FishTacos Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 So the 34g Solana has had a good run but its time for an upgrade.Tank: 70g Cadlights artisan IIStand: Cadlights espresso standSump: Cadlights 30g modified to include an 5 gallon ATO reservoirSkimmer: Cadlights TIA 1220Lighting: Giessmann spectra 24" 400w MH + 4x24w T5 Bulbs: For now with Giessamnn bulbs (Megachrome 22K, 2 pure actinic, 2 aqua blue +)Circulation: MP40w ES and 1-2 MP10s from the old tankDosing: BRS mg, calc, alkController: RKLHeter: Jager 125wMedia reactor: NextReef MR1 running BRS GFOATO: TunzeCooling: 6" desk fan over sump Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 How's the plumbing? Link to comment
FishTacos Posted July 12, 2013 Author Share Posted July 12, 2013 Plumbing is on hold. Cadlights uses metric bulkheads and Pvc. Waiting to get appropriate sized pvc and fittings in. Plan on a durso overflow. Drain pipe is about 1 1/4". Link to comment
FishTacos Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share Posted July 16, 2013 Lighting arrived...Its a beast So awaiting my metric PVC...Luckily Dad's in brazil and picked this up. Link to comment
FishTacos Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 It's finally wet Now, I wait.... On a separate note, I'm a little disappointed w the stock Cadlights return pump. I would say that water is trickling through my sump. Need to upgrade to something with a little more oomph. Link to comment
FishTacos Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Forgot to post the pic. Link to comment
jcusmarine Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Looks nice. Dig the Giesman - guess your stocking SPS with MH + T5? Tagging along! Link to comment
FishTacos Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Yes mostly sps. The Giessmann is out of control...the light is so bright that its kinda hard to be in the same room as the light when the halide is on because its so bright. Am worried its too much. Maybe I'll have to have MH on during the day and have only t5s on in the evening when I'm home. Link to comment
FishTacos Posted August 11, 2013 Author Share Posted August 11, 2013 I have been very busy over the past several weeks with the tank. So here are the updates. 1) Upgraded ATO to a Tunze system 2) Upgraded mediareactor to a Next Reef MR1 (mainly becasue it fit better under my stand) 3) Having a lot of trouble with Alk being low. I filled the tank with reef crystals that was probably a bad batch. Calcium/Mg was high and alk was 5-6 dKh. I was dosing a Sh*& load of alk with marginal improvment in the params. I ended up buying a new batch of reef crystals, which had alk ~9. So have had to do frequent water changes to try to get my alk back up. 4) Finally got most of the lifestock from the old tank into the new tank. Right now, things are just placed randomly around the tank. Will need to glue things down and organize everything over the next 2 days. My pistol shrimp/banded goby got separated during the move (I hope they find eachother again). 5) Working on a MDF board to mount my controllers/power strips/vortechs on. Almost done. 5) Now that my old tank is cleared out, time to buy new fish. I plan on using the old tank to quarantine them for a month before putting them in my new display. Options are: a. Barttlets Anthia trio b. Khol tang c. a + b Any votes on fish? Pics to follow shortly Also, I plan to sell my Solana 34, deltec MCE skimmer, and 250w sunpod in about a month. Anyone interested in the LA area, please let me know. Link to comment
Jay Wee Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 Freakin' awesome tank. I'm thinking of an upgrade from my 24 gallon and I've been pretty set on the Cad Light Artisan II. Either the 50 or the 70. How's the build quality of the cabinet/stand? I'm read some bad reviews on 'em but that might be the older versions of the Artisans. And yes, everyone who buys this changes the plumbing and pump. Is your skimmer the one that comes with the package or did you upgrade? And how did you add on the ATO reservoir? Thats a great idea. Link to comment
FishTacos Posted August 18, 2013 Author Share Posted August 18, 2013 Freakin' awesome tank. I'm thinking of an upgrade from my 24 gallon and I've been pretty set on the Cad Light Artisan II. Either the 50 or the 70. How's the build quality of the cabinet/stand? I'm read some bad reviews on 'em but that might be the older versions of the Artisans. And yes, everyone who buys this changes the plumbing and pump. Is your skimmer the one that comes with the package or did you upgrade? And how did you add on the ATO reservoir? Thats a great idea. I am happy with the stand. I was also worried about the quality based on prior reviews but Cadlights have since changed their stand manufacturer. These are hard wood and pretty solid nothing to worry about. The plumbing is a pain unless you use all of their provided parts (which probably wold work just fine) I just wanted mine hard plumbed. If I could do it again I would have them drill custom size holes to fit my own bulkheads. I upgraded my skimmer to a larger cadlights skimmer. So far it hasn't skimmed much. I'm hoping it turns out to be a decent skimmer. Im thinking my tank just needs to mature before I see much skimmate. Right now I am using their return pump. It is not loud, but is definately the loudest componanat of the system. It's barely audable sitting on the couch 10 feet away. I plan to upgrade to a sicce syncra 3.0 return. For the ATO, I just asked them to add a glass panel to the sump to create a separate chamber. It holds about 5 gallons of water. The problem is that I'm having to refill it every 3-4 days. Thanks for checking out my tank, check back for new pics of the following upgrades this week: JBJ 1/4 HP chiller added (was a must with the 400W hallide) Got some new fish (Kole tang in quarantine, scooter blenny, twin spot goby) Link to comment
Jay Wee Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 Oh the kole tang is gonna look sick in this tank. Can't wait. Link to comment
grmoore Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Any issues with the tank or stand? Anything you would have done differently? Did you ask cadlights if they could drill for SCH40/SCH80 bulkheads? Link to comment
FishTacos Posted August 24, 2013 Author Share Posted August 24, 2013 Any issues with the tank or stand? Anything you would have done differently? Did you ask cadlights if they could drill for SCH40/SCH80 bulkheads? Tank and stand are great. I would drill for SCH 40 bulkheads if I could start over. Got my 1/4 HP JBJ chillier from MD. Worked for about 10 minutes before the fan gave out (grinding sound). Driving to swap out the unit for a new one in the morning...hopefully this one turns out to be reliable. Link to comment
BeardedReeferLLC Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Great build so far. Link to comment
FishTacos Posted September 4, 2013 Author Share Posted September 4, 2013 Having some difficulty with bryopsis... Mg is now up to 1500 using Kent Tech M. We'll see if this works. Pic below (Unfortunately I think the pic looks better than in real life ) Link to comment
FishTacos Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 Reef-A-Palooza was a success Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 Looks like a lot of money, nice! Link to comment
FishTacos Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 Sorry, no updates for a while. I have had some major issues with my params and have had a lot of bleaching. Needless to say, I plan on waiting until things get back under control before posting new pics. I did upgrade my skimmer from the cadlights skimmer (after 6 months of trying I can say it didn't skim anything out of my tank and was difficult to adjust). I purchased the ReefOctopus XS 160. It makes a ton of bubbles. Still breaking it in but seems to work well. Link to comment
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