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bye BC29, hello 144w T5 Cadlights 22!


mullman

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My Biocube 29 in less than 3 weeks old.

It is curing 47 lbs of premium fiji rock with stock pump + mj900.

 

I got it as an "upgrade" to my nanocube 12dx. My thoughts were "WOW, 29g! I can get a pair of Tangs!" Just Kidding :lol:

FWIW The Biocubes are really nice all in ones, well made.

My frustration was no hinged top, false advertising, and needing quite a few mods to make is useful as a reef tank.

 

Removing that big old top was kind of a pain anytime I wanted to poke around the tank.

 

So, I was not happy.

 

The ambient temps in my house are +/- 75 deg F and my BC29 hovers at 82.

The lighting will need upgrading for anything other than basic softies. Nanotuners is on top of this and will no doubt makes some awesome upgrade kits. But that would equal MORE heat needing more airflow and possibly louder fans to get anywhere. You just chase your tail in this hobby.

 

Well I talked to Eddie at Cadlights last week and ordered his latest 22g Deluxe setup sight unseen - it is not even listed on the website yet. 24w x 6 of HO T5 for 144w (up from 84w) of lighting which should be plenty of COOL lighting for nearly anything I want to keep. I'm tired of battling heat, ect, in closed top systems. Going topless really makes things much more flexible. I went ahead and ordered the custom made glass top if I want to use it just in case (jumpers, kids, evap, whatever).

 

On top of that the 22g Cadlights actually holds MORE water in the display area than the "29g" Biocube. Their 22 is really 22, almost a gallon more than the display area of the BC29.

 

I'm so pleased with my Cadlights 5g at the office and how perfect everything works out of the box. Stock pump, lighting ect - NO MODS. I have now owned a NC12 and a Biocube (albeit very briefly) and it seems so silly one hast to buy a product and hack into it to get it useful for reef keeping.

 

I have no connection with Cadlights, only a satisfied customer.

Pics tonight when I get it 'scaped...

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Cadlights dot com

 

22deluxeB.gif

 

The updated deluxe 22g info is not on the site yet.

6 x 24w HO T5s for 144w.

Actinics and Daylights on separate power cords.

14x pump turnover out of the box.

 

custom glass tops available.

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Please post pics when you get it setup. I am very interested in Cadlights and would like to hear your experience with the tank when you set it up. Also can you share some on your office Cadlights tanks (pics please).

Thanks

rf

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mullam, thanks for the info on the tank. I am just getting ready to start out in this hobby and trying to gather all info I can so I can decide on a tank. I went to their website and it gives info about there lighting options, but it gives no info on the other equipment, (pumps, skimmers etc) that are or are not included.

 

Thanks

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My Biocube 29 in less than 3 weeks old.

It is curing 47 lbs of premium fiji rock with stock pump + mj900.

 

I got it as an "upgrade" to my nanocube 12dx. My thoughts were "WOW, 29g! I can get a pair of Tangs!" Just Kidding :lol:

FWIW The Biocubes are really nice all in ones, well made.

My frustration was no hinged top, false advertising, and needing quite a few mods to make is useful as a reef tank.

 

Removing that big old top was kind of a pain anytime I wanted to poke around the tank.

 

So, I was not happy.

 

The ambient temps in my house are +/- 75 deg F and my BC29 hovers at 82.

The lighting will need upgrading for anything other than basic softies. Nanotuners is on top of this and will no doubt makes some awesome upgrade kits. But that would equal MORE heat needing more airflow and possibly louder fans to get anywhere. You just chase your tail in this hobby.

 

Well I talked to Eddie at Cadlights last week and ordered his latest 22g Deluxe setup sight unseen - it is not even listed on the website yet. 24w x 6 of HO T5 for 144w (up from 84w) of lighting which should be plenty of COOL lighting for nearly anything I want to keep. I'm tired of battling heat, ect, in closed top systems. Going topless really makes things much more flexible. I went ahead and ordered the custom made glass top if I want to use it just in case (jumpers, kids, evap, whatever).

 

On top of that the 22g Cadlights actually holds MORE water in the display area than the "29g" Biocube. Their 22 is really 22, almost a gallon more than the display area of the BC29.

 

I'm so pleased with my Cadlights 5g at the office and how perfect everything works out of the box. Stock pump, lighting ect - NO MODS. I have now owned a NC12 and a Biocube (albeit very briefly) and it seems so silly one hast to buy a product and hack into it to get it useful for reef keeping.

