CADlights 39g Pro build thread
- Thread starter ArtC
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Gillundr
New member
With no poly fiber it sounds like Niagra! haha.
Another note yeah those new tanks look nicey nice. Don't think I'll do another reef this small though. But never say never. Haha. A buddy is trying to give me his old 120. Not sure if I want to be bothered with it though. sort of enjoying the tanks I have. Really really need to do a water change in both though. Been a busy time of year for me.
Another note yeah those new tanks look nicey nice. Don't think I'll do another reef this small though. But never say never. Haha. A buddy is trying to give me his old 120. Not sure if I want to be bothered with it though. sort of enjoying the tanks I have. Really really need to do a water change in both though. Been a busy time of year for me.
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
Same here, Cadlights cut my durso about a foot too low and the water fall is very loud. I'm going to replace it (one of these days) - Till then, the CD trick with a small piece of filter floss changed weekly works well.
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
I've been struggling with the same question. IMHO, the stock setup is no where near ideal for SPS. I assume a better ballast would provide more light, but even then, I think more than 150 watts of MH is needed. I'm planning a larger (150 gal) tank and I didn't want to spend a fortune on upgrading lights on this one. I've been researching a few options...
- The new dimmable Lumatek ballast that adjusts to 150, 175 or 250 watts. This would allow for the over-driving of the current bulb/hood (the current hood is only rated for 250 watts total.) or;
- A new hood - I like the cheap Odyssea option w/ 250 MH ($169) but many complain about those ballasts and it uses PCs for the actinics. By the time you upgrade the ballast and bulbs, you've spent nearly as much as a higher quality setup.
Eliminating the heat from the main MH allows me to move forward with my design to create a frag tank in the center sump section using this http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?cPath=74&products_id=623
450+ 1200K PAR from a 21 watt LED light! :dance:
Skimmer update - Today is day 3 with the new Bubbble Magnus skimmer and it's starting to produce. Even though it's still breaking in, it's already out-performing the stock unit.
a couple pics of the simple CD cover mod in the overflow.
i actually tried to do the CD trick last night, but I couldn't get it to work. I used zip ties, but i wasn't able to hold the plastic in place to where I could stop, or really even quiet, the splashing. i wonder if, because my durso is taller, the CD isn't going to have the same positive effects?
frankly, it's all academic at this point anyway -- after fooling with the drain for the better part of 2-3 hours last night, I've decided I'm done with the durso (mostly was working on adjusting the hole in the endcap -- tried using teflon tape, rubber bands, shorter and longer airline, even a suction cup that i made progressively larger holes in the middle of starting with 1/16" all the way up to 1/4" -- nothing worked for more than about 60% of operation time at silencing just the gurgling/stabilizing the water level). It's Herbie time, with my return line coming out the back of the stand and over top into the overflow.
Definitely looking forward to seeing some pics of your LED setup. It's such an interesting technology.
Glad your skimmer is working out. Mine has definitely been getting better and better as far as bubble quality/turbulence goes. It's still never had to work hard for me yet, as my bioload remains low (3 small fish, hitchhiker star polyps and a CUC).
reeftivo
Skim junkie
i wonder if, because my durso is taller, the CD isn't going to have the same positive effects?
Could be! I have a barbed 1/2" "Y" in my overflow that helps hold the bottom edge of the cd case against the wall of the overflow at maybe an 70 degree angle. I have the mesh stuck between the two (you can kind of see it in the photo-it's black). The fall actually hugs the wall a bit before it goes over the mesh and quiets it considerably. Maybe with your durso being higher it does not fall as directly and goes around the gaps at the end of the case causing some splashing. Just a thought!
reeftivo
Skim junkie
Couple pics. Tanks is now 5 months and doing great!
I added an encrusting monti, bushy acro, staghorn (will get too big I'm sure), birdsnest, monti gigante and a species I'm still trying to figure out. These came in a frag pack from live aquaria and they all looked great but it was an unspecified assorted pack.
I'm getting a new camera for x-mas so maybe I will get some good macro pics.
Sure Love my CAD 39 Pro!!!!!
Happy Holidays fellow Reef-a-holics!!
Tivo
I added an encrusting monti, bushy acro, staghorn (will get too big I'm sure), birdsnest, monti gigante and a species I'm still trying to figure out. These came in a frag pack from live aquaria and they all looked great but it was an unspecified assorted pack.
I'm getting a new camera for x-mas so maybe I will get some good macro pics.
Sure Love my CAD 39 Pro!!!!!
Happy Holidays fellow Reef-a-holics!!
Tivo
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CalmSeasQuest
Active member
Tank looks Great RT - Those Montis are huge. I see your starting to get Coralline on the back wall 
reeftivo
Skim junkie
Thanks buddy! They have doubled in size in three months. The green one is growing downward and the purple/brown is growing upward. Should be interesting to check the progress in a couple months. The dark cap is starting to shade everything a bit too much which limits me to what I can put beneath it. The other thing that bothers me a little is the rock wall beneath the brain coral. With all the shade and the vertical face on it, there is not much I can put around there, especially with the amount of flow going through there. I could put in a low light specimen but I have too much flow rolling through there.
