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Blink's 25 gallon Solana cube

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#1 · (Edited)
Current full tank shot as of 29 December, 2012


It's time to start up the new tank journal and it's late, expect rambling.

I bought a nice little 25 gallon AIO cube a while ago, branded as an Ecoxotic but made by Current USA and essentially a smaller version of their Solana. I like AIOs, they give me a sense of well being and relaxation. Anyhow, my wife decided it would make a nice reef tank until I pointed out that she had recently gotten a 60 gallon cube which still needed plenty of livestock.

VICTOLY!!!

The time has come to get some water in this thing so first things first, I needed a stand. I looked high and low and there was nothing I liked, or at least nothing I liked that I was willing to pay the asking price for... what do these people think they are selling? I mean $300+ for a poorly made wobbly pressboard stand? **** that, I'll make one I says which causes much eye rolling and sighing from my wife, fortunately I've built dozens of subwoofer boxes and all a tank stand is, is a subwoofer box with a door and some access holes.

After a quick trip to Home Depot and bribing the lumber attendant I had some nicely pre-trimmed pieces of 5/8" MDF (which were way way off size) Good thing I asked for generous cuts :) Tonight had me in the garage making all kinds of saw dust and getting most of it in my ears and nose.

There are no pictures of cutting or assembly because, well, I kinda forgot and by the time I realized I'd forgotten I didn't really feel like taking any... I was on a roll!! I promise there will be lots of photos coming.

The stand is mostly assembled, some screws and lots of Gorilla Glue, I tried the new white formulation, apparently it dries twice as fast as the original brown. I need to figure out what I'm doing for shelves and a door but so far it's straight and level, probably more level than this house.

I'm considering finishing it in a nice black-brown color as we have a couple pieces of Ikea furniture in that shade and it looks good. Even if I don't get a color match this tank stand is beefy enough to bludgeon the Ikea junk into dust so it'll work, or at least that's what I tell myself. But on the flipside I'm really tempted to go back to my sub box roots and use some marine grade carpet on the stand, I'd have to waterproof it but you have to waterproof MDF no matter what you do because the junk will soak spills like a shamwow. Hmm, guess I'll have to think on that... But I'm most definitely painting the interior of the stand white, I've had enough of black interiors on tank stands. The white looks good and if you put just a tiny cabinet light in there it is so bright and easy to see what you are doing.

Moving right along, I've got a pail of Fluorite dark, two or three ziplock bags of plants I've gotten recently and a whole helping of impatience.
The stand should be finished by tomorrow night and dry by Saturday morning come hell or high water, then I'll need to figure out what I'm doing for scaping since the wife stole all my prize pieces of driftwood for our new 12 long. I don't want to do lace rock again and I don't want an Iwagumi because my CPDs won't stand for it.

Guess I'd better wrap this one up for tonight.
 
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#3 ·
Questions! Did you buy it second hand? Have you put water in it yet? What do the silicone seams look like?

I only ask because my cousin gave me his 34g solana and well it seeps from the seams. He broke it down when he sold his house and had to keep it in storage for two months then kept it in his garage for another 5 months all during a very hot summer here in Texas. The black silicone they used dry rotted. I noticed when cleaning the calcium build up. Long story short I'll be removing the AIO filter and sump and just having an all glass aquarium with refugium sump once I
re-seal it. It was definately a bummer and set back for my reef setup, so I instead switched to starting my 30g planted tank.
 
#4 ·
I did buy second hand but the seller had water in when I arrived. When i got it home I ran the pump and leak tested it for a couple days but thank you for the heads up on the dry rot potential.

This may not help you but drs. Foster & Smith sell just the solana glass cube without the all in one bits for about $180. You might be able to sell your solana and buy a new one and possibly see some cash in your pocket while having a warranty and a new tank.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I made a little side trip to the local fiberglass store and I've figured out how I'm going to seal this stand; Ecopoxy
http://www.safeepoxy.com/
It's claimed to be odorless and non-toxic so in theory I can work with it in the house, which is great since my garage is unheated and it's hovering around freezing right now. The guy at the shop said it's an incredible product which is pretty reassuring since I was looking at some $50 US composites product and this stuff only set me back $30.
Other reviews by boat builders say that it's an excellent alternative to epoxy or polyester resins.

