TR3XX Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Hi everyone, After alot of research and advice, I've decided to make the plunge into this great hobby. I've purchased a 25 gallon Cadlight tank, specs below: * 150w MH 20,000k with 2 x 24w Actinics supplements * Full size refugium on back. * Separate T5 light for refugium. The tank should be arriving on Monday, 4/9. In the meantime, I've been asking more questions and doing more research as to which type of filtration set up I should go with. I'd like to stay natural for the time being and only add chemicals if necessary. Below is a drawing of the back side of my tank and the proposed filtration media I'm looking to use. Please let me know if this would be appropriate. I welcome any comments regards to addition/removal of filtration media. Also, will the 450 gph stock pump be sufficient or should I upgrade? In addition to the tank, I've purchased: - JBJ 1/20 Chiller - AquaC Remora Nano Skimmer - Thermometer, 100W heater Being that I'm a novice, I only plan to stock a few soft coral and CUC at first. I do not plan to add any fish for a few months or until I feel comfortable with maintaining the tank. Thanks everyone for your advice and support. | tran | Link to comment
FritzD Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Im also building my first tank too. If I find any hints or good ideas ill be sure to share Link to comment
Ryanhdd Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Well congrats Trx, The way that you have it diagramed here is great. Thats exactly what I did. Well my heater is in the Fuge. But i am thinking about trying to move it. What Skimmer did you get. I have the Aqua C Remora for nanos. It works really well. Been going strong for a month now. The only thing that I do not like about it are the micro bubbles. There are not a ton but a few. The directions say they should die off once it get broken in. Well its been a month. We will see. Oh I also did not put crushed coral in my fuge, I just put LR Rubble. although This seems to be a good idea. The pump works very well. Especially on the newer model which looks like the one you are getting. I have the older version without a bulk head. Its nice and I like it a lot. Your pump will pump more as in mine they do not use lock line stuff and I have 2 90 degree elbows on mine, which cuts down on the flow of the pump. I have a Maxi jet 900 and a 400 in my tank. Works even better. anyway way to go. Link to comment
TR3XX Posted April 4, 2007 Author Share Posted April 4, 2007 thanks ryan - i ended up buying the same skimmer as yours. keep me posted on the micro bubbles, hopefully it'll go away soon. the crushed coral idea came from kmitch, she's been helping me out. Link to comment
TR3XX Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 My new tank is finally here! There were some minor bruises due to shipping but nothing major. Here's a pic of the initial setup. I'm going to the LFS tonight to get the cured LR, LS, and water to start my cycle. Can anyone tell me if I should run my lights during my tank cycle? I was not sure on this... Link to comment
Ryanhdd Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 well that all depends on your LR. If you want to keep some hitch hikers alive then. yes. But only like 5 or so hours a day. However. You are going to need some time to get your temp rite. This can takes some time, so try your light cycle for a few days. Mine is like this. I have my Actines come on around 1pm till 11pm, my HQI comes on at 2pm till 10. When my lights are on i a six inch fan come on that blows over the top of the tank. this keeps my temp from spiking when the lights are on. so its really trial and error, it all depends on what the ambient room temp is too. Link to comment
TR3XX Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 thanks ryan. the lights definitely put off a off heat. i have a jbj chiller that i'm going to use for cooling. btw, are you running a tank cover? Link to comment
Ryanhdd Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 No tank cover. I am jealous you have a chiller. deff. posts some pictures of that and give a good review on what you think about the JBJ. I might get one if my money is right. Oh what controller did you get with it. and what do you think about it so far. Link to comment
thesauce Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 who makes that tank? I did searches for cadlight tanks but no manufacturers came up...I love the lighting specs! Link to comment
Kombucha Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 My new tank is finally here! There were some minor bruises due to shipping but nothing major. Here's a pic of the initial setup. I'm going to the LFS tonight to get the cured LR, LS, and water to start my cycle. Can anyone tell me if I should run my lights during my tank cycle? I was not sure on this... hmmmm....my 25g and stand comes on monday! can't wait! who makes that tank? I did searches for cadlight tanks but no manufacturers came up...I love the lighting specs! www.cadlights.com Link to comment
