Starting over.....Solana 67g

[Teeb]

I had some problems with the tank during the move and decided to redo some things while it was down. Hopefully this will be the last setup for a LONG time.

Hardware:
Tank: Solana XL67 48" x 18" x 18" 3 side Starphire
Stand: Factory Black Stand
Sump: Custom 30" x 18" x 16" Acrylic
Return Pump: Sicce 3.0
Skimmer: Reef Octopus SRO-1000XPSSS
Biopellet Reactor: Reef Octopus BR-70
GFO Reactor: Reef Octopus OCT-MF1000
Flow: 2 x Vortech MP10ES
Lighting: 2 x Black AI Sol
Control: DA RKE Net (Will be replaced with an Apex once budget allows)
Misc:
Tunze 1075.500 Sump Inlet Filter
TLF KW100 Kalkwasser Reactor
Sicce 1.0 ATO pump
Custom AI Light Arms
Warner Ecobak Pellets
Caribsea Seaflor Grade sand


Pics suck, I know, I still don't know where my real camera is.


Empty FTS

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/davisfamily2009/IMAG0104.jpg


I have most of the plumbing done.


The Tunze sump inlet.
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/davisfamily2009/IMAG0117.jpg
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/davisfamily2009/IMAG0118.jpg

Biopellet reactor output next to skimmer.

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/davisfamily2009/IMAG0123.jpg

Manifold to BP reactor.
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/davisfamily2009/IMAG0120.jpg

Probe and float switch holders
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/davisfamily2009/IMAG0121.jpg

Just need to reroute some electrical wires and clean a few other things up, then the sand and rock go in.

[LuckySingh]

Nice equipment Steve ......and glad to see u come back...
So what's it gne be a high end chalice tank???

[randomfish]

nice cant wait to see it up and full chalices

[Teeb]

Thanks guys, tank is currenty full on regular water being leak tested, so far, so good except a really small seap from one of the bulkheads. Planning on draining and fixing tomorrow and get ready for the salt.

[Zack]

Thats a sick setup. Very clean. Can't wait to see what you do with it!

[rrasco]

Nice looking tank.

[Teeb]

My first attempt at aquascaping. The pic really sucks, LED's and camera phones don't mix well.

I'm still on the fence about it, I know I want dual islands and lots of open swimming room, but I'm not sure about the exact layout.

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/davisfamily2009/IMAG0129.jpg

[Cammed_02]

Looks good Steve, I'm digging the aquascape.

[Teeb]

Another try at aquascaping. I can't decide which I like better if either. Any suggestions?

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/davisfamily2009/IMAG0131.jpg

[Reefer madness92]

i like the two island look, more territory options and looks like a good use of space

[Zack]

Gotta agree with reefermadness here.

[allan]

I'm with Reefer, looks good with the two islands.

Maybe a wayward island off to the side to interrupt the symmetry?

[Reefer madness92]

Makes me wanna rescape my tank, i get really OCD about it though, Il be there for hours on end. Only thing is it will cause a huge cloud storm and clog up my sponge filters again :at_wits_end:

[Zack]

Makes me wanna rescape my tank, i get really OCD about it though, Il be there for hours on end. Only thing is it will cause a huge cloud storm and clog up my sponge filters again :at_wits_end:

With my current tank I don't have too much aquascaping I can do but I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank with some african cichlids and I must have spent at least a week with my hand in the tank to get everything to look good.

[Reefer madness92]

zack im gonna send u a pic of my freshwater scape

[Reefer madness92]

couldnt send in pm, 15150

[Teeb]

Thank you for everyone's input, I suck at aquascaping, so I welcome the advice. I redid it again and think I'm satisfied with it. Gonna see how I like it over the next few days before I putty it in. What does MAAST think?

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/davisfamily2009/IMAG0136.jpg

[Reefer madness92]

i would add another cave on right side, gotta remember our inhabitants love caves. like i said im obsessive. i would move that top rock so its level on top. i can only hope you know what i mean.

[reefreak]

Hey man you should look for an arch to connect the islands and it would be good for sps or hard corals

[Reefer madness92]

i think connecting them would make any really territorial fish take it all as its own. i know from experience

[FireWater]

Only thing I would do would be to rotate the island on the right a little counter clockwise. About 20 or 30 degrees. It looks like all the rock fits together well and will be easier to putty.

[Reefer madness92]

with putty any rocks fit together

[FireWater]

with putty any rocks fit together

Not necessarily. The better the rocks fit together dry stacked the better it will look and hold when using any form of artificial method of holding them together.

[Teeb]

Small update, thanks to some really dirty sand and copious amounts of MB7, I'm pretty well done with my cycle and diatoms are in full bloom. Ordering CUC soon.

I couldn't that tall rock to stay put, so I changed it a little. It'll give me a little more real estate for corals and won't need a pound of putty to stay in place. I also took John's advice and rotated the right structure a little, good call John, I like it a lot better that way.

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/davisfamily2009/IMAG0148.jpg

[FireWater]

Lookin green and good Steve. I like that rock layout.

[Teeb]

Thanks John, do you still have a piece of that 3g Mummy Eye, I lost my 30 eye colony along with a bunch of other stuff in the move.

[FireWater]

No way. That sucks. I have about 5 eyes of it now. May not be frag ready yet, but when it is you are welcome to some of it.

[Teeb]

Yeah, lost about $4k worth of high end LPS and SPS. It was a demoralizing day.

[FireWater]

Hate to hear that.
I just fragged some stuff so I am a little limited, but you are welcome to what I have. You have always hooked me up.

[SinisterLou]

That' s enough coral lost to make a grown person cry

[Teeb]

Thanks for the offer John, I really appreciate it. I have some zoas in the tank now with mixed results, half open, half closed. Once it gets a little more stable, we'll have to do some trading.


That' s enough coral lost to make a grown person cry

It almost was. From what I can remember, I lost the following:

6 eye Monster Mash (this one hurt)
30 eye CB 3G Mummy Eye
5 eye BGM
5 eye MH
10 eye Pink Chalice
4 eye Rastafarian Watermelon
3 eyes of one VERY similar to Banana Banshee
5 eye Rainbow Brain
Several Acans and Enchinatas
Wet Thumb Blue Flame Acro
Mr. Pacman Deepwater Acro
Several ORA and ATL Acros
Seasons Greetings Monti
Big Superman Monti

I know several others that I can't think of, along with the B&W clown that I've had for 3 years, both my Mandarins, and my Chromis. It was a bad day.

[Zack]

I REALLY like that slope on the right side. Sorry to hear about your loss man :/.

[nwehrman]

Really like the scape!


Nicole

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Teeb]

Tank zero'd out today, so cycle is done. More of the zoas are opened up, still adding MB7 daily. Anyone have a small rock with pods that I could add to start building life again?

CUC ordered from reefcleaners, should be here on Tues or Wed.