I think I'll be doing prep tonight and sealing it tomorrow so wish me luck on that aspect, I'll let you guys know how ecopoxy works out for me.

On the construction side of things I spent some time sitting on my stand, literally, and it's rock solid. No flex or wobble with me and my big fat cat sitting on it and rocking around. I figure if 240 lbs won't cause a wiggle then a nice stationary aquarium should be juuuuust fine.
I just need to clearance the door slightly and get some hinges and I think it'll be ready for sealing.

And there are even some poor quality cell phone photos, first one is obviously the semi complete stand.
Second is the tank itself, sitting on an awesome 70s coffee table I found in the basement, I thought long and hard about making the stand the same height because it makes a nice end cap for the sofa but this room currently houses my wife's 60 cube and I didn't want to crowd too much water in one room.
Thirdly is a photo of the sump area, I'll probably be referring to this photo later.
 

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#9 ·
Yeah, time for more rambling... there is progress though!

First coat of Ecopoxy has been laid down. I did the bottom, back and part of the inside of my stand with pretty heavy coats. Haven't used much material so far and the verdict is in on it's working performance.

This stuff is nice!!

-It does NOT emit any detectable odor
-It mixes easily although it doesn't change color when it's fully mixed (might be able to use a colored hardener to solve this problem)
-It spreads really well. Some resins are goopy and really viscous which makes them hard to work with (especially when fiberglassing) but Ecopoxy is thin and spreads very nicely.
-It even self levels to some extent, not something I'm used to seeing in polyester resin and something I've never seen in traditional epoxy resin.

Since I'm not quite finished I have no idea on the finished result but it's sitting in the hobby room curing (yes!!!! I can work resin in the house! Holy cra... er, mackerel!)
This is such a big deal for me because I've had projects sitting all summer waiting for me to find time to work on them and either the weather was poor or I was busy but this opens doors... I can't emphasize enough how happy I am about this!

I even managed to take a couple photos but I'm saving those for later.
 
#11 ·
Definitely is, it's currently enjoying daily doses of water from my other tank. I'd been planning to split it up and plant in there, but I think that tank will be getting torn down.



More photos!
-The back, I may end up making the upper hole oblong but it only needs to fit a couple electrical cords so I'm not too worried about the size right now.
-Front view, what you can't see but annoys me is that there is a slight mismatch between the top piece on the front and the front edge of the top surface of the stand... I may end up making a trim piece that will surround the tank but we will see.
-Mmm, glossy glossy resin, it's only been a couple hours and it's already tacky!
-Testing my fluorite, I wasn't sure I had enough but there is a good 2.5" throughout, score!
-I really want to put some swords in this corner but I wonder if it will be too dark and/or low flow? Any opinions?
 

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#13 ·
Yes, it came with the dual hose, I'm just not sure I want to point one end of it into the corner. I'm really not sure how I'm going to aim it, I'm not very good at visualizing stuff like that so I'll have to try it while it's running empty, maybe put something into the water that will be easy to see how it all blasts around.

On another note, Ecopoxy is essentially dry to the touch. Probably not cured yet, but should be done by tomorrow so the sides, top and interior will get finished then it's on to other things.
Was hoping to be up and running by Monday, but it's not an emergency so no point in rushing things. Haste = waste n all that.
 
#19 ·
Yes, it came with the dual hose, I'm just not sure I want to point one end of it into the corner. I'm really not sure how I'm going to aim it, I'm not very good at visualizing stuff like that so I'll have to try it while it's running empty, maybe put something into the water that will be easy to see how it all blasts around.

On another note, Ecopoxy is essentially dry to the touch. Probably not cured yet, but should be done by tomorrow so the sides, top and interior will get finished then it's on to other things.
Was hoping to be up and running by Monday, but it's not an emergency so no point in rushing things. Haste = waste n all that.
Point it at the sides and it'll circulate to the corners when the flow is redirected by the sides.
 