TR3XX Posted April 11, 2007 Author Share Posted April 11, 2007 okay, the tank is up and running its cycle. i ended up buying: - 25 lbs of cured marshall/fiji rock for the main display - 4 lbs of live rock rubble for the fuge - 40 lbs of live sand. i wanted to have a 2" sandbed - 20 gallons of natural seawater so far the tank is doing well. it's clearing up fairly quickly and temp is a steady 77.9 F. we'll see how high it goes up today when it has had a full light cycle. i'm going to add the skimmer this weekend and let it do its thing. chiller will be installed in a few weeks once i gauge temperature swings. i'm thinking of purchasing a reefkeeper 2 controller to help with all the timing. right now i have a bunch of timers that i got from home depot. the fuge is setup accordingly: chamber 1 (overflow) -filter pad -chemi pure elite -LR rubble chamber 2 (refugium) -left over live sand at bottom -cheato on top chamber 3 (return) - pump, thermometer, heater, protein skimmer (will be setting up skimmer this weekend) i had 2 question if any one can help. 1. I noticed the water level in the fuge is about 2" lower than the display. Is this normal? I'm assuming that the water is being pumped out faster than the overflow can return? should i be concerned? 2. I noticed there is a small Aiptasia growing on one of the rocks. Should I get rid of it now or wait until the cycle is completed? (see pic below) If anyone has any other advice for me, please don't hestitate to comment. You guys have been a tremendous help in this process. Link to comment
donreefer Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 nice! i love the coloring of the lights, i have the 34G version of the set-up. i love my tank, still cant stop looking at it!. how do you like the Loc-line so far. mine had the bottom return kit but i think i can adapt the Loc-line to it with no problem in the future. the fuge area should be a lower than the main tank, thats normal. i keep my fuge around 1/2 way full. darn aiptasias, cant see it too calearly, but those things spread quickly. i read that you can kill it by injecting it with calcium or boiling water. Link to comment
TR3XX Posted April 11, 2007 Author Share Posted April 11, 2007 thanks donreefer! i had more loc-line made to run along the back of the tank. i got the ones that have a nozzle on each connecting piece. i have them pointed slightly downwards along the back. so far i don't see any dead spots in the tank. i'm thinking of upgrading the pump to something around 600 gph, right now i'm at 450 gph. not sure though... Link to comment
Ryanhdd Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 Yeah just use some Kent Calcium concentrate. I put some in a baster sprayed it and have never seen it again. Link to comment
TR3XX Posted April 11, 2007 Author Share Posted April 11, 2007 Yeah just use some Kent Calcium concentrate. I put some in a baster sprayed it and have never seen it again. thanks ryann, good looking out! Link to comment
KMitch Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 hey hey, lookin good. Yes the water level in the back will be lower than in the display. I had to tinker with it all to get it just right but that is correct. Notice that you will have evap so you have to stay on that. I use a dry erase marker on the glass to mark my water level so I can get an idea of evap cycles. I will post pics and let you know how my $15 hood works out. KM Link to comment
Reco Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 I've had a trigger finger on this tank for some time now, so I am tagging along . One thing I keep noticing is that these tanks get banged up pretty bad in shipping. What did you think of their packing, is it just the transport service that is accountable? As far as the Apastia goes...Joe's Juice from the LFS ( basically concentrated Calcium from what people say) has worked well for me, and others. Comes with the tiny syringe in the box to help you get it right in their face! Good luck, and looking forward to some updates! Link to comment
MarvinsReef Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 oooooh la la.. great start there.. Link to comment
TR3XX Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 Week 2 Update: My tank cycle is now completed. Water parameters are: Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 0 pH: 8.2 SG: 1.025 Temp: 79 lights off/81 lights on Water evaporation rate: 1/4 gallon day These parameters were cofirmed with my LFS so I went forward with CUC. Troops consist of: 5 red legged hermits 2 scarlet hermits 2 astera snails 2 margarita snails 2 cerith snails 2 bubble bee snails So far they are doing a good job. I might add a few more hermits next week depending on how the current crew performs. The bubble bee snails seem pretty worthless. They aren't too active and don't seem to be eating much algae. My GF likes them so I guess they'll be a permit resident. I plan to do my first water change this coming Friday. Do you think it's safe to get some coral in there after the water change? I was thinking maybe a zoa frag or something easy. Any advice would be great. That's it for now, thanks for stopping by! The CUC Hector the Hermit Diatoms galore FTS Reco: I think the Cadlight tanks are great but they do get banged up during shipping. I would say DHL is the main reason but I think Cadlight should rethink their packaging. One thing to keep in mind is that their Customer Service is awesome! They are very responsive and will replace any damaged item(s) you purchase. Depsite some minor dings on my tank, I wouldn't hestitate to purchase from them again. HTH Link to comment
