34 G Cadlights Tank Project

[bilge rat]

Nice aquascape I like your cave and overhangs.

i changed my aquascaping yet again...

my temps went back up...

the only 2 things that chnaged were aquascaping and power hed plcmnt

after all my aquascaping attempts i was never really satisfied...like my last gf

then i also realized i wasnt setting them up for corals...i was setting them up like i was gonna play with gi joe guys in the tank or like i was makin castle grayskull or something...they were always to high up...not too mention that once i start stocking and it fills out u wont see most of it...

i didnt have enough surface area or holes for plugs

that in mind i rescaped and am happy...finally

i also moved both pumps back 2 one side and my temps stabilized

lookin forward to those pics DR

joshuah

[Dr. Teeth]

OK. Been a while since I have been able to do some updating on my tank so here are some pics. This is it up and running in the new home. Once levels got reasonable, I purchased the beginning of my clean-up crew and stocked the main display and fuge with copepods. Hopefully they will multiply like crazy before the fish and corals move in so they will have and abundant food supply. Take a look

 

[bilge rat]

OK. Been a while since I have been able to do some updating on my tank so here are some pics. This is it up and running in the new home. Once levels got reasonable, I purchased the beginning of my clean-up crew and stocked the main display and fuge with copepods. Hopefully they will multiply like crazy before the fish and corals move in so they will have and abundant food supply. Take a look

 

how much LR u have in there?

[Dr. Teeth]

how much LR u have in there?

 

Just the two pieces of rock from early on in this thread. This way I have plenty of room all around for cleaning the walls. As I get corals, I will also continue to build with whatever they come from the supplier attatched to. Right now I am suffering from a algae bloom from the initial set-up. The clean-up crew is not putting a dent in it. Gotta be patient.

[bilge rat]

im thinking of adding a 16 g sump in my cabinet.

-for gallonage mostly...i have alot of LR...prob too much actually, but dont want to part with it. Ill put all my equipment in it and do my water changes from there also.

I attended my first local reef club meeting over the weekend. Had a really good time met some cool fellow reefers and scored some sweet cheap frags!

Why would i ever buy from a lfs when fellow reefers have such nice cheap frags!!!

[bilge rat]

i hate siphon overflows

in all the tanks ive had

i have never been able to get them to flippin work

cant match the push to the pull to save my life.

funny thing is ive spent prob a $100 on things to help control heat with this tank. i just bought a 3$ 4" fan from target and mounted it on the wall behind the tank at the level of the water and bam....water doesnt go above 78.5 now...from now on im going the cheap and easy way first.

[bilge rat]

DonReefer

Teeth

sup wit da tanks

any pics/updates

wit da 34's?

[aznlmpulse]

Hey guys. Just got caught up with the thread. I just had my CADlights 34 come in last friday. I've been getting the rest of my equipment from different stores, so it's taking a bit, but I should be able to clean it and fill-test it by the end of this week. I just have a few questions for you CAD owners.

 

 

-Were the baffles in the back securely siliconed without gaps? becuase I have substantial gaps in mine. which make me want to redo everything myself just to make sure it won't leak. Why not return it? for the fear of having to do it myself again, and not wanting to wait longer.

 

-Does the tank hang over the ends of the stand on 3 sides? (not a perfect fit)

 

-Was your MH canopy looking a little beat up out of the box? mine had stripped threads on a couple screws, with a wire pinched in between the side cover and the housing...which made the thing look like it was warped or made in a hurry. I actually took it apart to fix it, but the threads were stripped (probably from the tech gronking on the screw wondering why it wouldn't sit properly) and it won't securely fasten.

 

And lastly, Is there a way to control the HQI and T-5's on the main canopy independently without manipulating the external switches manually? I want to have them energize in staggered fashion to simulate dusk/dawn. I really haven't had a chance to play around with them, but from what I can see, they both kick on at the same time with the switch from the ballast, and the only way to change that is to have the HQI switch in the "off" position, then turn it on manually an hr later.

 

 

Sorry for the long post.

 

I also bought a koralia 1 btw. You're not getting too much flow with 2 koralias and a MJ?

[JCA]

Hey guys. Just got caught up with the thread. I just had my CADlights 34 come in last friday. I've been getting the rest of my equipment from different stores, so it's taking a bit, but I should be able to clean it and fill-test it by the end of this week. I just have a few questions for you CAD owners.

-Were the baffles in the back securely siliconed without gaps? becuase I have substantial gaps in mine. which make me want to redo everything myself just to make sure it won't leak. Why not return it? for the fear of having to do it myself again, and not wanting to wait longer.

