34g

[Carrera75]

Hello everyone,

It was time to downsize tanks and after much thought and checking out different potential tanks I decided to go for a 34g Solana. The Mini Elos was also a contestant but I just could not justify paying that kind of money for such small tank when the Solana is almost identical but bigger. The other set up that I considered was the Cadlights but it didn't take me long to discard that option.

I thought I would start a thread to show and track the progress of this set up. The transferred from the 50g into the 34g Solana was done in June. It basically took me all day to successfully take down the 50g and set up the 34g Solana. There were buckets with corals and liverock all over my apt. Luckily, I didn't lose any fish or coral during this process. I should mention that the 50g tank was my first saltwater reef tank and it ran skimmerless and sumpless extremely successfully for over 6 years. All the corals that you guys see in there started from a tiny little frag. I was sad to see the 50 gallon tank go but at the same time excited about the Solana.

50g thread is here. There are lots of pics of the tank before it was taken apart
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=75799



I want to run the Solana in the same way as the bigger tank. It will be a very simple set up with no skimmer. The goal is to have the liverock as the main biological filtration system. This is what worked for me very well for 6 years and am planning to stick to this formula again.


New tank and stand shots









Next, is a list of the equipment I'll be using for this set up and as you guys can see, it's all very basic and simple.

Equipment

34G Solana Skimmerless
Custom made stand
24" 5 bulb Aquactinics T5 fixture
Ecotech Vortech MP10
Nano Glow LED (for refugium)
Heater

Livestock

Fish
Black Saddle Clown
Tailspot Blenny
Red Mandarin Dragonet (eats frozen food)
Still looking for other couple of fish that would do well in this small set up.


Corals

4 Rock flower Anemones
Lots of Ricordeas
Coco Worm
Softies
LPS


34g Solana after the transfer.

This is what the tank looks like right now.

These shots were taken with all bulbs on.







These shots were taken with only ATI Blue+ on.

[christyf5]

Wow, great looking tank. I love the solana tanks, they're so clean looking. Those flower anemones are just gorgeous, did you get them locally? Also do they stick to the rock they're on (whether they came that way or you put them there) or do they move about like other anemones?

Also how often do you do waterchanges? I have a 7.5gallon nano that is sorely neglected (mostly because I just can't seem to be successful with it, unless you can define excess algae growth as success). Any suggestions success with smaller skimmerless tanks?

LOL I feel like I'm giving you the third degree here with all the questions I'm seeing more and more successful smaller tanks lately and I really want to make mine look as great as they do!

[Carrera75]

Originally Posted by christyf5

Wow, great looking tank. I love the solana tanks, they're so clean looking. Those flower anemones are just gorgeous, did you get them locally? Also do they stick to the rock they're on (whether they came that way or you put them there) or do they move about like other anemones?

Also how often do you do waterchanges? I have a 7.5gallon nano that is sorely neglected (mostly because I just can't seem to be successful with it, unless you can define excess algae growth as success). Any suggestions success with smaller skimmerless tanks?

LOL I feel like I'm giving you the third degree here with all the questions I'm seeing more and more successful smaller tanks lately and I really want to make mine look as great as they do!

Thanks for stopping by to check out my new set up. The Rock Flower Anemones were purchased from Oceanic Corals. This took place last year around December. Paul brought a bunch of really nice ones and I picked up 4 of them. It seems that this type of anemone does not come around very often. The only time I have seen them was at Oceanics. They were not attached to a piece of liverock when I brought them home and I personally find it very easy to get them to stay put.

First step to get them to attach to a piece of liverock is to turn the pumps off, then make sure that you find a rock that offers them a good area where their foot feels protected. You can also place it on the sand right next to a rock and it will bury its food under that rock. If they feel safe were you placed them then they will stay there for sure. They never wander around in my 50g and they have stayed put so far in the 34g Solana. All in all, these anemones tend to stay put and don't get too big, which makes a great addition for a reef set up.

Now, as far as suggestions to run a successful skimmerless & sumpless set up. The first one would be to buy the right size fish for your nano and avoid crowding it with too many fish. Feed lightly and if you are going to feed frozen food I would highly recommend to thaw it first, then rinse it to get rid of that juice that's loaded with extra nutrients before feeding the fish. Water changes are extremely important at the beginning. Do them weekly and as the tank mature, you can do them bi-weekly and eventually once a month if you like but that can only be achieved over time.


On my set up I currently do water changes bi-weekly. The hope is to do water changes every couple of months or longer but I'll wait a while before to do this. The tank has to mature and settle before I can afford to let it go for more than 2 weeks without a water change. I personally believe that I was able to do this with my previous set up because I didn't overstock the tank and I made sure that no food was wasted. It's a very fine balance but I believe that it can be achieved if you are a responsible reefer.

[Boomboy]

WoW. that looks awesome for such a small tank. such clean water

[msjboy]

For you solano, what do you have in the back chambers now.?
Cheato...carbon....? Any mods to the circulation pumps...

Also, how much did them rock flower nems cost in canada. Thnx....you got a very nice setup!

Msjboy

[Corbin]

beautiful tank man, you cant even tell there is water in there haha

[Carrera75]

Originally Posted by Boomboy

WoW. that looks awesome for such a small tank. such clean water

Thanks

Originally Posted by msjboy

For you solano, what do you have in the back chambers now.?
Cheato...carbon....? Any mods to the circulation pumps...

Also, how much did them rock flower nems cost in canada. Thnx....you got a very nice setup!

Msjboy

I didn't do any mods to the pumps or tank. The stock pump is there and there is also an MP10 in the main display area. The great thing about the MP10 is that it's foot print is so minor yet it puts out a lot of flow.

There is cheato in the first back chamber area and a Nano Glow LED refugium light. A filter pad in the middle chamber and stock return pump plus the MP10 dry box in the third chamber. That's all there is back there.

Finally, RFA cost about $70 dlls each. This is one of the best purchases I have ever made. They are awesome and look amazing. I would definitely buy more but the lfs don't bring them in often.

Originally Posted by Corbin

beautiful tank man, you cant even tell there is water in there haha

I like it oo

[Carrera75]

Here are some close up shots of the 4 anemones that are currently in my set up.

[christyf5]

Just gorgeous Thanks for sharing the closeups, I'll be keeping those on my list of things to look for once I get my nano running properly

[Carrera75]

Originally Posted by christyf5

Just gorgeous Thanks for sharing the closeups, I'll be keeping those on my list of things to look for once I get my nano running properly

You are welcome. I thought that you would like to have a better look at them. That's why I posted close up shots of each of the RFA. By the way, Coralmorphologic carries them often and I have been told that these anemones can be shipped to Point Roberts and brought across the border without any problems as long as they are not attached to a piece of live rock.