My New 50G! Long Cadlight's Artisan!

[tokendog]

I actually bought both 1 inch and 1/2 inch bulk heads as I already have PVC pipe and fittings on hand but both bulk heads are slightly too small for the pre-drilled holes, which means I could probably use them but I'd have to use additional sealant etc. so I think I'm going to just use the supplied plumbing and call it a day. I will, however, add a 1/2 inch check valve to the return hose, and I also plan to add some type of elbow on the end of the drain hose so I can direct the water into a 4" filter sock bracket. The supplied drain hose is huge in diameter but I'd like to put a valve on it as well so we'll see if I can come up with something.

 

Eddie shipped my skimmer yesterday (it's one of the new cone skimmers CADlights is now making themselves) so it's scheduled to deliver next Wednesday. Once that gets here, I can finalize the entire setup then start planning to move everything out of my Biocube 29 over to the new tank.

 

Yeah, the bulkheads for the tank should be 1 1/2 and 1 1/4. I'm not sure if you can get the 1 1/4 at a hardware store but a lot of online aquarium places supply them. I'd be interested in seeing your final setup on plumbing if possible.

 

Eddie got in touch with me about the new skimmer as well and is shipping me one. I'm really interested in checking it out. It looks nice! If you haven't seen it yet, go to Cadlights' website and check out the new 70G Artisan he has up. It has a picture at the bottom of the page.

 

Just posting to say one thing

 

 

....sexy

Thank you! I love it

 

Did you consider holding out for the AI phoenix?...by the time your tank is ready to roll it should be coming out.

I did actually. However, from what I read, the AI Phoenix is two nanos put together. It will have more coverage than one AI Sol, but about 40% less coverage than two AI Sols. The AI Leds really work great when combined together in terms of coverage and saturation. On smaller tanks, the spotlight effect that they have is fine, but on a bigger tank with more surface area, you really need two of them to saturate the entire thing with light / PAR.

 

What wattage heaters did you go with?

 

I went with two 150 watts. I'm thinking now that I should have went with 200 watts so that one would stand a better chance of keeping the temps up should the other fail. If it doesn't work out, I'll order another one and have these two as backups.

[jisham]

Wow, that 70gal setup is really cool although I'm happy with the 50g for the space I have in my home. Thanks for directing to me to the picture as Eddie told me I need to remove the left-most baffle in the sump for the cone skimmer to fit, and the picture shows that clearly. I may reconfigure the entire sump as I think that media chamber area is pretty useless, and I plan to use a media reactor any way.

[jisham]

Wow, that 70gal setup is really cool although I'm happy with the 50g for the space I have in my home. Thanks for directing to me to the picture as Eddie told me I need to remove the left-most baffle in the sump for the cone skimmer to fit, and the picture shows that clearly. I may reconfigure the entire sump as I think that media chamber area is pretty useless, and I plan to use a media reactor any way.

 

Yesterday, I finally got around to removing the far left baffle as instructed by Eddie. However, I still couldn't find a way for my heater to fit anywhere in the sump so I ended up altering the sump some more as you'll see in the pic below. Of course, my silicone seams aren't as precise as the ones done by Eddie but I did a leak test today and it works great.

 

The far left section will hold the skimmer, a 4" filter sock holder and the heater. If it will fit, I'll also put a MJ1200 for my bioreactor in there. If not, that pump will go on the far right with the main return pump. The middle section will be a small fuge.

 

Here's a picture from the CADlights website showing their skimmer and the suggested sump mod:

 

 

Here's the pic of my reconfigured sump:

 

[Asureef]

^^^

Nice!

 

 

Let me know how that new skimmer works out for you guys.

[jisham]

^^^

Nice!

 

 

Let me know how that new skimmer works out for you guys.

 

I hate to keep posting my information in this thread, but the OP asked about how my plumbing looks so I'm posting the pic below which also shows the CADlights USA made skimmer that showed up today. The large hose return is what Eddie sent, but it was much longer. I was able to tightly jam a 1 1/4" elbow into the bottom after I trimmed the hose, then I used a clamp to secure the elbow. I then used an 1 1/4 to 1" reducer for the rest of the mod, which includes a 1" valve and another 1" elbow that points down toward where the filter sock will be. All I really have left is to figure out where I want to mount the reactor that will house GFO and carbon (It's just sitting on the left of the sump right now). You'll also note I won't be using the cabinet's shelf as I want to be able to move around easily.

