some leftovers of macroalgae and some green and purple coraline algae.

Answer to question 1 is 5 or 6 gallons.Astrea or small turbos,not the big ones,they're bulldozers about 10 or so.Always liked cleaner shrimp,Red or blue legged hermits,emeralds are tricky cause some will eat your sps corals and some don't.Add the gobies first before adding a wrasse cause in a small tank,they can be territorial.A linkia is a reef safe starfish

I read that turbos can be bulldozers so I thought about getting these snails:
-nassarius to sift the sand
-astrea
-nerite snails
-banded trochus

How many and which of them would you recommend? I read that trochus are algae eating machines and nassarius keep the sand bed clean but need your opinion

Looking good man. You might want to see if you can move the rock away from the back wall (if it's touching) so you can make sure the flow can get behind there. .

Only the top ones are leaning on the back wall, I moved the bottom ones away from it- will I be good?

I personally love the blue zebra hermits so I have some, but they're scavengers as well. (to a lesser extent)

Zebra hermits? Well, never heard of hem, still a lot to learn Are they priced similiar to red or blue legged?

Marcel, that tank looks great! I love the aquascaping, you got that cave down (and am flattered you liked my tank). You have done your research and have approached this tank very patiently, I have 0 doubt this tank is going to be very very nice given time.

Thanks James, we need to figure out how to light our caves now. And it's Marcin But you can call me Martin, much easier to pronounce

b. I prefer cleaner shrimp as they are more active but fire shrimp are cool too. Basically your call and you could prolly get away with both, I cant speak from experience on that though.

Cleaner shrimp let it be then

c. Hermits, I have blue leg, cortez red leg, and scarlet reef mixed in there. I like crabs even though they will pick off a snail for a home sometimes. I like to have lots of empty shells lying around so they are not as tempted. I have an emerald crab with no problems but others have had problems so I guess it is hit or miss. My big problem with the EC was he would knock frags off my rocks before I got a chance to glue them down, once you pick up some IC gel at the swap, that shouldn't be an issue.

That's why I opted for EC, I loved yours and the way you feed him with the turkey baster was mesmerizing to watch.

I would say good luck but you won't need it, you will be more than fine. I am coming back to NYC this week from vacation (with some shells for my hermits) and would love to come check out your tanks in person. Let me know,

Anytime you'd like to come James, just let me know when you come back. And I want pictures from your trip

ok answer to first question is to just let it sit and dont water change. let it sit and do its thing. Wait until tank is fully established to get clean up crew, then i would get 5-8 med. size turbo snails and probably 10-20 nasarius snails.

Thanks for your recommendation, wrote it down

Cleaner shrimp, blue and red leg hermits for crabs, and get a orange linkia for a starfish- fully reef safe(but a little delicate so get when sure your can handle it.

Yeah, starfish would be the last thing I'll add if I decide to get one. The orange linka looks good, what do you think about Ophiolepis superba?

For fish clown pair is ok, dont get a gold watchman- get a randalls or a yasha goby along with a yellow clown goby. and for the fairy wrass DO NOT get a six line, my favorites are the lineatus or the labouti but you are going to pay a pretty penny for either one of them. and someone said goby/pistol shrimp pair you cant have any other shrimp with them and harlequin shrimp will eat starfish.

Six line was my first love when I didn't even think about setting a SW tank, but I heard so many comments against it that I will surely forget about it. I'd like lineatus and labouti but they are WAAAy out of my budget, whatt about scott's fairy wrasse or Yellow-Flanked Fairy Wrasse?Aren't they too big for this tank? Any others? I need to think about it...

As for gobies, I really like yellow watchamn goby and yellow clown goby, but I still haven't decided.

The other fish I really like is flame angel (instead od wrasse), but it won't be a good idea, right?