I was thinking of attaching a colony of green star polyps but they grow too fast and may not like the lower light conditions there. I have a colony in there but would like them to grow at the back and up the wall. That way it is easier to trim them. I'm trying to keep the coralline off the back and just leave it on the rock but as you know it is a battle. I need to use my magnavore on the back and get those spots! Oops, my bad-LOL!
Heck I don't know, but it sure is fun fiddling with ideas on these tanks- isn't it?
Nice choice if you go with the lumitek ballast. I may be going that route now-thanks for the info!
I was thinking of attaching a colony of green star polyps but they grow too fast and may not like the lower light conditions there. I have a colony in there but would like them to grow at the back and up the wall. That way it is easier to trim them. I'm trying to keep the coralline off the back and just leave it on the rock but as you know it is a battle. I need to use my magnavore on the back and get those spots! Oops, my bad-LOL!
Heck I don't know, but it sure is fun fiddling with ideas on these tanks- isn't it?
Nice choice if you go with the lumitek ballast. I may be going that route now-thanks for the info!
Gillundr
New member
So is it possible to just buy the lumatek ballast and that's it? Well I would put in a better bulb as well, but I shouldn't need to buy anything else correct? With the better ballast it should drive the light better. Let me know if my thinking is wrong. I have thought over and over about upgrading to a 250w light. I guess with that ballast if I felt like doing it in the end I would just need to buy a new socket and put it in this fixture? I want to try to keep the 150w over this tank. I really don't want to buy a chiller for it and if I do go to 250w I think I would probably need to go with a chiller. I'm getting good growth out of the 150 and keeping pretty good color. I have been thinking about starting a prodibio regimen and see how that goes. I have a couple of friends that do it and are getting insane results.
The LED is very interesting but isn't that setup around $1400 or so? I don't really see that happening lol. Very cool though but really doubt I could talk the wife into that one. I do think a better ballast should give me better results though and that might be the option I go with. I don't know. Do you guys think 250w would create a lot more heat? I'm not worried about it this time of year but in the summer is a little different. I should get some pictures up I haven't done any tank shots for maybe a month? I'm approaching 3 month mark now. Tivo in the shaded area with the high flow maybe put in a spongodes or something? Or a little frag of a chalice, or some favia. All those do pretty well for me shaded. Also some monti stuff likes shaded areas. I have a rainbow that prefers the dark. Even red planet acros do well in lower light, you will just end up with it being more green with red polyps they look cool like that. One of my friends had a red planet fall behind the rocks where it grew almost an army green with bright red polyps with hardly any light what so ever. And they LOVE high flow and it tables so it wouldn't grow up into the other stuff. Just options that come to mind. Think I'll go take a couple pics.
The LED is very interesting but isn't that setup around $1400 or so? I don't really see that happening lol. Very cool though but really doubt I could talk the wife into that one. I do think a better ballast should give me better results though and that might be the option I go with. I don't know. Do you guys think 250w would create a lot more heat? I'm not worried about it this time of year but in the summer is a little different. I should get some pictures up I haven't done any tank shots for maybe a month? I'm approaching 3 month mark now. Tivo in the shaded area with the high flow maybe put in a spongodes or something? Or a little frag of a chalice, or some favia. All those do pretty well for me shaded. Also some monti stuff likes shaded areas. I have a rainbow that prefers the dark. Even red planet acros do well in lower light, you will just end up with it being more green with red polyps they look cool like that. One of my friends had a red planet fall behind the rocks where it grew almost an army green with bright red polyps with hardly any light what so ever. And they LOVE high flow and it tables so it wouldn't grow up into the other stuff. Just options that come to mind. Think I'll go take a couple pics.
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
Hi Gillundr,
No way to know for sure, but I don't think the the stock ballast is fully driving the 150 MH so a new ballast should provide some increase - The new Lumatek will allow you to overdrive the bulb at 175 watts. It will go up to 250, but the hood is only rated for 250 total (including the T5s) and I don't know what other changes would be required to swap to a 250 HQI.
As for heat, no doubt the 250 would put out more heat (up to 40% more) but overdriving to 175 would only be a 9% increase. There are also gains by switching to an e-ballast. According to my Apex, the stock ballast is drawing 1.9 amps (around 228 watts) but that includes the cooling fan. Even accounting for the fan and *assuming* the bulb is being driven at 150 watts - that's still a lot of loss (likely in the form of heat) in the ballast. I understand that an electronic ballast will run the bulb more efficiently (not sure if that means cooler.)
This is much of the reason I ordered the AI LEDs. Yes they are expensive, but I can easily scale them for the larger tank and I can get the equivalent of 500+ watts of hi-PAR light for only 180 watts of power and with almost no heat transfer to the tank, no bulbs to replace and infinitely adjustable color/intensity.