 

[tokendog]

I hate to keep posting my information in this thread, but the OP asked about how my plumbing looks so I'm posting the pic below which also shows the CADlights USA made skimmer that showed up today. The large hose return is what Eddie sent, but it was much longer. I was able to tightly jam a 1 1/4" elbow into the bottom after I trimmed the hose, then I used a clamp to secure the elbow. I then used an 1 1/4 to 1" reducer for the rest of the mod, which includes a 1" valve and another 1" elbow that points down toward where the filter sock will be. All I really have left is to figure out where I want to mount the reactor that will house GFO and carbon (It's just sitting on the left of the sump right now). You'll also note I won't be using the cabinet's shelf as I want to be able to move around easily.

 

 

No worries. I appreciate your contributions. A lot of the stuff has come in and I'm working on it as we speak. I'm figuring out my rock layout right now. I'm not going with anything complex. I am going to keep it simple and effective. Eddie sent my skimmer out today. Not sure what caused the delay but it's not like I needed the skimmer right away any ways.

 

I will take pictures and update shortly. I am going to look over your picture in a few and see if I have any questions but I like the way it looks at a quick glance. Very clean and seems like it will work well. How does the build quality of the skimmer seem to you?

[jisham]

The skimmer seems very well built and it's dead silent. I tested it in my kitchen sink and was a little stunned how quiet the pump is.

[tokendog]

No pictures yet, but soon. Sand is in, rock is in, water is in, and I am starting the cycle. I'm being experimental (when aren't we) and going with Dr. Tim's One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria. I'm getting the Ammonia in the tank to about 3ppm to give the bacteria something to eat. Next, I will add the nitrifying bacteria and will test the ammonia / nitrate / nitrite levels tomorrow. I'll test each day until the correct parameters are reached then I will add a little bit of ammonia to see if there is an established colony of bacteria in the tank.

 

A major update will be posted in the next few days.

[jisham]

No pictures yet, but soon. Sand is in, rock is in, water is in, and I am starting the cycle. I'm being experimental (when aren't we) and going with Dr. Tim's One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria. I'm getting the Ammonia in the tank to about 3ppm to give the bacteria something to eat. Next, I will add the nitrifying bacteria and will test the ammonia / nitrate / nitrite levels tomorrow. I'll test each day until the correct parameters are reached then I will add a little bit of ammonia to see if there is an established colony of bacteria in the tank.

 

A major update will be posted in the next few days.

 

Awesome...let us know what you think about the Dr. Tim's approach. Also, where are you putting your heaters?

[tokendog]

Awesome...let us know what you think about the Dr. Tim's approach. Also, where are you putting your heaters?

 

I'm going to put them in the sump. I don't want to put them in the main tank, though some recommend one in the main tank and one in the sump at a higher temperature just in case the main one fails.

 

I ordered the Aquaticlife Light Fixture hangars and longer rails for my AI SOL light. This thing is really, really, really nice. I can't wait to order the next one. I'm not sure when the hangars and rails will come in but most likely some time next week.

 

The AquaticLife Stand Light Fixture is adjustable up to 36" above the tank. It also mounts to the side of the stand rather than behind which is nice considering it'll be easier to remove should I need to without having to get behind the stand (about 6 inch of work space back there as it is).

 

I checked the parameters for the tank last night and the ammonia is about 2-3ppm. There are no nitrites yet. I am going to check again tonight and see if the bacteria has started to do it's job.

[cruzH20polo]

Great mods to the sump!

looks like its all starting to come together!

[tokendog]

So here's a minor update. I haven't posted a lot of pictures yet as I'm still waiting for things to come in to move forward with the build.

 

I am attempting for the first time to cycle with Dr. Tim's One and Only - pretty much one of the only nitrifying bacteria in a bottle that is claimed by users, not just the creator, to work.

 

I ordered the bottle from Dr. Tim's website and it came with a nice sized bottle of ammonium chloride (the food source).

 

It took about a week to come in, but when I received it, I noticed the bottle was warm and that raised some concern as I know the limit for this particular kind of bacteria is around 110 degrees.