 

-Does the tank hang over the ends of the stand on 3 sides? (not a perfect fit)

 

-Was your MH canopy looking a little beat up out of the box? mine had stripped threads on a couple screws, with a wire pinched in between the side cover and the housing...which made the thing look like it was warped or made in a hurry. I actually took it apart to fix it, but the threads were stripped (probably from the tech gronking on the screw wondering why it wouldn't sit properly) and it won't securely fasten.

 

And lastly, Is there a way to control the HQI and T-5's on the main canopy independently without manipulating the external switches manually? I want to have them energize in staggered fashion to simulate dusk/dawn. I really haven't had a chance to play around with them, but from what I can see, they both kick on at the same time with the switch from the ballast, and the only way to change that is to have the HQI switch in the "off" position, then turn it on manually an hr later.

Sorry for the long post.

 

I also bought a koralia 1 btw. You're not getting too much flow with 2 koralias and a MJ?

 

My baffles weren't secured either, although the one from the main tank was. I siliconed it back together myself.

 

Tank fit quite well on the stand for me.

 

Canopy was in good shape here.

 

I turn on the HQI separately from the T5s via a separate timers.

 

They recently tweaked a few features on the tank so I'm not sure if you have the fixture with the fan included and other items I read about. I also added 2 MJ's on a wavemaker with my tank.

[aznlmpulse]

My baffles weren't secured either, although the one from the main tank was. I siliconed it back together myself.

 

Tank fit quite well on the stand for me.

 

Canopy was in good shape here.

 

I turn on the HQI separately from the T5s via a separate timers.

 

They recently tweaked a few features on the tank so I'm not sure if you have the fixture with the fan included and other items I read about. I also added 2 MJ's on a wavemaker with my tank.

 

 

I had to re-do all the baffles, and the hole that the return pump's discharge line was going through was ####### so much water from the display back to the sump that I thought I was going crazy from the noise. Had to drain out the tank, glob silicone on it to minimize leaking, and re-fill.

 

Don't get me wrong, It's a nice tank, but for $600, I shouldn't have to deal with these things.

 

At any rate, my tank is filled with salt water, 40lbs of fiji pink, and a nice juicy cocktail shrimp to kick start the cycle.

[spanko]

Just taggin along watchin......

[donreefer]

mine was perfect out of the box. the baffles are glued from the acrylic to the back of the tank right? i looked at mine and it seemed secure. i mean if i hold it and push it, it will move a bit but i think thats normal.

 

on the return line, make sure to tighten the fitting so that the water wouldnt drain back into the pump chamber.

 

great, hope to see some pics soon aznimpulse!

[aznlmpulse]

mine was perfect out of the box. the baffles are glued from the acrylic to the back of the tank right? i looked at mine and it seemed secure. i mean if i hold it and push it, it will move a bit but i think thats normal.

 

on the return line, make sure to tighten the fitting so that the water wouldnt drain back into the pump chamber.

 

great, hope to see some pics soon aznimpulse!

 

Every picture I've seen seems to have different mods and different return locations (done by CADlights). Which is totally fine. I understand that they're still trying to tweek their systems, but quality is really an issue.

 

There is no fitting to tighten on the bulkhead with the return line. I'll post a pic of it later when I get a chance, but it's basically a hole that was cut to the rough outside diameter of a tygon tubing which runs through connecting the pump discharge line and the return line in the main display. So...the only thing that's going through the wall is the rubber tubing..through a roughly cut hole. My goob job with the silicone isn't perfect as I couldn't get it to seal on the bottom of the tygon, but it helped tremendously.

 

Anyone using a Tunze nano skimmer in their sump?

 

I'm ordering 40lbs of indonesian LR next week! Gotta say, I'm pretty excited to get things up and stable despite the hassle.

 

Anyone else with updated pics? don't be afraid to show off your diatoms!

[TR3XX]

i'm running the tunze 9002 in my 25g cadlight and it's working fine. link in sig.

[aznlmpulse]

i'm running the tunze 9002 in my 25g cadlight and it's working fine. link in sig.

 

Thanks for the look-see TR3XX. You have a really nice set up. Although it did get me a little jumpy about the fact that your tank came with actual bulk-head fittings for your return piping, and mine came with......a rubber tube in a hole...

 

 

The 34g and 25 g baffles are set up differently as well I guess. I have a lot less room in the back, and my Tunze barely fits one way. I'll have to do some tinkering.

