ScubaJ Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 Small update. Changed Return Pumps to a Jabeo DC-6000. Added Coral Compulsion Fuge Par30 Added Tunze 3155 ATO Modified return plumbing to feed fuge & reactor. Before New Pump Before I changed pumps, I had a small powerhead in the refugium, and another Maxijet 1200 for the reactor. My system was running around 3 amps according to the Apex with the heater on. The original CAD pump was noisy and weak. After New Pump I re-plumbed the return line splitting it to add flow to the refugium and handle the reactor. Running the pump at half speed handles all of this and delivers twice the flow to the display than the previous. All while cutting my amp draw by 33%, peaking at 2 amps... only .8 amps when the heater is off. It is also WAY quieter. I still have some tiding up, especially the wiring... but so far so good. I'll get some wiring raceways and get it much cleaner. Link to comment
squirrelieygrrrl Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Looking great! I adore my CAD tank, everything else I've gotten from them I've not been keen on, sump and stand especially! Definitely following! Link to comment
Zia Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Killer decor, killer dogs, killer build! Super stoked i'll have some of my babies growing in this jewel of a system! Link to comment
ScubaJ Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 I will have a lot of updates this week. Apex Breakout Box Project Looking for a new project box to install this in so I can keep it inside the tank. However, working so far. Sw1 - Fish Feed Mode - Disables Powerhead for 10 minutes. Sw2 - Acclimation Mode - Disables ATO & Skimmer for 60 minutes. (This will probably go away when I fix the sump. Right now floating multiple bags in the tank will raise the water level and cause the skimmer to overflow.) Sw3 - Water Change Switch - Disables Return Pump, ATO, Skimmer, and Powerheads until switch is open... (This one is buggy though... I think it may be hitting the defer statements from the other switches and should energize when switch is open. Right now, is shuts everything off but when switch is open, doesn't energize anything immediately.) Sw4 - Coral Feed Mode - Disables Return Pump for 10 minutes and disables the skimmer and ATO for 20 minutes. Sw5 - Refugium Light Switch - Turns on Refugium Light when switch is closed. Converting this to a magnetic door switch soon though. I would love to figure out how to configure a float switch in my ATO reservoir to e-mail me on low level. If anyone has any thoughts on where I can find instructions on how I ways I can configure e-mail alarms... let me know. Link to comment
ScubaJ Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 Maxspect Gyre XF-130 So I had (2) Jebao RW-8's... and for the price, they are still amazing. Why anyone would buy a Koralia type pump is beyond me! However, I wanted to see if I could get away with a single power head. I researched and argued with myself on the Gyre vs MP40QD. Both had the flow I wanted but based my decision on the Gyre's superior coverage and potential noise. While I cannot comment on if an MP40QD would have been better or worse... I am very pleased with the Gyre. I have it up to 100% right now and have awesome flow and complete coverage and it is dead silent even at full power. The skimmer pump and drain are the only audible hums in my tank. Right now I have it on pulse mode, 100%, and .5 second pulses. My LPS and SPS frags seem to love it so far... nice polyp extension. Link to comment
ijnoj09 Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 Maxspect Gyre XF-130 So I had (2) Jebao RW-8's... and for the price, they are still amazing. Why anyone would buy a Koralia type pump is beyond me! However, I wanted to see if I could get away with a single power head. I researched and argued with myself on the Gyre vs MP40QD. Both had the flow I wanted but based my decision on the Gyre's superior coverage and potential noise. While I cannot comment on if an MP40QD would have been better or worse... I am very pleased with the Gyre. I have it up to 100% right now and have awesome flow and complete coverage and it is dead silent even at full power. The skimmer pump and drain are the only audible hums in my tank. Right now I have it on pulse mode, 100%, and .5 second pulses. My LPS and SPS frags seem to love it so far... nice polyp extension. Debating on getting the gyre or mp40 on my tank right now. I hear great things about the gyre. Link to comment
ijnoj09 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I noticed each bulk head on my tank comes with 2 rubber gaskets. Did yours come with 2 as well and if it did, did you use both? Link to comment
