SOME INFO ON NEW CAD34


This 34 gallon aquarium package combines the Beauty of our Seamless bow front aquariums with the power of the 150w HQI. Comes with a full size built-in refugium on the back of the tank and a 450gph pump. Comes with an adjustable Lok-Line return on the mid-bottom of the tank for direct turbulence to the reef. Newly designed refugium now comes with our 60G Protein skimmer and extra upgrading options to fit our cooling unit and drop-in UV sterilizer for the most complete all-in-one system that we have designed so far. Great set-up for SPS frags and all types of corals that are very demanding in light and water quality. Tank Dimensions are 23.5" x 18.25" x 18.5"
Features

*150w 14,000k with 2 x 24w Actinics supplements
* (2) LED 2 watt moonlights.
*Full size refugium on back. Does not include refugium substrate.
*Comes in black Cell-Cast acrylic background (oscillator retrun nozzle optional).
* Refugium Dimensions 23" x 5.5" x 18.5"
* Flip-up hinged tank mounts.
* Separate T5 light strip for refugium.
* Signature Polished and mitred edges with Extra thick 7mm thick glass.
* Seamless curved front panel. * Super slim sleek profile Light design at only 2.5" height.
* 3 separate circuits and switches for complete automatic and manual control for each T5 bulb, LED moonlights and Halide lights. Easily compatible with all kinds of timers.
*NOW COMES WITH OUR 60G FULL SIZED PROEIN SKIMMER AND SLOTS FOR THE COOLING UNIT AND DROP-IN U.V. STERILIZER. *Glass Canopy comes standard.




Funny Thing is i dont have one yet. waiting for mine in mail and cant wait!!!

I will be ordering mine shortly
I plan on rubble where the bioballs are, pura pad, and floss on top of that, in chamber 2: skimmer and heater- NO UV!, Chamber 3: Mud and Mangoves, and algae galore- cheato, caelpera (sp?) and that red blade one, chamber 4: cheato, pump, and temp sensor, as well as ATO.
I will stock with ~ 18-20 lbs of my LR in the display portion, and another 15- 20 in chambers 1 and 3.
I will have 2 cleaner shrimp, a goby, a pair of clowns, and another sort of fish, hermits, snails, conchs, scallops, coral of every type (all segregated into areas) , and like 5 clams!
What do ya all think?
Oh, and 4 nano koralias.

Guess i should join the club since i was the first to get the signature series I love this tank! Im glad i was patient and was able to get this model. Chamber 1 has about 15 lbs of rock rubble, with filter pad,carbon, auto top off sensor and fan is attached. The second chamber has skimmer,UV,Heater, and two pumps one for skimmer and one for chiller. Third chamber has sand bed and macroalgae(neomersis,halimeda,red mangroves and some other i cant remember the name of) The last chamber has return pump and a bunch of chaeto. So far i have a pair of O. clowns, Spotted prawn goby, a klausewitz blenny , a purple firefish, cleaner shrimp, snails and hermits.Im currently waiting for my nitrates to reach 0 before i start adding coral. gvtv everything sounds good except the clams. They dont do well in nanos. Unless you are vigorous in spot feeding them. 4 nano koralias would work good if you have them on a wavemaker. If not it may be too much flow IMO. I have 2 tunze 6025's and when they are both going they produce quite a bit of turbulent flow.

Glad to see a CAD owners thread finally! Us Finnex owers aren't so elite anymore... j/k!!

Even though I don't own one, I plan to follow this thread to see how it evolves and advances.

My 34G should ship this week. I will post the condition of unit when I get and hope I can include some pics of the packing.

Looking forward to see how this thread grows.

Along for the ride.

ok, i know a guy who is selling the protein skimmer from his cadlights seperately. Would this work in a sump for another tank? also anybody know how well they skim?

Sure. They skim very well once you adjust them properly and have it running for a while.



Thanks for the support

I plan on buying the 34 gal cadlights tank within the next month. I had a 55 gal set up about a year ago, i was new to salt water and like others rushed everything without doing much reading and research. I have read just about every thread on this site and reefcentral and now am ready to try again. being a college student also made the 55 a little too expensive. I love the cadlights tank and look forward to setting it up.

