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Innovative Marine Aquariums

My 70g Cadlights Artisan, Radion Powered SPS Reef!


Alex B

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I think a tomini tang should be ok in a 70 gallon. I personally like a bunch of smaller fish over 1 bigger one but most reef safe wrasse look pretty awesome but they are jumpers.

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The tank comes with a slick looking glass top. Don't know how much ill like it, but I will try it. There is a lot of smaller fish I love, but I've never had a bigger fish. I guess I have plenty of time for my stocking list.

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Well its Tue and as promised my tank is here. Super stoked! Ran into a small problem, but cadlights is making it right! Everything came in well packed and on a pallet.

 

 

Now onto the tank and stand. The stand is pretty solid. I'm happy with it. The finish is nice and shiny. Seems like the stand quality has gotten better. I had seen a couple pictures I wasnt thrilled about, but it looks good. The doors line up perfect, and aside from one little blemish its good. Has some nice vent holes in the back. Plan to mount some fans. Sump is nice and roomy. Plan to mod it for a filter sock. The pump and plumbing are not high line stuff, but I knew that going in. I will hook up the pump and try it out, if it isn't loud I will use it a bit. If its no bueno then I will get something else.

 

 

Now for the tank. Overflow is a nice seamless trapazoid. All glass is aligned perfect and silicone nice and neat. Overflow holes are drilled clean. Overall great looking tank! Love the dimensions! Only little problem is a small chip. The chip in on the inside. Its just a superficial chip. Nothing structural, I think. You can barely feel it with your nail. I sent in pictures and what not. They responded quick and have given me some options. I can get a new tank, get a credit refund, or they will send me a br1 reactor and some other stuff. I think I am going to go with the partial refund. Packing this up and sending it back is a lot of work. I think a partial refund is fair. Again they did offer to replace if I wanted which made me feel a lot better. In the end its unfortunate about the chip, but shout out to cad for standing by and making it right.

 

What would you guy do???....and now for pics!

 

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Nanofreak79

I would return it! Why take the chance, plus why would they send it out like that? Unless it happened in transit, but looks oysters from cutting. MO.

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where exactly is the chip? if it is at the top of the tank around the rim not under a seem I wouldn't worry. If it is anywhere where silicone touches is I would get it replaced. If it is near the bottom where pressure is higher I would get it replaced.

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to be completely honest i dont think the chip is an issue. the real issue is that you have payment alot of money for something and it isnt perfect like it should be.

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Two weeks is nothing in the life of a reef tank.

It will be years before its grown out.

This is a slow hobby.

 

I understand that fully. I agree with the statement 100%. I guess its just a hassle you don't count on when purchasing a new tank. Everything else on this tank was flawless. Would suck to send it in and get one with sloppy silicone or something. Guess I got something to sleep on

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to be completely honest i dont think the chip is an issue. the real issue is that you have payment alot of money for something and it isnt perfect like it should be.

 

I like that they offered a partial refund which I would take just if it was me as shipping a tank back would be a huge hassle but if the chip is in one of the locations I said were no gos I wouldn't want to lose sleep every night worrying about it.

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to be completely honest i dont think the chip is an issue. the real issue is that you have payment alot of money for something and it isnt perfect like it should be.

 

I agree. That was exactly what I told them. That's why I said I would sleep on it. If it was the front glass it would go back no questions asked. I just dont know what to do....send it back and hope replacement is perfect, or live with it and get some of my money back? In the end I just really worry about structural issues. Maybe its just better to send it back.

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where exactly is the chip? if it is at the top of the tank around the rim not under a seem I wouldn't worry. If it is anywhere where silicone touches is I would get it replaced. If it is near the bottom where pressure is higher I would get it replaced.

 

The chip is 3 inches from the top. It is definitely from cutting or polishing the glass. Now, I was able to light the edge and look at it good. The chip does not go into the seam or silicone. It is literally on the edge. The silicone is perfect and the chip does not continue to the mated edges. Basically its just a little oyster on the side. Glass edge is still perfect and silicone is intact.

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Nanofreak79

I like that they offered a partial refund which I would take just if it was me as shipping a tank back would be a huge hassle but if the chip is in one of the locations I said were no gos I wouldn't want to lose sleep every night worrying about it.

 

No offense to the OP but partial refunds are there main game, when it comes to issues. First hand experience from a 22gallon and a friends 100 gallon artisan with misaligned seams and a overflow they told him to re silicone himself.