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[smoq]

One more thing: I tested the water today and the results are:

ph 8.0 (could be a little lower, it's hard to match those ph color samples with the chart)
salinity: 1.024-1.025
ammonia: 0.5
nitrite: 0
nitrate:0

I keep the temperature at 80F and the fan turns on when it hit 81.

 

[pweissma]

Nice tank smoq. I'm also starting a Solana and I'm working with Russ & Jim at Saltwatercritters. And I also got my live rock from Premium Aquatics. Hopefully I'll get my tank thread going soon.

This past Sunday I started stocking my tank with a pair of tank bred ocellaris and 3 hermit crabs from Manhattan Aquariums. So far the fish and crabs are doing really well. I was able to feed the clowns an hour after putting them in. The clowns are swimming all over tank and through the live rock.

I'm planning a trip up to see Russ on Sunday to pick up some snails. They're also getting me a Yasha Hase Goby that I hope to add in about month or so. Not too sure about a 4th (and probably last) fish but a Bangaii Cardinalfish is currently the #1 contender. Suggestions?

Jeremy at Premium Aquatics told me that in a few weeks they will be carrying a skimmer for the Solana/Cardiff priced around $120. They're finalizing the design with the manufacturer.

 

[smoq]

Nice tank smoq. I'm also starting a Solana and I'm working with Russ & Jim at Saltwatercritters. And I also got my live rock from Premium Aquatics. Hopefully I'll get my tank thread going soon.

This past Sunday I started stocking my tank with a pair of tank bred ocellaris and 3 hermit crabs from Manhattan Aquariums. So far the fish and crabs are doing really well. I was able to feed the clowns an hour after putting them in. The clowns are swimming all over tank and through the live rock.

I'm planning a trip up to see Russ on Sunday to pick up some snails. They're also getting me a Yasha Hase Goby that I hope to add in about month or so. Not too sure about a 4th (and probably last) fish but a Bangaii Cardinalfish is currently the #1 contender. Suggestions?

Jeremy at Premium Aquatics told me that in a few weeks they will be carrying a skimmer for the Solana/Cardiff priced around $120. They're finalizing the design with the manufacturer.

Sounds great, can't wait to see pictures of your setup. What kind of rock did you get from PA?
The Yasha Hase Goby looks cool, are you planning to get a shrimp for it?
I'm also undecided about the 4th fish, but I've got a lot of time before I get it. Bangaii Cardinalfish is a great looking fish, but you have to discuss with others about it's behavior as I still know a little about reef fish Personally, I'm in love with fairy wrasses, I've seen some personally and was stunned. First I wanted to get a six line wrasse, but was informed against it (aggression) so I searched more and found clown fairy wrasse- my number one now. I still have to make sure this tank wouldn't be to small for it though.
Good luck with your solana.

 

[pweissma]

I used 30 lbs of the Bali ALOR live rock from PA. It's very branchy. I used a clear acrylic rod and some epoxy to make an arch with lots of openings. I had some leftover rock that's now in the sump.

The Yasha Hase goby is a great fish. There's an active mult-year thread on the fish http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=147269&hl. In the wild it pairs with Randalls Pistol Shrimp and I plan on getting one with the Yasha.

I find that picking fish defies my noob expectations. Outside of true and false percula many reef friendly nano-sized fish are either jumpers or aggressive. But people do keep wrasses and other aggressive fish in nanos without problem. Order of introduction is important. Corals seem to be a whole nother issue with aggresiveness.

Good luck with your Solana

 

[smoq]

I've tested the water for 2 days straight (yesterday&today) and ammonia and nitrite both shows zero. It's 10th day of the cycle now. James suggested that my cycle can end quickly as there was not much die-off on the rock. I think I'll wait another week before I'll get CUC, but I have some questions:
-should I turn on the skimmer now and do a water change or wait till next week?
-can I turn on the light now or should I wait another week?