 

I got the ammonium chloride in the tank water up to 2-3ppm and then added the entire contents of the bottle of bacteria as you can not overdose and the bottle I got was supposed to be enough for 50 gallons. I tested the water each day and did not see a change in the levels of ammonia, nitrite, or nitrates. I was kind of concerned because most people who used this noticed increased levels of nitrite within a day or two. I waited about 3 days and did not see an increase at all.

 

So I figured it was the bacteria itself. The liquid was supposed to be a milkshake consistency and cloudy when added to the tank. The liquid that came out of this bottle was clear with a little bit of milkshake. I think the heat during shipping killed most of the bacteria. If you order from Dr. Tim's website, I recommend overnight shipping.

 

With that in mind, I went and ordered the same Dr. Tim's One and Only from Amazon using my Prime membership and got it over nighted for 4$. It came in the next morning and I immediately shook the bottle and added the contents. This time it came out in a thick milkshake like form and a giant cloud circulated around my tank for about 10-15 minutes before dissipating.

 

This morning I got up and checked my levels. Ammonia is still present, nitrite is now at a 0.50ppm, and I did not test for nitrates yet. It looks like the cycle has started. I'll continue to monitor the levels and update as often as possible.

 

In the meantime, before the big update, here's some pictures of what has come in. At this point, I'm still waiting on my light stand and mounting rails.

 

The rock - this is missing a few pieces, but this is most of what came in. It's Marco Rock and I also ordered the Marco E-400 mortar to bind the rocks together and help prevent rock slides:

 

The lights...These are AI SOL lights and I love them already. I can not wait to get them mounted over the tank. I played around with the settings and am very impressed so far. I plan on adding a second one in the near future.

 

 

Sorry about the low lighting. I am still learning how to use my DSLR and Photoshop. I promise the quality of the pictures will improve over time.

[bear-hugs]

Hey, im looking at the 50G Long system also. do you have any pics of the skimmer running yet? really interested in the TIA-1150 skimmer.

 

Thanks

[siwelk]

Update?

[tokendog]

Update?

 

I haven't forgotten about the thread, but things have taken a lot longer than I expected but it's all coming together nicely now.

 

Here's the last picture of the tank that I took a week ago. It looks a lot clearer now as this was after I made some adjustments to the rock and the sand was disturbed. It has finished cyling, and I have two clownfish in there now - I'm checking parameters daily and everything is in order.

 

 

I used Marco's mortar to build the rock structure but I do not like appearance of the rock on the right side. Specifically, the straight line. Nature doesn't have straight lines and it sticks out in the tank. I have thought about removing the rock and taking that piece off, but have decided that I am going to turn it so the straight piece if facing towards the back and therefore not visible from the front.

 

I'm going to move it back further and then add more rock against the overflow box to give more layer to the rock structure. I used the dry sand from Marco's as well, and his rock, and I absolutely LOVE the bahamas fine grain sand that I got from him. It clouds up the tank like crazy at first, but once it settles, it's beautiful with layers of white / tan and sand dunes. I love it and will use it in every tank I setup going forward.

 

The LED lights are not mounted yet because I decided to go with a hanging kit after all. I should have that setup next week.

 

I am also ditching the sump that came with the tank and am currently having a custom one built for my (different than whats on his website) by Elite Aquatics. It should be here in a week and a half. It's a cool design, and I look forward to seeing how it works. I'll post pictures of the whole setup once the equipment is all 100% in place, then continue to post pictures as fish / corals are added over the months.

 

Here's a picture of one of my new clown fish. My son (who's 2yo) named him Lightning after Lightning McQueen from Cars. He loves that movie. The other one is named Mater. Also from Cars. =P

 

[siwelk]

Thanks for the update.

Your scape looks pretty good.

The hard line you're worried about would most likely get covered eventually with a nice coral colony.

I'd be more concerned with using the space directly under it.

 

I'd try to keep the rock off the back wall unless you're up to the cleaning challenge.

You're not having any issues with the fine grain sand blowing around at all?

Man, those 3/8" thick panes look faaaat.

[TKG]

Awesome tank, I wish they would have offered that size when I bought mine. Good to hear Eddie did you right, he's not a bad guy, just hit and miss.

