Solana 34 Gallon Cube | A Second Try

We've had a Solana 34 gallon cube with the Ecoxotic L.E.D. at Elite Reef since we opened, but with so many tanks this one was overlooked. It always sported the most drab of corals and never got the attention that a starphire cube lit by high end L.E.D.s deserves. With all the new display tanks going up lately, I decided it was time to take a real crack at this one and give it a second chance. This time I was pulling out all the stops and stacking the rocks right the first time. To get this started I drained all water and moved livestock to other displays so I could stack the rock dry. Lately I'm really liking a cavernous rockscape with a lot of space within the scape, and I'm also becoming a big fan of not allowing the rock to touch any walls. This one also seemed like the perfect chance to try out Ecotech's new glue with some crazy rock stacking. After I was done and took a step back to admire my work, all I could think is art work!!!



In it's first life as a display, this tank was sorted through, weaknesses were identified and modified, so it should be pretty strait forward getting it going well this time. I've never been a fan of mechanical filtration, so naturally that was the first thing to go. The skimmer on this set-up also never produced a bit of good skim in its life, so that was tossed in the junk pile as well. This time around I'm thinking of putting some good light on the skimmer compartment to run as a refugium.

I've never been very satisfied with the temperature of the lighting either, so before it gets coral, I'll be adding a small Reefbrite actinic strip to give every some real "pop".

The tank has classic new tank sand clouding at the moment, so I can't share any pictures yet, but check back soon for images of this gravity defying rock scape.

 

can wait to see ur awesome scape

 

Can't wait to see some pics.. Subscribed!

 

It was still looking a little cloudy yesterday, but I'm hoping it should be ready for a photo shoot today. The Ecotech glue held the rocks very well.

 

shop owner pulling out all the stop, oh yeah! cant wait to see whats in mix!

 

The new rockscape.

 

Dry ice! Love it.
This is now officially the Spinal Tap Stonehenge tank Mike.

matt

 

On a more serious note, here's some pictures of the rockscape. Our frozen food came in packed with dry ice today and I couldn't resist playing with it.

 

Ok. On a serious note you did a fantastic job with those rocks. Cool cave - you nailed it.

matt

 

yeah im with matt on this one AWESOME SON!!!