Cool! count me in.

i kinda had to upgrade my 34G standard to the Signature and i love the tank. the skimmer skims pretty good and takes out about 4 oz. every week of gunk.

My 25 gallon is arriving on Wednesday!!!

Of course, different brands aside, we're all still premium AIO tank owners, right?

Heyyyyyyyyyyy! So my AquaPod isn't a "premium" AIO tank?! =p

NOPE. Time to upgrade, like me

haha!

It's ok Epic, my AP12 that I'm trying to unload now isn't one either... =/

But in all seriousness with the the CAD (and Finnex) tanks offer, NO cube out there (exception of the JBJ 28g HQI) can hold a candle to these 2 brand of tanks. for one they are open top which almost completely eliminates the heat issues many cube type AIOs have. Also you can put a true functional skimmer into these tanks as well, and they come with excellent lighting off the bat, especailly the 144w 6x24w lighting that the CAD 22g and 25g come with standard.

Just got an email from Cadlights and my 34G is shipping out Wed the 29th. I will post how the shipping goes!

Nice! I'd love to see pictures of mod's done on these tanks. I'm usually too busy to innovate, so I'm basically begging you guys for ideas right now. Hahaha..

oh..one thing I did on my 34g standard (non-sig) is epoxy the bottom corner of my return hose to prevent it from causing constant sand tornados. Everyone's seems different, but my return was non-loc line. So it was either...drain the tank, remove return line and install my own, or glob some epoxy on the inside to divert the flow.

I'm using 2 koralia 1's on either corner, and the flow is sufficient along with the return. Not sure how much weaker the nano's will be.

The reason I picked the Cadlights is I really don't want to do any mod's if possible. I did order it with the wavemaking return nozzle and have yet to decide on other ways to move the water. Sounds like the koralia's are the way to go. They seem a little difficult to find but I am sure I can locate some with a little effort.

I totally agree. The four chamber refugium on the back was a huge selling point for me. So much room and flexibility. I fit almost all my equipment in one chamber! Finnex is a great tank as well. One of the only reasons i didnt get one is because they're acrylic.




The only mod i did so far was for the moonlights. The moonlights and actinics are on the same circuit and youy cant put them on a timer. So i called eddie over at cadlights and he sent me 2 led kits and i modded them onto the main fixture. I have pics in my thread.

I think most people order them online, as they're still considered fairly new and not too many LFS will carry them in stock. I personally ordered mine on Drfosters while I was ordering the rest of my supplies, so no biggie on the shipping costs.

I don't like modding either, but it's almost guranteed that you will. I have floss sitting in the overflow chamber to reduce noise and for mechanical filtration. I'm going to end up covering up my powerheads and overflow baffles for the nem as well.

Many people have already made fan mods in their canopies to help deal with heat issues.

I actually have a new wave making nozzle if anyone wants to trade a frag for it.

Whoa there. The Finnex 30g is 5mm tempered glass, not acrylic like 85% of their tanks are. Granted that is one of the only glass tanks they made (they made a 22g frameless glass model as well).

only mod i did was that i raised the return pump 4 inches higher to prevent sand from draining back into the pump.

Rehype: i saw your moonlight mod and i think i am ready to get the moonlight kit to put into my MH strip. doesnt look too hard and having it melt was one of my concerns. your tank looks awesome with the moonlights on.

Thanks alot Don. No melting its been up for almost a week. Not to mention you double your leds



I stand corrected At the time i was under the impression that the 32 gallon was acrylic.(I was looking for the largest tank they made)

Yay im glad to see this thread i started is got going.. didn't think it will.. My CAD will arrive.. well actually is leaving the manufacturer on wednesday.. so hopefully get it saturday =( . also im fairly new to Salt water had cichlids for years. but i have been doing endless ours of reading.. lots of knowledge with very lil experience.. i guses im a Student haha.

heres my question.. when i get my tank. can i cycle the tank with just using the bio balls it comes with.. than purchase my "CURED live rocks" a week later?!?! reason is i wont be able to drive to LA to get some premium marshal island live rocks till a week from now. (LFS dont carry them)

1. Should i just wait till i get the full cured live rocks than start to cycle the tank all at once?

(and if i do it this way.. i know i could save money buy purchasing "uncured live rocks" and cycle tank with these right?? or is it better to go ahead and spend extra $1 per pound on already cured rock to speed they cycle which i dont mind spending the money. because i heard that sometimes you dont really want to get cured live rocks in un uncycled tank becaused it wil just die anyways.... right??!?!


