# 34g Solana



## j3tang (Sep 14, 2010)

It's been some time since I've had this tank and I think it's about time I created a thread for it. 

I've not been at this salt water hobby for long, but I started with a 20 gallon tank that used to belong to my folks when they used it for goldfish. Eventually, I noticed a tiny leak at the base of the tank's trim. It was an ever-so-slight leak where I only saw the salt stain grow and as such, I had time to look for a new tank to replace it. It was more like seeping, rather than leaking, but oh well.

I had bought this Solana used off of another hobbyist. It was an unsatisfying transaction in which I contemplated reselling the setup before it would be too late to resell if I had started setting it up. Alas, I put in some work/material (read $$$) and kept the tank and performed the transfer. Not a huge step up from my previous tank, but an upgrade nonetheless.

From the time it was setup 'till now, it's been about 4 months (give or take). Several weeks ago when it was super hot for 3 days and we didn't have the A/C on yet, the temperature in the tank went from 78-79 degF up to 86 degF and I had lost some livestock: a marble sea star, a yellow sand anemone, and my beloved Midas Blenny  My GBTA split just last week too (not sure if it's just a slow reaction??)

Currently, there are 2 clowns in there at the moment and the plan is to transfer the in-quarantine coral beauty into the tank in a couple weeks, and then replace my Midas Blenny at some point. I get the feeling I've messed up the order of how I should stock the tank now because the angel isn't going in last anymore. There are also 2 sexy shrimp (I put 3 into the tank altogether and one of them just disappeared after entering the tank and was never to be found again) and 1 skunk cleaner shrimp.


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## j3tang (Sep 14, 2010)

I permanently leave the stool in the middle of the foyer so that I can sit and watch 
"Blue" lighting is via two strips of LED lights bought off of ebay mounted to the disco ball -- photos don't do it justice; all the corals fluoresce like crazy.


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## Kweli (Jun 2, 2010)

I have a solana too, with a 150W... it can get overheated some days...

My plans are to figure out a cooling solution..... Not sure what path to take....


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## poobar (Feb 20, 2011)

I have had over heating issues on the really hot days but have found that simply putting a 6" fan pointing at the top of the water keeps the temp at a good level.
More water topups, but that's a lot cheaper than a chiller


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## j3tang (Sep 14, 2010)

Kweli said:


> I have a solana too, with a 150W... it can get overheated some days...
> 
> My plans are to figure out a cooling solution..... Not sure what path to take....


Other than leaving the A/C on, I've also got bottles of water in the freezer that I sometimes put into the back of the tank for a bit to cool the water down some.



poobar said:


> I have had over heating issues on the really hot days but have found that simply putting a 6" fan pointing at the top of the water keeps the temp at a good level.
> More water topups, but that's a lot cheaper than a chiller


Agreed, but then again I'm not a big fan of adding a fan to the tank ... screws up the clean tank look


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## explor3r (Mar 14, 2010)

Looking very nice I love the disco ball


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## j3tang (Sep 14, 2010)

I wasn't a very big fan of the disco ball. I thought it was cool at first, but the more I looked at the tank, the more I thought it felt out of place.

Square stand, square tank, round light??

So some time ago, I bought a Sunpod off another member here at a steal of a price. I gutted it, and retrofit a DIY LED kit to it 










As you can see, the disco ball is still installed in the background 
As soon as I finish off the splash guard / cover to go on the LED fixture, I will remove the disco ball, and then the Deltec MCE600 I bought can go into the back of the tank as well! This tank is turning into quite the money pit!


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## Kweli (Jun 2, 2010)

Very nice... wow thats alot of sand!


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