[tokendog]

Thanks for the update.

Your scape looks pretty good.

The hard line you're worried about would most likely get covered eventually with a nice coral colony.

I'd be more concerned with using the space directly under it.

 

I'd try to keep the rock off the back wall unless you're up to the cleaning challenge.

You're not having any issues with the fine grain sand blowing around at all?

Man, those 3/8" thick panes look faaaat.

 

I've moved the scape around a little bit. It looks better now. The rocks are in the same place, but I adjusted the right one so that the straight line at the top is facing away from the main viewing area. There is a lot of room left in the tank. I may add some more dry rock to the middle area to fill in the gap and provide some more rock for corals.

 

As far as the Bahamas sand goes, at first, yes it stirred up quite the storm. You could barely do anything in the tank without it becoming an engulfing cloud that brought visibility down to almost 0. However, since I've added the fish and clean up crew, it doesn't stir up as much and now I can put the mp10 at max setting without it creating a sand storm at all.

 

My custom sump comes in tomorrow (hopefully) so I will be able to take some pictures of it and hopefully get it in place.

 

I am also going to be getting another mp10 in the near future to add some more flow to the tank.

 

I ordered some cleanup crew from reefcleaners and the order was fantastic. The guys over there definitely know what they are doing and send you way more than you asked for. I actually had enough to put in to my biocube in the other room - which needed a few extra to help out, so I was as happy as a clam when I saw all the extras.

[tokendog]

Okay, so the custom sump came in. It was designed Tyler at Elite Aquatics. It looked a little small in the pictures, but this thing is HUGE. It's thick acrylic and very well put together. It arrived in better packaging than my Cadlights tank did. It was beautifully packaged. I felt like I was opening a preserved treasure or something when I started to cut through the tape and saw it was inside of a nice thick styrofoam chest made specifically for the sump.

 

I have to say any doubts or hesitations I had before about ordering a custom sump from a company that isn't THAT well known has been washed away by how nicely done this sump is.

 

The first chamber is designed so that the waterfall from the drain will constantly stir up the bottom of the sump, pushing any debris to the top where it will spill over on to a platform with two filter socks where the water will then go in to the skimmer area, up and over in to a fuge, and then finally in to the return section where Tyler put a nice probe holder capable of holding up to 3 probes for me.

 

I'm very excited to see how this will work with my setup. It measures 30x15x15 and fits with an inch on each side and infront of the sump. It should add, if my math is correct, a total of 28-29 more gallons of water to the 50gallon display tank.

 

Okay, enough talk, here's the pictures. Don't mind the green towel. It's just temp. as I test fit and didn't want to scratch it, even if it's just a sump. =P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[siwelk]

Ooooh.

Fancy wavy lines.

Touch you.

[pismo_reefer]

Jeebus thats a nice sump...

[tokendog]

Jeebus thats a nice sump...

 

The pictures do not do it justice. He sent me pictures beforehand and I was kind of skeptical. I mean it looked good in the pictures, but I was blown away when I saw it in person. It's a beautiful sump, no flex to the acrylic at all (I think its 10mm), and it's very well made.

 

It's freaking huge. I sent him measurements prior to having it built and I had to double check them when I got it because it just looked larger than I expected.

 

I can't wait to get it up and running.

[siwelk]

The pictures do not do it justice. He sent me pictures beforehand and I was kind of skeptical. I mean it looked good in the pictures, but I was blown away when I saw it in person. It's a beautiful sump, no flex to the acrylic at all (I think its 10mm), and it's very well made.

 

It's freaking huge. I sent him measurements prior to having it built and I had to double check them when I got it because it just looked larger than I expected.

 

I can't wait to get it up and running.

She said so much in that post.

 

[tokendog]

She said so much in that post.

 

 

LMAO! Well you know, it's true.

[siwelk]

LMAO! Well you know, it's true.

Oh fa sho.

 

So I'm having some tank trouble and looking to call up Eddie tomorrow.

What would you say is your overall impression of the tank at this point?

I'll just be looking at a tank only, so I guess you don't have to RE: equip.

Are you happy with the looks, clarity, etc? I'm looking at a custom Artisan 35-40g.