The Eagle has Landed

Solana, 34 gallon

I was finally able to meet up with the guy I was in contact with about buying a 34g solana from Sunday night. Got everything loaded up in the car and took it home. It is now sitting next to the 20H ready for everything to be moved over. When I got home, however, I discovered that the "Y" nozzle was missing so he is going to search for it and mail it to me so that I can have it for when I set the tank up. 

I ordered 20lbs of Pacific black reef sand online and it arrived just the other day so I think I have enough sand to make a nice sandbed. 

I'm going to buy and build DIY LED lights but they are on hold until July so I'm going to use the 2x65w pc fixture I have on the 20 right now. The 6,500k white just went out so I'm left with just one bulb running on it ATM so I'm looking at buying a new bulb online to replace the old one. 

I also traded for some coral and picked up some Lunar Eclipse Zoas, Hydrophora, and some Flame Algae. 

The tanks is clean now and I have been fixing up the stand because it has a few extra holes on it. I'm going to pick up some black paint to finish the stand so everything will be ready for move-in on Friday.  Nothing major has to be fixed on it which is really nice.  Everything is coming along nicely.

Hydrophora

Lunar Eclpise

A New Star

Finally found it!

Yesterday after doing some shopping I made my usual trip to the pet store and took a look around.  I had a coupon and a $5 off rebate and they were expiring so I decided to use them.  I purchased a Peppermint Shrimp for my 75 gallon at the office and I also decided to purchase a Sand Sifting Sea Star.
The sea star ended up being on sale so with the coupon and the $5 off, the whole purchase cost less than the Peppermint Shrimp was supposed to be.
Anyway I couldn't find the sea star yesterday or this morning but when I got home this afternoon there it was on the glass.  Here is a picture of it on the glass and also a video of it turning itself over.  I was trying to get a good picture of the sea star when it fell off the glass and landed upside down so it gave me the opportunity to film it turning itself right-side up.  It did it a lot faster than I was expecting.


Can't wait to get all this stuff into the new tank.  

Enjoy the pictures and the video!

On the glass

Moving around the sandbed

Dream Tank

Black and White Clownfish

To start I'd like to talk about my current setup.  I have a 20 gallon high tank that currently houses all my livestock: two black and white clownfish, various corals, live sand live rock, and a snail only CUC (clean up crew).  The tank itself (not the contents) is very old and has lots of scratches and stains on it that I couldn't get out with muriatic acid.  It has been up and running for over a month now and has been doing great (except for losing a clown to his own stupidity and my disgust).

One day I was thinking about how unattractive the tank looked and how hard it was to see the fish and coral well because of all the stains and scratches.  I also think that 20+ years for a glass tank probably caused the clarity to diminish.  The very next day I found a great deal on a 34 gallon Current USA Solana AIO (all in one) aquarium.  The AIO feature includes the skimmer, overflow, return, and acts as a sump for filtration.

I'm not sure why but the AIO feature (almost all equipment is hidden and included) and the cube aspect of it (20x20x20) made this tank very attractive to me and it really is my dream tank.  I couldn't pass up the price so I have negotiated with the owner to hold onto it for me until I get funds together to pick it up. 

Here is a link to what it looks like: Solana.  It doesn't come with the disco ball light but it does give some nice shots of the tank, stand, and the back side (the AIO component to it). 

Here are some pictures of what the 20 gallon looks like now:

Full Tank Shot

Mean Green Zoas

Hammer Coral

Frogspawn Coral

Unknown Green Zoa

Red/Orange Montipora

Cherry Crush Zoa

Green Star Polyp (GSP)

Purple Death Paly and Toadstool

Ricordea Florida