CadLights 39G Signature

[Oscar]

10 days ago I headed down to the coast for a series of meetings. To reduce evaporation and to finally get the algae under control I turned the hallides off for the four days but kept the actinics on their normal 12 hour cycle.

While in Vancouver I picked up more hardware, 3 astrea snails and 5 nassarius snails. For the first week all of the snails spent their time on the glass or rock surfaces. Yesterday some of the nassarius started to work on the sand substrate.

Yesterday I set up the JBL top-off device with a 4G bucket of water. It is just a temporary set up at this time. Once a week has gone by and I am confident that the system is working properly then I will set it up permanently. That requires putting the fresh water container in the corner directly behind the cabinet and out of sight.

I will soon be ordering my first corals starting with zoos, ricordia and GSP. After getting those established then I will be looking to add some corals that a pair of clowns might host in. But I will take Mseepman's suggestion to heart to keep room for a few SPS.

Since our house is south facing in the sunny and hot Okanagan the next test will be keeping the temperature to a non-fatal range in the summer. I will need to figure that out before adding fish.

[mseepman]

Not a bad plan at all. I see that Greg (Snappy) has an SPS sale going on right now so you might want to keep that in mind. Not that I'm trying to rush you...but you seem to have an amazing level of patience.

One thing to look at if you have temperature issues is the ICE Probe cooler. I'm debating getting it myself for my "someday to be finished nano tank" I would probably buy it from somewhere in the US or e-bay since it's a lot cheaper than sold here in BC.

[Oscar]

I am starting to get a bit antsy to move the tank along to the next "level". My patience is a combination of listening to warnings to take things slow and I am just too darned busy at my day job to more than have a beer and stare at the hermits in the evening.

ElGuappo's recent postings on his RSM are great food for thought. Now that the algae is knocked back it is definitely time to add some colour and movement.

Yeah the "cooler" technology looks very interesting but it seems that you need to drill a hole in your tank or sump to feed the probe in. I am not sure how or where to do that with a AIO tank.

[Marlin65]

I was told those ice probes don't work all that well better off buying a 1/10 hp chiller. Also I think those cadlights are all tempered so don't try to drill the glass. Not sure on this but better check first if you want to go that way down the road later.
Tank looks great, and I like the placement in your house.

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by Marlin65

I was told those ice probes don't work all that well better off buying a 1/10 hp chiller. Also I think those cadlights are all tempered so don't try to drill the glass. Not sure on this but better check first if you want to go that way down the road later.
Tank looks great, and I like the placement in your house.

You are right, I was not thinking of drilling the glass. There is only one plastic divider and it separates the display section of the tank from the sump section.

But maybe I can rig something up to hang the probe into the water. What would be really nice is if you could just drop the probe into the water just like you do with a heater.

In regards to the location of the tank, all of our other wall space is full of furniture, art and other stuff so this was about the only location left. It is actually located in the corner of our kitchen next to the island, so we get to study it during meals.

Of course the beer fridge is not far away either.

[Oscar]

Here is what the top-off test looks like this week. Once I am confident I have the system working properly then the bucket, or perhaps a 5G water jug will be placed in the corner behind the tank. It is a tight fit but it will work.



Then hopefully I will top-off the reservoir only once a week instead of 2X a day as I have been doing.

Refilling the reservoir will be a bit of a trick. I will try pumping water into the reservoir from another bucket. A bit of a pain but the whole idea is to hide as much of the hardware, wires, hoses etc.

Now for another beer and watch Spain vs Russia.

[Marlin65]

Looks great and looks like you put lots of thought into your tank.
Not sure what MH you are running but on my tank thats about the same size I had my temp jump up about 3-4 degree in about 4hrs of light. A ice probe is only rated for about 1-3 degree pull down if I remember right. I had put two holes in my sump to run two but you also need two controllers. So in the end it was cheaper to get a real chiller. It takes a Mag 5 to run though so you would need to run that water off the main tank somehow. Maybe a over the top drain and sump.

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by Marlin65

Looks great and looks like you put lots of thought into your tank.
Not sure what MH you are running but on my tank thats about the same size I had my temp jump up about 3-4 degree in about 4hrs of light. A ice probe is only rated for about 1-3 degree pull down if I remember right. I had put two holes in my sump to run two but you also need two controllers. So in the end it was cheaper to get a real chiller. It takes a Mag 5 to run though so you would need to run that water off the main tank somehow. Maybe a over the top drain and sump.

Thinking is cheap. Fortunately the closest LFS is 1 1/2 hours away.

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Yeah I have a 150W hallide and I experience a similar temperature range. Thanks for the insight on the probe.

Until now I have been storing top-off water in the cabinet. Removing those bottles gives me a shelf I can dedicate to a chiller if necessary this summer. My carbon foot print is getting larger daily!

Now I really am going for that beer!

[Oscar]

In the Cad39G water overflows are located in 2 locations. On the far right water flows into chamber 1 which in my case houses LR and a few bioballs. I added a sponge filter in this compartment to minimize the waterfall sound. It worked well from day 1 with the sponge siting directly on the top of the bioballs and wedged nicely into the space.

The 2nd overflow is in compartment 3 which is also the refugium. Due to the design there is about a 4-5" water drop and the waterfall sound was too much. I tried installing more sponges but the force of the waterfall dislodged them.

So I built this waterslide device from some plexiglass. It wedges in and hangs on the back glass. The light unit and skimmer were removed for installation.







But as you can see there is still a small waterfall at the rear of the water slide. So I added an extension to the hanger until the rear end of the waterslide actually sits below the refugium water surface.

But I was still getting microbubbles so I added a small piece of sponge to the waterslide under the skimmer exit and that seems to do the trick. Now I have an almost silent water flow and most of the microbubbles are dealt with.



The bar that you see in the above image is the refugium light. My next step is to adjust it until enough light enters the refugium to make it effective. The light may have to shine in from the back of the aquarium to ensure enough light gets in. That will require some testing.