picoreef78 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 I changed mine to a Jebaco DC 6000 as well, what are you running your return as? Link to comment
ScubaJ Posted September 3, 2015 Author Share Posted September 3, 2015 Didn't see you guys post. I noticed each bulk head on my tank comes with 2 rubber gaskets. Did yours come with 2 as well and if it did, did you use both? Yes. Two things would of fixed these bulkheads. First, 1/4" shorter nipples. Second... a dab of silicone on the threads. One of the main problems that still happens is they just are not secure. A bump easily loosens them. I changed mine to a Jebaco DC 6000 as well, what are you running your return as? I run 3/4" up to the tank and to a 3/4" manifold that reduces down to 1/2" to feed the reactor and refugium. I have the power set at 4/6 and get plenty of flow in display and all branches. Going to be working on a MAJOR update soon. NBR Quad is in! This thing rocks. Livestock updates. New Skimmer. New sump is in transit. ESHOPPS R-200. Link to comment
ScubaJ Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Nano Box QUAD Arrived! When I first got back into this and was planning this build. I browsed the forums and saw this so called "Nano Box" light. I brushed it off like one of those black box lights. Then kept seeing the name, over and over. So I looked into it... looked interesting enough, priced competitively, and had some customization of colors. Color was a big thing as my wife wanted it to blend in as a piece of furniture and she wanted white. White stand, white light. If you look for white LED lights, you are basically limited to AI and I am not a fan. So I anxiously bit the bullet on a NBR Quad. Now over the tank and wow I am impressed. The construction, the size, color, spread, etc... all first class. Extremely happy with the purchase. There is simply no other light on the market that offers what the NBR line does. Link to comment
ScubaJ Posted March 29, 2016 Author Share Posted March 29, 2016 Finally getting around to an update... The last two quarters have been ruthless and my tank suffered due to lack of time to maintain it. I also had my Vertex pump impeller break at the shaft which after reading... isn't uncommon. Current FTS Changes since last post... Upgraded to an Gyre XF-150. Major improvement in flow. Upgraded sump to Eshopps R-200. Added a Rose BTA shortly after the last update... has since split. Added a Yellow Watchman Goby and Bicolor Blenny. Lost most of my SPS, Jawfish, and two female Anthias. SPS died from an unknown cause... I think it was a heater malfunction or loss of skimmer. I do have to make a comment... this is the first and last CAD product I will ever buy. I don't even know where to begin with this mess. I'll start with the two good things... The tank is well built, and I do like the artisan stand... but outside of that the rest of the filler items are just that... filler and worthless for anyone spending a good amount of money setting up a tank. Plumbing - The CAD plumbing is a metric/proprietary set up. The bulkheads are literally the worst part of this tank and worst bulkheads I have ever used. The ID of the drilled holes are too small for conventional bulkheads so you cannot convert them into normal bulkheads. I DID change out the main drain as it gave me so many issues, I did have to grind the ID to fit a 1" bulkhead... but boy was it worth the headache to get rid of the stock plumbing. (For anyone interested, the main drain ID is around 1.625", maybe a hair less.) Sump - The sump design was worthless. Literally, without an ATO, it won't work. Skimmer - Skimmer was OK... nothing special, never performed as I would expect. Accessories - Everything that came with the Artisan kit was worthless. The refugium light was worthless and can't support a refugium. The return pump was chintzy and loud. Customer Service - I read awful things about their customer service but wrote the reviews off as probably just a few bad experiences. I got to witness first hand... their customer service is sub par. From the extreme delays on the initial order, to not fulfilling a promotion, not trying to assist to fix issues with the plumbing, and giving me bad information. I don't expect a company to get everything right, everyone makes mistakes, but I couldn't believe how many strike outs I had. Oh and new livestock for my wife's birthday... Link to comment
R_MC Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 How do you like the EShops sump? Does look like a major upgrade over the CAD. Purchasing this tank soon myself and am concerned about the plumbing. Link to comment
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