2. Cycle the tank using skimmer and bio balls than just add the cured LR a week after?

1. Sure you can wait to get your live rock. But your going to need something to kick start your cycle. If you can maybe you could purchase some live sand and use a raw shrimp to get the "cycling" started.

2. You can cycle with bio balls temporarily. They dont actually become a problem until they get dirty. Most people say turn the skimmer off but ive cycled with it on and had no ill effects. Its up to you.HTH

my first 34g broke...
came from school to a big crack and water leaking.
I live in an "historical house" and the floor shifted on
the crack side of the tank twisting it....
CAD was awesome and replaced it
I decided to gut the second one for more room
and am gonna run a sump. I drilled it and have a plug in it now
and am working on the 15g sump...using a mag for return hooked up to
some loc-line and a few oscillators.
Its a georgeous tank in itself and im glad i gutted it and drilled it.
Ill post pics of "build/mod" when i get sump runing.
Ended up doing a reef wall which is why I gutted it.
The light mods are easy, did the fans and the moonlights.

Seems we have much in common. My 34G is also scheduled to ship on Wednesday and arrive sometime next week. I am new to SW as well and kept Cichlids for many years. I have read for hours and hours over the past month or so on this forum and many others. I get a little overwhelmed at times but decided it was time to give it a try. I looked into a nano reef a few back and there did not seem to be near as much equipment available other than some hardcore DIY'ers. I am thankful to all of them for paving the way for newbie’s like me.

We will have to keep in touch as we get out new Cadlights up and going.

ya for sure rod... thinking about running underground jets on this nano. and 3 nano koralias... ill post pics!

Oh oh, ok then yeah that tank is acrylic, so I just mis-understood your question. Just the 22g and 30g are the glass models, and i think they have pico sized (less than 10g) that are glass as well. All of their other tanks ARE acrylic.

lol i know i was just messing with ya

I love acrylic tanks BTW! the only thing is that they tend to scratch.

That's the main reason why I'd more than likely never get one.

I'd definently recommend the CAD owners to start bringing to the table thoughts on the tank(s) as well as any mods anyone has done. I only say this as having the Finnex thread well established, I now see more and more people contemplating between the 2 tanks, so the faster this thread can be built with good helpful info, then the better we can help these people make their choice on which tank would suit them best. Just a thought though. I'd really love to see both threads equal in size and content (specific to each tank of course). Please don't hurt me now! Myself not being too well versed in the CAD tanks, I can't give a too unbiased opinion on which one people should get, but I try when I can. In my eye they are both equal and not equal, I'm sure you CAD peeps would agree with that?

Absolutely. I think it comes down to preference and price. I was up in the air between both tanks as well. But between the signature series being released and seeing the tank in person is what put cad over the top. For me anyway.

Wow, these Cadlights are superb, Not available for me here in the UK no one has heard of them. Could one of you kind american chaps please send me one straight away

Paul
Northamptonshire
England

GOT MY Zero ppm 6 stage RO/DI today!!! need to hook it up!! ill post pics!

Excellent "tank" upgrade!

Franksie: Email CAD- I think they would ship you one.

oceanreeflection sent me tracking number for my cad.. sept 5th..