#14 ·
I test fit my bogwood or driftwood or whatever the hell people are calling it these days and both pieces seem too big, which I kinda figured when I bought them but I thought I'd test fit n see what people say.

First piece, it fits inside but it seems too big... I think there's potential when I set up a bigger tank but not sure for now.


And here is the second piece, it obviously needs some trimming to fit and I hate to chop up such a pretty stump so I'm torn.



What would planted tank do, chop up the wood or find another piece or combination of pieces that is better suited to the tank size?
 
#15 ·
Today was resining day 2, the entire stand is covered and it seems to have soaked in as much as it's going to soak and cured as much as it's going to cure so tomorrow I expect I'll be sanding and hopefully painting. My wife has officially put the kibosh on carpeting it, she feels it would look cheesy and I was never really 100% set on the idea so I think I'm going to try and get a dark brown to match the stand our reef tank is on, it's a nice rich color and I prefer it to basic black.

Tomorrow will also be door installation day, I have to use the router and cut a small rebate in the back surface of the door so the hinge will sit flush then install it all and see how I did on making straight cuts :)
I've got a shelf that is nearly ready to install but I keep remembering that this is an all in one, there really isn't going to be much in the stand aside from a few bottles of fertilizer, a net or two, the power strip and the CO2 cylinder. Do I really need a shelf for so few pieces of gear, probably not but perhaps I should install it just in case?
 
#17 ·
Hi, it is coming along nicely

I totally feel you with finding a nice stand for a good price. It is hard to even find an attractive stand let alone a quality one. and custom cabinet makers all want like $800+ for a good one off piece.

I am having trouble finding info on this 18 inch ecoxotic tank, all I see listed on their website is the pico?
 
#22 · (Edited)
Sorry about the lack of updates, I've just been busy as heck with work lately.
The tank is up and running but I'm getting nitrate/nitrite spikes and have lost a bunch of fish... fairly frustrated right now but just trying to contain the fallout.

I'm not entirely sure what happened as I used mulm and sponge filter squeezings from my old tank and the biomedia from my old filter and ran it for about a week. Things seemed ok and stable so I added my fish and for the first few days things were fine then I noticed I lost 3 endlers, 2 white clouds and 3-4 CPD overnight.
Tested the water and it was awful, high in nitrites and nitrates but zero ammonia. This happened in about 38 hours after my last test. I did a 50% water change that night and a succession of 25% water changes over the next couple days and it seemed like things were stable.
Then after a couple days I lost another fish per day for 3 days. Nitrates were high, nitrites and ammonia test ok. Been doing water changes every day or two.

It appears the tank decided to fool me and have a cycle after staying stable for as long as it did but I think part of my losses were due to stress because the flow was too high been though I'd already swapped to a lower flow pump, so I've swapped it out for a still lower flow pump.

I'm really annoyed with myself and I'm not sure how many more fish I'm going to lose before this settles out and stabilizes.
I'm also annoyed at one of the local LFS, they put their demo 40 gallon Osaka on clearance a couple days before I got this tank finished, if I'd known I'd have gotten it for sure, I'm still debating it lol... talk about a tank hoarder.
 
#23 ·
Follow up to this, I found out that one of my LFS gives out poor advice, they told me that 250ml of Seachem Matrix would be "plenty of biomedia" for this tank. Seachem suggests more, I'll need another liter to meet their recommendations and of course everyone in town is sold out of Matrix so I've added some Fluval Biomax or whatever their white rings are called.
I'm going to steal some cycled media from a friend's tank too, hopefully I can head this disaster off at the pass before I lose any more fish.
 
#24 ·
Time for another boring text update.

I lost a white cloud about 10 days ago but she had had a swollen/fat stomach for a while. She seemed healthy just huge so I don't know if that's an issue but (knock on wood) no fatalities since. Test readings seem stable since then although nitrates are still a bit high to my mind the local fish people I've asked think its fine so I'm not obsessing.

