Vis Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I hoping any Solana owners could give me some tips. I purchased a used Solana a few months ago and was wondering if it it could be plummed for a sump or if that was even necessary. I'm planning on keeping a tiny snowflake eel , maybe 2 clownfish and a nem and some other softies. I ditched the little bio balls but I'm wondering if the skimmer will be sufficient. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Did you get this model? http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewitem.aspx?idproduct=CU80012&child=CU80013&tab=5&utm_source=mdcsegooglebase2&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=mdcsegooglebase2&utm_content=CU80013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vis Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 Did you get this model? http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewitem.aspx?idproduct=CU80012&child=CU80013&tab=5&utm_source=mdcsegooglebase2&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=mdcsegooglebase2&utm_content=CU80013 Looks like it yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I had that tank for quite a while and I loved it. The skimmer will only work if you have a ATO to maintain a constant water level. If the water level fluctuates it will overflow the skim mate in to the tank. Even then it just works so-so. The ATO bottles that it comes with are completely useless. If it was mine to do over I would upgrade the pump and the skimmer and get an ATO for it. Oh and the glass top never worked for me while I had MH lights the tank heated up to much. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vis Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 I had that tank for quite a while and I loved it. The skimmer will only work if you have a ATO to maintain a constant water level. If the water level fluctuates it will overflow the skim mate in to the tank. Even then it just works so-so. The ATO bottles that it comes with are completely useless. If it was mine to do over I would upgrade the pump and the skimmer and get an ATO for it. Oh and the glass top never worked for me while I had MH lights the tank heated up to much. HTH What about drilling it for a sump . Worth it or not ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I don't think the seal where the false wall meets the glass is water tight. If you removed the false wall and did a standard drilled drain/return that might be kinda cool. I don't know structurally if that would cause a problem. Depends on if you want to keep the all in one style or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaunMonahan Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 What about drilling it for a sump . Worth it or not ? I have this same 34 gallon Salona Tank. I drilled the bottom 2x for a 1" drain and 1" return. I left the black overflow/wall in place and use it as my overflow to feed my sump located below tank. It's totally worth it, IMO. I have a dominated sps tank with many clams (like 14). I run a deltec skimmer, calcium reactor and a 250w 20k halide on this tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisriverfisherman Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 If you have plenty of live rock in your system, and are only gonna keep a couple of fish and do weekly 5gal water changes I would not be to worried about adding a sump. I used to run a 29gal Bio Cube and didn't use a skimmer at all and had no problems. But the key is to have lots of live rock, replace the bio balls with rock rubble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vis Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Thanks for the input. At this point I need to get my hubby to hurry up and fix the stand and then I'll decide which way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I had a Solana for a while too and didn't have a sump. I did have a large skimmer and had a lot of flow and was able to keep sps, acans and most things. It all depends on what you want to do. The more volume of water the more stable your parameters but keeping a low bioload and frequent water changes can do wonders too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I had a solana stocked FULL of sps. I only kept a few fish and did a weekly 5g water change. I had plenty of flow with an mp10 and I had a sapphire aquatics solana skimmer that was a beast for it's size. I ditched the stock ATO and put a float switch in the last chamber and had a 10g container underneath that I used for top off water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vis Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 Thanks for the info. I'll need to google a float switch- clueless I'm really excited to get this thing going! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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