Ryanhdd Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Looking really good. I really like the sand bed you have. I wish that I had used the same kind of sand. Mine is crushed coral. Its ok but not as clean looking as yours. Clean looking as in smooth looks nice, not clean as in dirty and clean. Anyway. Glad to see you having a lot of success. I might wait a little while for your tank to go through your cycling. Just keep a record of what your ammonia and nitrite and nitrates are up too. You should have an ammonia spike then Nitrite then a nitrate which when you get your nitrates spike then do a water change. Well i just took a look at your thread again and see you have 0 for everything. How long has your tank been up and running with the rock and sand, i forgot. If your water params are good you might be fine with a zoo or something. I know your itching to put some corals in. So you might be ok. Link to comment
Ryanhdd Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Looking really good. I really like the sand bed you have. I wish that I had used the same kind of sand. Mine is crushed coral. Its ok but not as clean looking as yours. Clean looking as in smooth looks nice, not clean as in dirty and clean. Anyway. Glad to see you having a lot of success. I might wait a little while for your tank to go through your cycling. Just keep a record of what your ammonia and nitrite and nitrates are up too. You should have an ammonia spike then Nitrite then a nitrate which when you get your nitrates spike then do a water change. Well i just took a look at your thread again and see you have 0 for everything. How long has your tank been up and running with the rock and sand, i forgot. If your water params are good you might be fine with a zoo or something. I know your itching to put some corals in. So you might be ok. Link to comment
ReefInChicago Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Week 2 Update: My tank cycle is now completed. Water parameters are: Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 0 pH: 8.2 SG: 1.025 Temp: 79 lights off/81 lights on Water evaporation rate: 1/4 gallon day These parameters were cofirmed with my LFS so I went forward with CUC. Troops consist of: 5 red legged hermits 2 scarlet hermits 2 astera snails 2 margarita snails 2 cerith snails 2 bubble bee snails So far they are doing a good job. I might add a few more hermits next week depending on how the current crew performs. The bubble bee snails seem pretty worthless. They aren't too active and don't seem to be eating much algae. My GF likes them so I guess they'll be a permit resident. I plan to do my first water change this coming Friday. Do you think it's safe to get some coral in there after the water change? I was thinking maybe a zoa frag or something easy. Any advice would be great. That's it for now, thanks for stopping by! The CUC Hector the Hermit Diatoms galore FTS Reco: I think the Cadlight tanks are great but they do get banged up during shipping. I would say DHL is the main reason but I think Cadlight should rethink their packaging. One thing to keep in mind is that their Customer Service is awesome! They are very responsive and will replace any damaged item(s) you purchase. Depsite some minor dings on my tank, I wouldn't hestitate to purchase from them again. HTH looks good! sounds like we can watch each other's tanks grow! Link to comment
TR3XX Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 thanks ryann. the tank has been up for 2 weeks w/ cured LR/LS from a LFS and natural sea water. i saw a small spike at day 8 but everything is at 0 now. i'm going to do my first water change this friday and retest params again. i can't wait to get more life into the tank! reefinchicago: sounds good. keep us posted on your tank as well! Link to comment
Ryanhdd Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Well that sounds good to me. Its pushing it to put some corals in this soon. But thats just my opinion. Link to comment
TR3XX Posted April 25, 2007 Author Share Posted April 25, 2007 I've decided to ditch the T5 fixture for my fuge. It was getting in the way of my HOB skimmer. Instead, I bought an AZOO light from DrsFosterandSmith and mounted over the chaeto. Hopefully this will still provide enough light for chaeto growth. over and out... Link to comment
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