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No offense to the OP but partial refunds are there main game, when it comes to issues. First hand experience from a 22gallon and a friends 100 gallon artisan with misaligned seams and a overflow they told him to re silicone himself.

 

See that's the type of stuff that worries me. This tank is aligned perfect. If it was not for the chip it would be perfect. I would hate to send this in and get stuck with something worse. Man there goes sleeping tonight. Should have just waited 3 months and ordered a reef savvy from Felix.

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So I barely slept last night. I think I'm going to keep the tank. Overall I'm disappointed it happened, but don't want to end up with something worse. It really sucks because other wise the tank looks great.

 

 

Someone mentioned the tank looked green. The pic is a lot greener for some reason. It is not 100% clear starphire like my Ada, but it is definitely low iron glass. I can see right through the pane from end to end. It has a slight blueish tint to it. If not for the chip I would be pretty satisfied with the purchase. For the money I think the quality is good. Sure you can get better, but not for the price point.

 

Here is a better pic of the glass. Got a quick one on my phone. Still looks a little tinted but color is more accurate. You can see in the picture all the way to the bottom seam.

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Alright...sooooo got the tank plumbed up today. If anyone needs some info on converting the metric on these cad tanks hit me up. I was able to find common stuff to get it done. Nothing fancy. Just a herbie, spears gate valve, and some true union ball valves. Couple unions for easy maint.

 

First for the main drain I was able to find a bulkhead that fits. Standard 1 inch non schedule 80 bulkheads most have a 42mm diameter. A light sanding of the threads and it slipped right in!

http://s158.photobucket.com/user/fast4imports/media/C56F2A51-057C-4DC5-A2DB-BD7808BA1511_zpsglp0yrel.jpg.html]C56F2A51-057C-4DC5-A2DB-BD7808BA1511_zps[/url]

 

Then for the emergency and return which were a little more tricky. Cad uses a 22 hole. I couldn't find any bulkhead that would fit. 1/2 inch bulkheads have a 27mm diameter. I was browsing lowes with a piece of the 20mm metric bulkhead when I found this. It's 3/4 to 1/2 coupler. It has a little lip on the 3/4 side which worked out perfect. A light sanding of the metric pipe and it slid right in. With that I was able to plumb my return and emergency with 3/4.

http://s158.photobucket.com/user/fast4imports/media/45950625-1F32-4EB8-A295-DE361427E425_zpssd92cm8f.jpg.html]45950625-1F32-4EB8-A295-DE361427E425_zps[/url]

http://s158.photobucket.com/user/fast4imports/media/6ADD4079-AC42-4653-B824-4184ED1D3D75_zpslxhnnugl.jpg.html]6ADD4079-AC42-4653-B824-4184ED1D3D75_zps[/url]

 

Here is the finished product. Still have a couple touch ups but it's mostly done. Left room to plumb a reactor later on. Leak test tom and hopefully some salt by Monday. Need to figure out substrate

 

http://s158.photobucket.com/user/fast4imports/media/268ADE41-0277-4DC3-8734-662B9D05F37D_zps9gj7t8re.jpg.html]268ADE41-0277-4DC3-8734-662B9D05F37D_zps[/url]

 

Excuse the crooked iPhone pics!

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You sir, are awesome! Trying to plumb my cad 50g right now. I got the one inch bulkhead, was working on the emergency and return. I ordered the 20mm x 1/2 union adapter, but I think I might try your style. Thanks again.

 

Are you keeping the durso style or going herbie?

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Nothing crazy but leak test done! No leaks! Now the fun starts!

Going to drain it today and start filling up with rodi. Most of my electronics are here. Hopefully start my cycle by next week.

Took a picture where you can see the glass is pretty clear. Not true starphire but pretty clear.

 

On a different note. Who has experience with the vertex zeovit reactor? About to order one with my dry rock...Yay or Nay??

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Vertex Zeo reactors are very high quality, far higher than their cost.

It convinced me to change out my skimmer to the Omega 150. The BM curve went into the QT tank instead.

Get it in the beginner kit at BRS.

You have plenty of room in that sump and zeo rock change out should be a breeze. It will look nice in there.

 

Are you personally running zeovit? Im soooo close to ordering everything. I can't decide if I want to run the full system, or something similar to Trons zeovit routine. If I get the vertex reactor I will prob also get a skimmer to match. I can sell the new pls100 I'm sure.

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