Dr. Teeth Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 Well I am back in the game after a year and a half hiatus from salt aquariums. I have been keeping salt tanks (very badly @ first) since around '89. Much has changed for the better since then. A bad winter storm with a weeks worth of power outtages a year and a half ago did my 90g reef tank in. After that painful experience, I pretty much decided to stay away from tanks for awhile. After a buddy showed me these new all-in-one deals, I decided to get back on the wagon. Well my dealer just delivered the goods and I am gonna try and document as much of this endeavor as possible. Join me if you wish. Coach me if you wish. The ride they call "CADLIGHTS 34G" Starts now. Here is a pic of what the stork left for me on my doorstep. Actually the crate was so heavy I had to help the DHL man carry it to the porch. Nevermind Ivy, she is as excited to open it as I am. Stay tuned........ Link to comment
KMitch Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 up is going the wrong direction! I just got a cadlights 22 gal, couldnt be happier. good luck Link to comment
Dr. Teeth Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 Yeah. I didn't even catch that until after the picture was taken (obviously). Who knows how many miles it traveled like that. We grabbed it out of the DHL delivery van like that. Which reminds me. Another friend of mine ordered a Red Sea Max last week, and it arrived @ his door in shards. I must say, this baby was crated up exceptionally well and everything was in perfect shape. I have some pics that I will post of the whole unveiling process. It could bore many but I know I would have liked to have had as much info as possible before jumping in. Here is the stand (which I couldn't resist) and it's construction. Wasn't too bad. Took about an hour to construct which was a guessing game due to the fact that the instructions were in Chinese. Hilarious though. Thank god for diagrams. Link to comment
lgreen Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 Teeth are awesome. Oh, and nice tank. Link to comment
donreefer Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 NICE. yeah i had to almost get a translator for the Japanese instructions. i wish it was chinese, that way my wife can read it. but the diagrams were awesome. Link to comment
Dr. Teeth Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 Ok so here is the next thing I have decided to accomplish. Left over from my last 90g set-up is an enormous amount of rock. So I cleaned it all off and began searching for the PERFECT pieces to begin my aquascaping. To me this is one of the most crucial steps to having a enjoyable tank to look at. So attatched is a pic of all the rock laid out that I have to choose from. Laying it out, I think my mind is already made up as to which piece will be the centerpiece. Link to comment
Dr. Teeth Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 Where's the PIC??? Having some issues with the size of my files. Any suggestions on where I can reduce them? Link to comment
RaSooch Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 Open a photobucket account and just attach your pics to your posting directly from photobucket. Thats what I did. Link to comment
Dr. Teeth Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 Thanks for your help. Ask and you shall receive. Link to comment
RaSooch Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 Very nice selection to choose from. Can't wait to see the scape. Link to comment
Dr. Teeth Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 This guy here is just screaming to put me in the tank. I really like the tower in the middle as well. I am wanting more branching in this set-up as opposed to the usual massive clump of rock in the middle of the tank. Also, I have found some smaller pieces to epoxy on both sides that are low to the ground to make it wider. The attatched pics are of both sides. I love that hole in the middle, but may make it a little wider for swim throughs. Any suggests? Link to comment
Dr. Teeth Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 Got carried away with all the pics and forgot to describe the specs of this tank: *34g *Seamless Bow front *Full sized fuge on back (key to my purchasing this model) *400 gph return pump. (love the location of this return at the bottom. First time I have seen this done and it makes perfect sense.) *Lighting for fuge: 2 T5 14w 10,000k actinic supplements *Lighting for display: 150w halides *Skimmer- Putting a Tunze DOC 9002 nano in the back. *Fuge will contain coarse rubble, chaeto, rock, and hopefully a ton of pods! *Substrate- Arag Alive Bahama oolite 40 lbs. (The thin stuff! .001) *40-50 lbs. rock Please add any comments or experiences with any of the above info. Also, is miracle mud that necessary, or will a DSB suffice in the fuge? Link to comment
RaSooch Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 I really like the angle in the second shot. That is a really nice paice to build off of. I really don;t think you woul need much more than what is already there as long as it is stable. Man I need a bigger tank and waiting to get one really blows. Can't wait to see more. Link to comment
donreefer Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 you should stay away from miracle mud (eco-system), i heard they have phosphates in them. Mineral mud (carib-sea) dont have phosphates. i put in just live sand, but if you use mineral mud, you can put a thin layer of live sand on top of it. man that is some beautiful rock, i wish i can find some medium-larger pieces for my tank. you forgot to mention the glare guards for the halides. i love that, it keeps the light from escaping to the room too much. Link to comment