 

I have no connection with Cadlights, only a satisfied customer.

Pics tonight when I get it 'scaped...

 

"Im not trying to flame you so don't take this the wrong way because i keep seeing these kinds of threads" Rico

 

"Here we GO!" yet another i didnt realize what i was buying or i didnt do enough research b4 I purchased thread .... the design of the biocube has taken alot of heat from people who seem to have jumped into the hobby trying to start out reefkeeping inside a nano ....

 

"YOU DO NOT GET EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO START REEFKEEPING IN A 30G AQUARIUM FOR 250 BUCKS!!!!! I MEAN COME ON! STOP SHOWING OFF HOW GREEN YOU ARE!!!" this applies to anyone who feels duped by their purchase not just Mullman

 

Most of the newblood out there dont realize how much investment is required to make a tank reef ready ..... especially in a system that cannot just be drilled and cannablized at a whim ..... there is a reason why people recommend new reefers start out with a 55g+ and get your feet wet then work your way up into reefkeeping in a nano ..... Complaining about heat inside of a closed top nano is like living in the desert and complaining about it being too dry .... the lid on the biocube fits tight to the top of the aquarium so what more do you want ... if it had hinges it would be so cumbersome lifting the lid because of its size and external plumbing would be a pain ..... dont start hate threads because some other company has a more complete or user-friendly reef system to upgrade too ... its like compairing apples and oranges .... they are both fruit but thats about the only similarity ...

 

Might just be my opinion here ... but systems where you can completely change out the water system with 5g bucket and start from scratch dont count as reefkeeping ... so comparing a 29g nano to a 5g pico has no bearing for me ... not just becasue of the investment involved ... but the fact that you can completely start over @ anytime without really losing anything but saltwater .... A pico = something that looks cool siting on your office desk @ work

 

"Sorry for the rant but these threads are getting old!"

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wow, thanks for stopping by... back to Reef Central now.

 

My main point was ALL the all-in-ones seem to need mods for reefkeeping (since they are sold as FW/SW all-in-ones) except the Cadlights is solely a reef tank all-in-one. There are many threads (I am not going to make fancy colored large fonts like you, I am not that vain) in the All in One section about modding out of the box BioCubes...why?

 

Only the Cadlights ships with lighting that can handle a starter nano all the way to LPS/SPS without mods. No upgrades needed.

 

 

Sit down, take a zantac and count to ten dood - it is only life...I was only trying to help others on the fence looking to which nano to spend their hard earned money on. How could anyone have a problem with that? Well somehow you could.

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Sorry about my post, I was just trying to get some info by someone that had a tank I was looking at....

 

Some of us may not have room for a 55 gallon tank, and by no means do I plan on being a master reefer because I am looking to get a 22 or 30g tank. I thought I would get something that my daughter can enjoy as well as the rest of my family..

 

Sorry for being a newb and asking question on an informational forum... Remember we all had to start somewhere....

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Not a bad tank for $360. You're still going to be "modding" it some im sure.... adding skimmers, maybe a different pump if you find you need more flow, etc.... But not too bad nonetheless..... The rear chamber is going to be gutted and turned into a 'fuge im sure, all the little fun things.

 

Personally Im getting the Biocube just for the "modding" part of it.... thats most of the fun is finding new ways to do things or making things work... (atleast for me...) hence my PS2, XBOX, PSP, Car.... I dont think I own a non-modded anything. :lol:

 

All in all its completely up to the buyer what they like or dont like... Cant wait to see the tank completely setup mullman.

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wow, thanks for stopping by... back to Reef Central now.

 

My main point was ALL the all-in-ones seem to need mods for reefkeeping (since they are sold as FW/SW all-in-ones) except the Cadlights is solely a reef tank all-in-one. There are many threads (I am not going to make fancy colored large fonts like you, I am not that vain) in the All in One section about modding out of the box BioCubes...why?

 

Only the Cadlights ships with lighting that can handle a starter nano all the way to LPS/SPS without mods. No upgrades needed.

Sit down, take a zantac and count to ten dood - it is only life...I was only trying to help others on the fence looking to which nano to spend their hard earned money on. How could anyone have a problem with that? Well somehow you could.

 

I said I wasnt trying to flame you ... but it was hard to counter your comments without being very foward

 

"Sit down, take a zantac and count to ten dood - it is only life...I was only trying to help others on the fence looking to which nano to spend their hard earned money on. How could anyone have a problem with that? Well somehow you could."