[JCA]

Thanks for the look-see TR3XX. You have a really nice set up. Although it did get me a little jumpy about the fact that your tank came with actual bulk-head fittings for your return piping, and mine came with......a rubber tube in a hole...

 

 

The 34g and 25 g baffles are set up differently as well I guess. I have a lot less room in the back, and my Tunze barely fits one way. I'll have to do some tinkering.

 

You're having the exact same issues I did. I have the same skimmer as well and at the moment I'm not running it because of some spacing issues. I recently restructured my fuge to allow my cheato to grow out more. Once that settles down, I'm going to revisit the skimmer.

[zoe88]

Hello everyone:

 

I've loved reading all of your posts on the Cadlights 34. It is what helped me decide on getting that tank.

 

I just got my CAD 34 on Tuesday and LOVE it. It is such a clean looking tank. I added a maxijet 900 in the first chamber where the baffles are and drilled a hole, attached a bulkhead and hydroflo to it. I then created a little shelf above the pump I installed, made out of cross stich plastic stuff (craft store). I placed chem-pure and filter floss on top of that.

 

Do you guys use the middle two chambers as your fuge or just the one, two over from the baffles? Also, my water level is the same all the way across all the chambers. Is that correct?

 

- Lisa

[TR3XX]

JCA, i had to to take out my cheato in the middle chamber in order to run my skimmer. i think if you keep up with water changes it should compensate for not having cheato.

 

Lisa, all 3 chambers should be at the same level but that level should be lower than the display. There's about a 3 inch difference in mine.

 

Post some pics of your tanks peeps. Would like to check'em out.

[zoe88]

The chambers in the back are just about level with the main tank, but I overfilled my main tank a bit. I'm getting ready to go on vacation for a week but will post photos when I get back.

 

Do any of you run a wavemaker? Since one of my bulkheads has the hydroflow on it, it seems like there isn't enough movement when it is running and the stock loc-line isn't. Any comments?

[Ryanhdd]

Well I got the nano remora skimmer and it works great. Dont have the prob with room bc it hangs on the back and the MJ900 is small enough to fit on the bulk head side. I did have it on the right side were the main pump is but moved it bc of the micro bubbles. They are gone now and the tank is doing great. I agree that the light is cheaply made and the silicon job could have been better. I dont like the fact that I have to get something to hold up the lid whenever I work in the tank. I wish the lights were higher. I still like the tank a lot, just a few minor issues that I hope cadlight addresses in the future. I made a cool fan mode for the hood, worked for a little while but then the fans started to make noise. So I dont use it anymore. Wish they made the fuge wider by like 4 inches, they could have and can but did not. I dont like how the pump is connected through the back wall. wish i had lockline. But I would have to take my tank down in order to really do this. So i am not going to do that. all in all its a good tank. ohh also wish the fuge light and main light had a baffle to keep the light out of each other. I made a baffle with aluminum foil covering a RC airplane wing. Works. good. thats all I can think of right now.

 

When I run Chemi Clean (which is just about all the time) the water level in the fuge and were the pump is drops an inch or so. otherwise the tank is more full then the back part. and they are all level.

 

 

Bilge Rat

When you did the moonlight mod. Did you run the wire above the reflector. i think I read that you did. I was considering this too, but thought about the heat melting the wires. I guess this did not happen, did you consider this? or did you use some kind of insulator for the wire.

[bilge rat]

-I keep my front water level at the base of the main light legs 5/8" +or-

my fuge level is 1/2" below this in all chambers

-I did actually consider the heat but figured the 2 spire

40mm case fans on the non switch side of the light

would keep it cool enough...and it has. (yes i ran my wires above reflector)

-I have 2 clip moon lights which ive never used and am considering in place of the light mod

its more light than you would think with the moon light mod...or maybe ill just unplug 1

but it would be nice to beable to move the moonlight around to highlight different parts of the

tank now and again.

 

 

Bilge Rat

When you did the moonlight mod. Did you run the wire above the reflector. i think I read that you did. I was considering this too, but thought about the heat melting the wires. I guess this did not happen, did you consider this? or did you use some kind of insulator for the wire.

[zoe88]

I'm back from vacation and my parameters are all good. The first chamber where the water spills over from the front obviously has lots of movement, but I'v noticed that the other 3 chambers don't have much movement. Is that ok? The top of the water on chambers 2 and 3 seems to be stagnate.

[donreefer]

the other 3 chambers should be slower paced so that the life in the refugium get as little disturbance as possible. the first 2 compartments act to slow the water coming in and start the first 2 steps of filtering (mechanical and biological).

 

hope this helps, and where are them pics? hahaha