Dr. Teeth Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 you should stay away from miracle mud (eco-system), i heard they have phosphates in them. Mineral mud (carib-sea) dont have phosphates. i put in just live sand, but if you use mineral mud, you can put a thin layer of live sand on top of it. man that is some beautiful rock, i wish i can find some medium-larger pieces for my tank. you forgot to mention the glare guards for the halides. i love that, it keeps the light from escaping to the room too much. Thanks Don. I was leaning away from it to start with, and thats good to know. Yeah, the guards are sweet on the light canopy. Link to comment
bilge rat Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Thanks Don. I was leaning away from it to start with, and thats good to know. Yeah, the guards are sweet on the light canopy. hey don reefer and teeth just got my cad 34g yesterday i thought a glass top came with it? i thought there was a plastic rack for the top of first chamber for filter media? i dont have my skimmer yet, how long does it take for the sand storm to settle? its bigger AND smaller than i thought but boy shes a beut! cant stop looking at it... how deep of sand bed are you two using? keeping it open top? what do you think of the lights? i cant wait for the dust to settle so i can aquascape nice looking rockage BTW! joshuah Link to comment
donreefer Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Yeah i had the glass topsent to me separately. they sent it to me about a week after i got the tank, turns out that the box was too heavy and with the canopy, it would have been overweight. if you dont get it in a week, call them. DHL sometimes lose the stuff. yeah i gotta agree, the tank is PERRRTY. the sand took abot 5 hours for me to clear up, but i used live sand and took one day for crystal clarity. i have about 2.5 inches of sand. they told me that they took out the tray and holder is because with it, it makes the chamber smaller and harder to fit a skimmer. i just put a pad on top of the bio-balls and it works just the same. post some pics of your tank! hey don reefer and teethjust got my cad 34g yesterday i thought a glass top came with it? i thought there was a plastic rack for the top of first chamber for filter media? i dont have my skimmer yet, how long does it take for the sand storm to settle? its bigger AND smaller than i thought but boy shes a beut! cant stop looking at it... how deep of sand bed are you two using? keeping it open top? what do you think of the lights? i cant wait for the dust to settle so i can aquascape nice looking rockage BTW! joshuah Link to comment
ENraged Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 I would love to see some in action pics of the fuge area (I.E water flow and all that stuff.. Link to comment
eastcoaster70 Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Is there a website where I can find info and specs on this tank? Who did you order through? Link to comment
Dr. Teeth Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 Still waiting on my substrate and epoxy to get here before I can proceed with the aquascaping. I also had to replace all my filters on the RO unit since it had been long overdue. I'll post some pics as soon as I can. Is there a website where I can find info and specs on this tank? Who did you order through? Here ya go eastcoaster. cadlights.com Link to comment
Kingpo Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Is there a website where I can find info and specs on this tank? Who did you order through? www.cadlights.com is where all the info can be found... Link to comment
Dr. Teeth Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 Wanted see what I am dealing with in regards to the size of this rock that I like and the inside dimensions of the tank. I reduced the inside size by about 2 inches on all sides to make cleaning the inside walls easier. The red line on the construction paper is a rough outline of the boundaries I wanted to stay inside. Here is an aerial view that shows the top part going a little bit outside the lines. That caused no problems when I set it in the tank to make sure. Also, there is plenty of room on the sides for the two small pieces I want to epoxy onto it later. The wide branching of the top doesn't allow you to see it from that view , but it should do nicely. Link to comment
Dr. Teeth Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 hey don reefer and teethjust got my cad 34g yesterday i thought a glass top came with it? i thought there was a plastic rack for the top of first chamber for filter media? i dont have my skimmer yet, how long does it take for the sand storm to settle? its bigger AND smaller than i thought but boy shes a beut! cant stop looking at it... how deep of sand bed are you two using? keeping it open top? what do you think of the lights? i cant wait for the dust to settle so i can aquascape nice looking rockage BTW! joshuah Mine came without a glass canopy as well. Eddie @ cadlights just emailed me and said it was on it's way. As for me, I am going to go with the open top. With the halides, keeping the glass canopy on might cause some temp issues. In the cooler months I may put it on, but not sure yet. For sand bed depth, I am thinking no more than 2 1/2 inches. The sand bed in the fuge will be deeper and much coarser than the oolite in the main display. I think I would drop them an email too just to let them know. Good luck with the tank and offer up any useful tips as you move along. Later on Link to comment
donreefer Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 i have my canopy, but never put it on yet. the temps are staying stable and the evap speed is not bad at all. Link to comment
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