 

wasn't knocking your decision ... just your method at posting .... you do what you want ... Zantac is for Heartburn Btw :huh: Maybe you meant Zanax B)

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Mullman I stand with you.

Not all shoes fit the same. If I want a nike and get an adidas it doesn't work for me so I trade in one and get a nike. And I looked at the cemeb4dk's post and thought, "oh no not another one of those "a nano is not a real reef tank you need at least a 55g". I just read a thread on here about that. Who cares if mullman wants another all in one because he just was not satisfied then thats his deal. If he is a noob, then thats fine too. If he wants to change tanks every 4 hours than he can. He was not satisfied.

IMO he is looking for a tank to meet his needs. A Bio Cube did not. Cadlights makes a very quality product. Don't dog a man for wanting some of the best. Take it all with a grain of salt. No one is the "the master" we all just give opinions.

mullman, I am still looking forward to see pics of the "new" setup.

 

Thanks

rf

 

bring out the forum trolls .... Did you even read my post ???? ... only the last comment was even directed at Mullman ...even then i said that it was only my opinion..... and I never said he shouldn't buy what he wants ... so your whole flame was just jumping on the bandwagon to defend mullman when i wasnt attacking him to begin with ... My whole comment was based solely on the fact that this is one of many of these kinds of posts and it puts a negative light on the cube becasue of people misconsceptions or bad purchasing choices ...

 

"a nano is not a real reef tank you need at least a 55g"

 

You made that up by yourself bud .. I said if you are new try a larger tank first becasue nano's take more work ... a nano is very much a real tank but thx again for the flame ;)

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Like the tank... looks like they have it up on the website as well. Are you planning on using a skimmer at all? I actually think the T5 lights are pretty sweet too. They are way more efficient (consume less electricity) than MH. Also like I would like to mention .... WTF is wrong with people who mad rant in little torrents of narcicistic rage???? The one thing I do love about it though is the humor that is never implied, but felt by people who read in the black and white lines of emotional aftermath.

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Alright everyone.

I set the tanks up side by side last night.

Actually I might be burned at the stake!

 

I must recant, the BC 29 defiinitely holds more total volume and about 1g more in the display area. Although the Cadlights' dims are 14.x deep (front to back), that is that the widest point of the bowfront.

 

It really just depends if you want something shallower and wider (23.x") or something more of a cube shape.

 

When I was shopping for an all in one a few months ago I searched the archives here and elsewhere for weeks. Same old story, every recommends what they have right now. I thought others might like to hear from someone who has a little experience with several different models.

 

Now back to the tanks at hand.

 

My wife really likes the BC29 where we have it and it is viewed from both sides as well as the front, for this reason I might leave it afterall. The Cadlights is a little narrow for the location. I moved the MJ900 to the left side and mounted on the false fall just under the stock return. Walla, no more dead spots. I had the MJ installed before between the intake grates on the right of the false wall. I get better flow in the tank the new way.

 

Mr. Fosi mentioned somewhere about "filter floss" was really just poly stuffing from Wal-Mart. What a miracle that stuff is! I put it on top of the 3 lbs of LR in the middle chamber of the BC and then the grate on top of that.

SILENCE! No more running toilet sound that "DontBlink" was asking about. This morning water in BC crystal clear.

 

The Cadlights lighting is amazing, 144 of HO T5.

I went with their option 2 which is 3 10Ks + 1 actinic on one circuit (daylight) and 2 actinics on the other.

 

Bottom line, I might just have to keep both....(running for cover)

 

BC my display tank in the kitchen with more fish and Cadlights in home office, maybe some specialty tank, LPS, SPS, my first clam, ect...

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Again, just my $.02. I researched the all-in-one tanks. I looked at the cadlights, the nanocubes and the Biocube, which is what I ended up with. My criteria for choosing a tank was (in no particular order).

 

1.) Company's reputation. Nano's leaked, cadlights were to new, Oceanics has good rep. for aga tanks.

 

2.) How does the set up look overall? With the Biocube stand and the design of the tank and the hood, it just had that "sleek" look to it.

 

3.) Closed top vs. open top. For me? closed top. I didn' want to deal with "salt creep" and have to continually wipe up things. Plus a closed top helps to slow down the evaporation rate. I realize that an open top offers more equipment selection, such as skimmers, HOB refuges and such. But I'm seeing that companies are now coming out with equipment for the Biocubes.