At least, that's what I'm hoping for
No way to know for sure, but I don't think the the stock ballast is fully driving the 150 MH so a new ballast should provide some increase - The new Lumatek will allow you to overdrive the bulb at 175 watts. It will go up to 250, but the hood is only rated for 250 total (including the T5s) and I don't know what other changes would be required to swap to a 250 HQI.
As for heat, no doubt the 250 would put out more heat (up to 40% more) but overdriving to 175 would only be a 9% increase. There are also gains by switching to an e-ballast. According to my Apex, the stock ballast is drawing 1.9 amps (around 228 watts) but that includes the cooling fan. Even accounting for the fan and *assuming* the bulb is being driven at 150 watts - that's still a lot of loss (likely in the form of heat) in the ballast. I understand that an electronic ballast will run the bulb more efficiently (not sure if that means cooler.)
This is much of the reason I ordered the AI LEDs. Yes they are expensive, but I can easily scale them for the larger tank and I can get the equivalent of 500+ watts of hi-PAR light for only 180 watts of power and with almost no heat transfer to the tank, no bulbs to replace and infinitely adjustable color/intensity.
At least, that's what I'm hoping for
my new theory on the eheim:
it, maybe in conjunction with my inadequate plumbing system, appears to be causing rattling in my system in addition to gurgling/bubbling/etc. in the overflow and sump -- so, i started thinking "why pull my hair out just so that i can make this super expensive pump work when i plan on relying on a vortech for flow in the tank anyway? why not go get something cheaper/lower flow (e.g. the Tunze Silence 1073.020 is rated at 635gph and is half the power consumption and half the price of the Eheim at Marine Depot), and save that money to put toward the vortech?"
it seems like this would solve a lot of my problems, and potentially keep me from having to completely redo the plumbing of the tank for (and this is the important part) no particularly apparent benefit. there is an obvious benefit of going from the stock return pump to the eheim (in terms of noise, heat, build quality/durability, etc.), but what am I really doing for myself by using the eheim 1262 instead of the tunze 1073.020? much higher flow, for sure -- but, again, I'm going to be using a vortech as my primary flow supplementation. worst case scenario, i add a koralia, and that gives me the same kind of directional/directable flow as the return flow gives (without the potential for flooding my sump if the thing gets pushed down too low).
comments on my theory here?
it, maybe in conjunction with my inadequate plumbing system, appears to be causing rattling in my system in addition to gurgling/bubbling/etc. in the overflow and sump -- so, i started thinking "why pull my hair out just so that i can make this super expensive pump work when i plan on relying on a vortech for flow in the tank anyway? why not go get something cheaper/lower flow (e.g. the Tunze Silence 1073.020 is rated at 635gph and is half the power consumption and half the price of the Eheim at Marine Depot), and save that money to put toward the vortech?"
it seems like this would solve a lot of my problems, and potentially keep me from having to completely redo the plumbing of the tank for (and this is the important part) no particularly apparent benefit. there is an obvious benefit of going from the stock return pump to the eheim (in terms of noise, heat, build quality/durability, etc.), but what am I really doing for myself by using the eheim 1262 instead of the tunze 1073.020? much higher flow, for sure -- but, again, I'm going to be using a vortech as my primary flow supplementation. worst case scenario, i add a koralia, and that gives me the same kind of directional/directable flow as the return flow gives (without the potential for flooding my sump if the thing gets pushed down too low).
comments on my theory here?
reeftivo
Skim junkie
Stuck in a ushio 10K and giesseman pure actinics last night and holy !@#$, what an increase in output! It is a bit too bright and slightly yellow right now until the bulb burns in but man the corals fluoresce under those pure actinics. I'll get pics this weekend. You guys may or may not like it but man, it looks like a new light fixture on there.
Gillundr
New member
All my lights are stock as of right now. I am really interested in changing it up. I would rather focus on coloration than growth honestly. I have a frag tank that is about 40g with about 70g of water volume and I have a 400w halide 14k ushio and actinic supplements over that tank. I get good growth and excellent color in there. I have heard from my reef club though that the 14k ushio 150w HQI are a bit yellow so may not go with those. I was thinking about trying the 14k phoenix in the CAD. Are those actinics your using now blue or more on the violet side. How do they compare to the stock ones? I have been pretty happy with the stock actinics so far. Thinking about changing the main bulb and the ballast though. I do know coloration and growth are two different things and you need to lean more one way than the other, I would like to keep healthy growth, not looking to outgrow the tank. But would rather keep the nice blues and greens. I wish bulbs weren't so spendy so I could buy 3 or 4 and try them lol.
Gillundr
New member
Where are the pics =) I'm still trying to decide on what bulbs I want to put in. Still leaning towards the 14k phoenix and not sure about the actinics maybe I'll try the ones tivo has. Are they a blue actinic or are they more violet? I know the UVL actinic lights are really violet purplish looking. I don't think I care for the purple look as much as the more blue look like the stock actinics give.
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