I picked up 4 juvenile CPD a couple days ago and they seem fine which is good because my rainbows are arriving tonight.
I've got a pair of McCulloch's dwarfs, Skull Creek locality (insert Latin here when i get home) from a semi local breeder so I guess I'll have to post up some photos.

Plant wise things are sort of going, my HM is growing and seems happy, the dwarf sagittaria has bounced back and I've noticed some new growth but my swords and spiral als aren't happy. Pretty sure its a nutrient deficiency but haven't nailed down what... its a good excuse to start using ny dry ferts I suppose.
 
#25 ·
Water tests out ok and the new fish are in and settling down nicely.
I tried to snap a couple photos but they were being a bit twitchy for point n shoot or cellphone photos so I guess I'll try the dslr tomorrow.

Fingers crossed that I'm over that particular water quality hump!
Dry fert regime starts tomorrow morning, just in time for a water change on Sunday night.
 
#26 ·
I promised some photos and now is the time!

Obligatory full tank shots
Front
Point and shoot version


dslr version


Side, feel free to ignore the splashes and equipment, I forgot to remove them


Now for some detail shots

My Hemianthus micranthemoides or glomeratus if you'd prefer
It's not getting enough light but it's still growing well and I'm not ready for CO2 yet, so I've not cranked up the light


My dwarf sagittaria field of dreams... all of these plants melted badly and I feared I would lose most of them but with only a couple exceptions they all came back and several are desperately needing a trim which is gratifying


And now for some livestock
Here are my new rainbows, Melanotaenia maccullochi
They are still a little shy and not really displaying any color but I'm sure that will change as they get used to their new home


Here is the male by himself


And a terribly reflective pair shot


Here are my Blue eye forktails, Pseudomugil furcatus


And to close out this journal entry, a few cheesecake shots of the other inhabitants






 
#27 ·
Update time,
Things are growing slowly but steadily, the HM is enormous and will need trimming tomorrow.
Dwarf sag is good, I've added some downoi in the very front of it, it seems to be growing, at least it didn't melt yet. Swords are coming back but the spiral val just doesn't seem like it's going to come back, it's all yellow and sickly so I think tomorrow it'll get yanked out.

The fish are all good, except two, one of my CPDs and one of my gold ring danios are both getting skinny and fading away. They seem to eat, but just keep getting thinner which to me says internal parasites so off to the LFS for some meds tomorrow. Any suggestions for brand?
 
#28 ·
Another update, no one cares!

First, my sick fish seem to have recovered after a couple treatments of Seachem Metroplex, hooray. They're both eating like pigs and look to be gaining weight.

On the bad side my Furcatas were getting aggressive and have been taking runs at everyone so they've been rehomed, but unfortunately not before they killed one of my nicer CPDs... I'm about 95% sure it was the bigger furcata who wouldn't stop flaring up at all the other fish, there was a furcata sized bite taken out of his anal region and by the time I found him he was alternating between swimming funny and floating, his gills were all bloody and his butthole region was missing, pretty reminiscent of jaws. After a short rage session we gave him some clove oil and Everclear, a fish wake if ever I've heard of one.

Now for the good stuff, I've finally gotten off my duff and gathered up all my pressurized co2 bits and put it all together. No leaks first try, everything is working as it should and I've got fish flavored soda pop! The bubbles look kind of terrible but I will move the diffuser into the rear sump section once I know everything is stable and working as it should. I do want to get a solenoid, but that can wait since I've put myself on a bit of a budget and I wanted to get running NOW.

I removed the bigger chunks of driftwood on the right, in behind the HM and trimmed the hell out of the HM but now I'm getting some black bush algae on my dwarf sag so hopefully the gassy stuff will help fight it off because I'm getting really tired of dealing with this fuzzy black poop.

The swords are throwing runners like mad and even the spiral val seems to be making a comeback which is pretty gratifying... I'd almost pulled it out but at the last second I thought I'd let it keep trying a bit longer.

I haven't got any photos because there is a surprise coming as soon as it gets waterlogged enough to stop trying to imitate shamu.
 
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