Rek84 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 My new Cadlights 34 gallon tank and custom stand finally arrived today! I've had a 14 gallon biocube, but this is the first "mid size" tank I've had since Hurricane Katrina destroyed my 75 gallon reef tank years ago. After that happened, I basically gave up. But, after puttering around with the biocube, I was bitten by the "reef bug" again, and decided that I wanted something larger, but not as large as what I once had. I was very nervous about ordering a tank through the mail, but everything arrived today from Cadlights, and although it will be a little while before I get to leak test and fully check everything out, so far things seem just fine! I thought I would try to document this experience to share it with everyone (I've never done a post like this before, so please be gentle with me!) Here is the custom built Cadlights stand, still in the process of unpacking it. I really like it! Very nice and glossy in person, with two adjustable shelves for the inside and a place in the back to pass cords through. And here we go...the box with the tank....is everything inside in one piece??? So far, things seem to be looking good! They did a very nice job of packing everything and kudos to Fed-Ex freight for getting it here. Man, I'm getting excited now! View from top, with lid on. I have the Cadlights 50 Skimmer and the Nano Reactor as well, and that is what you see in the tank, along with some of the brackets used to hold the glass hood in place, which I have on for this photo. View looking across the back of the sump Thanks to Cadlights for making such a beautiful tank! So far, I am really impressed and the glass is absolutely beautiful and thick! My pictures are not doing it justice yet, but keep in mind I haven't even had a chance to clean off the glass of the tank which is of course dusty from shipping. I'll need to check out everything and make sure no leaks and that all is working correctly, so there is lots more to come, and I'm sure I'll be needing some advice as well! Link to comment
drew11588 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Nice tank! what are your plans for it?? Link to comment
Rek84 Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 Thanks Drew! It will be a mixed reef, with sps and a few softies like zoas, etc. Link to comment
Dramad1 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Sweet, the 34g crowd is growing! If you plan to use an mp10 on this tank, do not use the rubber spacer. I find even with out the spacer the magnet strength holding the wet side is not that strong. It holds but definitely use the adhesive pads to secure the wire in case the dry side wants to fall if you happen to knock it by accident. When my tank was dry I was test fitting it and within a few seconds the dry side released, luckly I was standing there and caught it before it hit the ground. Link to comment
Rek84 Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 Dramad, thanks for the advice. I'm glad you were able to catch it before it crashed! I think for now that I will go with a WP10 or even 20, and see how that works for me. I have a WP10 in the Biocube on one of the lower settings and it has been doing a fantastic job. Tron, thanks for the welcome! Your beautiful Cadlights tank was one of the main reasons I took this leap! Link to comment
theishkid Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Awesome! Please keep posting as much as you can on this tank. I'm hoping to order the same one pretty soon! How much extra was it for them to do the custom color? I really don't like that Grey that they use. Oh and what kind of light are you looking to put on top of this thing? Link to comment
Atheris Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 That tank looks legit! Cant wait to see where this goes Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Siiiiiick. These 34's are nice. Lots of them starting to poop up. Following. Link to comment
Rek84 Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 Thanks for the comments, guys! Theishkid, I'm not sure how much extra it was to have the "piano black" finish. I just talked to Scott at Cadlights and told him what I needed/wanted out of a stand, and then he gave me the overall price. I have a Radion Gen 3 Pro for the tank...I also have a T5 2 bulb strip that I was thinking of using as well (heard some good things about T5 and LED combos) but I'm not real sure about using it just yet... Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Hopefully yet another cad 34 will remind InTank that customers are waiting for their custom basket! Link to comment
Rek84 Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 I would definitely be interested in an InTank custom filter basket... Link to comment
Rek84 Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 Uggh! My live sand from DrsFosterSmith came in, box busted and leaking Most of the liquid had leaked out of the bags, pretty nasty. I'm sure this compromised the live bacteria. I contacted DrsFosterSmith and they are going to expedite replacements. Kudos to them for great customer service! Oh well, it's going to be a little while before I get to the point where I'll need the sand anyway...but still kind of a bummer. Link to comment
Rek84 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 Aaaaauggghhh! Well, I went to leak test the tank today. It's still sitting on the original packing material. When I started to put water in the tank, I noticed this on the very bottom left hand corner I'm very disappointed, and about to contact Cadlights. I don't know if anyone is there on Sunday, but I sure hope so... Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 No, they won't be, just send a PM and you'll hear back tomorrow, call tomorrow morning, pacific time. Save the tank and packaging, they will have Fedex come back to pick it up most likely, they did for mine that was shattered, but unfortunately, i had already tossed it... Sucks, but rather wait to get a perfect one! Link to comment
Rek84 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 Tron, thanks for the advice. Yes, I still have all the original packing material. The tank was still sitting in the bottom part of the original box on the Styrofoam (I never took it out of that part of the box). I emailed them, but I will send them a PM as well. It definitely sucks to have to wait on replacement but it will be worth it. Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Sucks about your tank bro. I'm sure they'll get you a new one quick like. Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Looking at about a week. Good luck. Link to comment
Rek84 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 Thanks Nanofreak and Tron....made my day take a downward turn but I'll be working on the lights and stand in the meantime. Link to comment
Dramad1 Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Is that a silicone bubble or a chip? Link to comment
Rek84 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 Dramad, it's definitely a chip. Link to comment
Rek84 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 Well, gonna be working on getting lights up while I wait to hear from Cad about a replacement tank. Here is what I have, along with a strip light with two T5 bulbs (going with Coral Plus & Blue Plus). I want to use the T5 with the Radion since I've heard good things about the combo of T5 and LED....we'll see if that works out as I get them hung...I might end up just going with the Radion. Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Should be a nice combo! Link to comment
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