 

Everyone has their reasons, pricing mods or no mods etc. Bottom line? Enjoy your tank(s).

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I find this tank very interesting. Do you guys think it is equipped to handle SPS and clams? If so, this seems like a great little tank!

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yeah with 144 watts of T5, it should have no problems keeping sps, clams and pretty much every LPS out there.That is a pretty cool looking nano. i bought the 22g 6 bulb HO T5 and is keeping mushrooms, polyps, a carpet anemone, purple montipora and a bubble coral. they are doing great. i prefer it open top VS. closed from venting the heat out, even though the T5 are famous for being low heat. Cadlights make a very high quality product and i think the price isn't too bad if you really want quality.

 

i dont think its true what someone said up there that you cant keep a reef tank in a nano without modding and upgrading. if that is true, why would the nano companies claim they are selling a nano package? i think it is just poor designing on the part of bio-cube and other nano's that require modding. The cadlights nano was ready to use right out of the box and i NEVER had to mod, upgrade or even add a skimmer (which i might add anyway). these guys here really know how to make a tank, esspecially at 7mm thick.

 

a nano aquarium package should be just that, everything you need to have a reef. if buying a bio-cube means i have to mod it for it to work properly, then its like buying a car but the tires are sh*tty and you need better tires in order to drive it the right way. sorry for the blabbing, it just seems like theres lots of ppl here that think they know more than they actually know.

 

THANKS Mullman for starting this thread about the Cadlights 22 HO T5 nano's and getting the word out there on this new and better all-in-one.

 

I find this tank very interesting. Do you guys think it is equipped to handle SPS and clams? If so, this seems like a great little tank!
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yeah with 144 watts of T5, it should have no problems keeping sps, clams and pretty much every LPS out there.That is a pretty cool looking nano. i bought the 22g 6 bulb HO T5 and is keeping mushrooms, polyps, a carpet anemone, purple montipora and a bubble coral. they are doing great. i prefer it open top VS. closed from venting the heat out, even though the T5 are famous for being low heat. Cadlights make a very high quality product and i think the price isn't too bad if you really want quality.

 

Thanks for the help! btw, what kind of skimmer are you considering? It seems to me that a skimmer wouldn't fit in the back chamber (tunze DOC nano?...probably not), HOB seems the way to go. AquaC Remora? Reading around that seems to be the best HOB around. i was thinking that with this tank you might be able to put the pump in the sump portion and have the out flow going directly into the tank, giving it some additional flow in the process. Also, do you have a refuge in the back? Is the sump getting enough light from the main tank that you would be able to grow cheato in there?

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Its actually getting alot of light from the extra glare that comes out of the T5 HO. i spoke to Eddie from Cadlights and he recomends the Tunze skimmer. he says it fits real well and this skimmer skims real well. I was thinking of the AquaC remora but Eddie says it doesnt fit too well because of the size.

 

The tank has been running for about a month now and the water parameters are perfect and no sludge or protein build-up yet. i'm going to stay away from the skimmer until i need one. The Cadlight's are very over filtered and the filttration is very well designed, so i might never need one at all.

 

Thanks for the help! btw, what kind of skimmer are you considering? It seems to me that a skimmer wouldn't fit in the back chamber (tunze DOC nano?...probably not), HOB seems the way to go. AquaC Remora? Reading around that seems to be the best HOB around. i was thinking that with this tank you might be able to put the pump in the sump portion and have the out flow going directly into the tank, giving it some additional flow in the process. Also, do you have a refuge in the back? Is the sump getting enough light from the main tank that you would be able to grow cheato in there?
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Its actually getting alot of light from the extra glare that comes out of the T5 HO. i spoke to Eddie from Cadlights and he recomends the Tunze skimmer. he says it fits real well and this skimmer skims real well. I was thinking of the AquaC remora but Eddie says it doesnt fit too well because of the size.

 

The tank has been running for about a month now and the water parameters are perfect and no sludge or protein build-up yet. i'm going to stay away from the skimmer until i need one. The Cadlight's are very over filtered and the filttration is very well designed, so i might never need one at all.

 

Does the tunze skimmer fit in the chamber with the pump and output nozzle? I wouldnt want to put it in the refugium chamber because i would like to incorporate a cheato fuge in that chamber.

 

Edit: cadlights.com just put up some new pics of this tank and it shows the new lighting system and refuge style sump behind the false wall. it looks pretty awesome.

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