 

[smoq]

I've got my first update. The tank is running for some time, I ended my cycle (it cycled very fast as there was not much die-off on the rock) and added CUC few days later. As for now, it consist of:
-6 blue legged hermit crabs
-2 small cleaner shrimps (my first favorite saltwater animal, I have dozens of shrimps in my planted tank but none of them clean my hand when I put it in the tank:biggrin
-1 emerald crab (I know it's a risk, but I just love the way he takes food from my turkey baster)
-8 astrea snails
-4 small nerites
-3 cerith snails
-1 small brittle star
-clam that survived on my live rock

I think I am full when it comes to CUC, but i was thinking about adding some nassarius snails to stir up the sand. What do you think?

Few days ago I bought my first fish, two of them to be exact- a pair of ocellaris clowns. That was my gf's request and I've had to agree (why? there's a good Educator's article on that in latest coral magazine issue)
The fish are all happy, swimming together and eat like pigs (no offense). I feed them daily with frozen mysis shrimp and brine shrimp, I hope that's the right way. I have bloodworms that I'm feeding my discus with, can I feed my clowns with it too? What about the regular tetra flakes?
I've grabbed my first frags from few fellow members here on the forum and I'll try not to kill them. My tunze skimmer is up and running, I'm very happy with it and probably would not use the stock one (I would probably sell it).
I would like to hear some advice on my filtration system:
-Chamber 1- skimmer and heater
-chamber 2- cheato lightened with DIY CFL 13W light that runs on opposite photoperiod than my main lights (from 12PM-6AM), then some filter floss and the stock filter pad. I was thinking to add chemi-pure instead of floss, is it a good idea or it's too early yet?
-chamber 3 ATO, temperature probe and return pump

Here's a FTS of the tank, taken today.

My new tank is a training ground for improving my photoskills, here are some close-ups on my first frags. Sorry for not the nicest quality, but saltwater aquarium photography is still a new ground for me

Purple tip torch

Zoas-kill me but I forgot their names

Orange monti cap- I don't know why, but I'm crazy about monti caps- I need to find someone nearby who will have some green or blue ones for sale

Xenia-green ricordea frag

Red and green mushroom

Papaya cloves

I'm thinking of adding a goby or two in the nearest future and then the last fish after a month or two. My picks are:

-neon goby and some kind of shrimp goby
-neon goby and twin-spot goby

What else would you recommend?

And my last fish, still under debate Pics are:

-flame angel (quickly forgot about that one after some read-out)
-fairy wrasse- I was thinking melanurus or scott's fairy wrasse, but aren't they too big for the solana?

Any other pics?

Thank you guys/gals for all your help and comments.

 

[bruce922]

Very nice so far. Keep up with the pics.


Bruce

 

[smoq]

Thanks Bruce. I'll try to post more pics soon.
I need your help people, I made a list of possible fish I would like to get later. I am thinking of one or two gobies and a fairy wrasse as my last fish and I would like to hear your comments.
Gobies/blennies:
-neon blue goby
-twin-spot goby
-yellow watchman goby
-Sailfin/Algae Blenny
-lawnmower goby

Fairy wrasse:
-Red Head Solon Fairy Wrasse
-Scott's fairy wrasse
-melanurus wrasse
Or should I forget about fairy wrasse and think of something else?

Thanks guys, I appreciate your help.

 

[pweissma]

Your pictures are GREAT! Your Zoas and everything else looks nice and healthy. What camera equipment are you using?

 

[smoq]

Your pictures are GREAT! Your Zoas and everything else looks nice and healthy. What camera equipment are you using?

Thanks man, I am still learning though. I think reef macro photography is great way to learn macro shots. I shot with Nikon D90 and tamron 90mm macro lens.

 

[JonnyJ]

smoq, i think this maybe the nicest and well planned solana i have ever seen.

Your setup is beautiful. I love everything about your tank. The scape is perfect. Really cant wait for this tank to mature. nice pictures.

 

[QUESTIONMARC]

tank looks great Marcin.. you did an amazing job on that stand! good stuff!