I received my Cad lights 34G sig model a few weeks ago. When I unpacked it I was super bummed that the false wall was installed crooked , but I thought what the heck it won’t make much difference once that all the rock get put in. So I go forward with the pre assembly to make sure everything works, bummed again, the main light fixture will not fit snugly on the top of the tank no matter what, and the glass tank cover is no where near fitting. So I figure I’ll ditch the tank cover, probably creates too much heat anyways and I will get some rubber bumpers to allow for secure installation of the fixture. Now since that the false wall was crooked it made it real hard to get the skimmer installed, but after allot of beer and cursing, it kind of fit . To make things worse when I went to fire up the lights, the two T5's in the main hood failed to light up. So now I kind of feel as if this tank is cursed and just a bad purchase. After contacting Cadlights about the issues, they told me that there is nothing that they can do for the crooked false wall, and that it was caused by the curing of the silicone (1 inch off ? ok), The glass cover should fit as they are heat tempered and all made at the same time, the light fixture should fit but go ahead and use some small rubber bumpers, and to disassemble the hood and look for loose wire or connections ($700 and I have to take it apart and trouble shoot wiring issues?). So now I am waiting for my Fixture to make its way back across the country so that they can send me a new one. Needless to say this thing doesn't even have water in it and I already hate it. However it does look really nice. I hope you all have better luck than I did.

Ouch....I hate to hear about all those problems as mine will be here next week.

I will post when I get mine and let everyone know if there are any problems.

Drop Designs....who did you speak with at Cadlights?

I spoke with Eddie via email many times as the phone numbers posted on their site have not been working? Hope evrything works out for you.

Having heard Dropdesigns post, i think i will re-assess prehaps this cadlights thing is not so good after all
(Care to comment, Cad!)
I will stick to my modded NC24g and wait for a company over here to sort one out!

Sounds like you ended up with the 1 in 1000 tanks that will come off the assembly line flawed. I'd call up Eddie at CAD and see what he can do for you. That sucks your tank came not well put together... =/ But i wouldn't blame the campany, it can yhappen to ANY tank is production equipment that makes the tank fails or just as a freak accident. Every company has a failure rate of some sort, but I'd expect CAD's QC to have been better enough to catch this. See why beer in the workplace is a bad idea?

That really sucks!!!!Im sorry for your overall terrible experience I would try calling eddie again. Hes always been extremely helpful when i talked to him.

While I have not recieved my tank yet, Eddie was more than helpful with all my questions as well. If this had been the normal response around all the different forums, I would not have picked Cadlights. I have heard very little negative feedback about Cadlights and their service.

Yea that’s the thing, I did allot of reading of forums and it was the general census that CAD was the people for quality products and superior customer service. I really don't want to bad mouth any company, however it just seems that they have a fix or excuse for everything except swapping out my flawed tank. As I said before they had me go through the wiring on my main fixture before they decided to take it back. That was 4 days ago and I still have no idea when my new fixture will be on its way to me, I have sent 2 email asking. I'm in CA and with them being in NY by time I get home they are closed so calling is not an option. Every night when I get home and see that tank sitting there all I can think is: "that would make a nice $700 target" just kidding...I hope this all works itself out and I end up loving the tank. I’m going to see if I can find their e-mail response to the crooked false wall issue so that I can post it.

I don't notice it until now but the short piece of glass that you have in your 3rd chamber (bubble trap?) is not even included on mine. That’s it I really have to find a way to talk with these guys over the phone.
Thanks for the encouragement.

Man I hate to have to read about sad stories like this. I feel for ya man. You deff. need to give eddie a call. I am sure that after talking with him and giving him all this over the phone he will be more than happy to send you another tank. i mean if he does not then that would be a bad call on his part. I will say that for the most part I am happy with my tank. There are a few things that I feel that they could improve and well I have said what those were on many forums. But all in all,, i really like mine. and so do many of my friends that are also in the hobby.

Odd they didn't remidy the light situation better... I was having some shorting issues with my Finnex tank and Ron @ Finnex mailed me out a replacement ballast on the house, didn't even have to futz with wiring to see if the ballast was the issue or not. But especially since CAD tanks ship from them directly, I'd think they would be obligated to replace your entire tank for you considering it's a clear cut manufacturing issue, and nothing you could have prevented nor a shipping issue. If they don't replace your entire tank for you, how can they justify replacing broken tanks in shipment? I guess that would be because UPS or FedEx or whoever eats it on that one... =/

I am considering emailing eddie myself... hmmm.... whaddya think?