CADlights 39g Pro build thread

[reeftivo]

sorry, no pics yet. I'm out of town for a bit but I'm not too sure about the 10k or the pure actinics. The intensity is tremendous but the yellow really needs to mellow out a bit. I was told that with the pure actinics the yellows would not be as strong once the bulb burns in but I guess I'll see after I get back. The burn in on the bulb should be around 100 hrs so I'll wait till then and make a decision. The pure actinics "are" essentially blacklight violet and any fluorescing coral will be double the intensity but others are not as nice looking as they were under the 14ks. I left the house on sunday and after only 2 full days with the 10k ushio, I was getting a very positive response with polyp extension but color was mixed.

Jury is still out but in the meantime I will hopefully have a 13k giessemann chrome to play with if I don't care for the 10k or the pure actinics.

Gillundr, yes, those pure actinics pump out the purple! I was hoping the 10k combo would offset the pure actinic look (which it does to an extent), but the yellows are not to my liking right now.

Merry X-mas you reef maniacs!

 

[Gillundr]

Yeah, I'm going to change bulbs just still really having a hard time making a decision. I don't want or like the yellow though that's for sure. Did you order bulbs from MD or is there a better place to order them from? I think I might break down and give some a try here shortly.

 

[Gillundr]

Oh yeah. What was the site that had the 250 watt hoods for 189 or something like that?

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

Yeah, I'm going to change bulbs just still really having a hard time making a decision. I don't want or like the yellow though that's for sure. Did you order bulbs from MD or is there a better place to order them from? I think I might break down and give some a try here shortly.

I ordered a Phoenix 14K though MD and T5 (Pure Actinic Giesemann D&D Powerchrome and Actinic + Plus Giesemann D&D Powerchrome) through BRS to play with. BRS was a bit cheaper and I already had a pump order coming from them, but they don't carry the Pheonix.

I just picked up a beautiful Acan, so I'm hoping the 420 actinics will make it glow

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

Oh yeah. What was the site that had the 250 watt hoods for 189 or something like that?

Here's the link to the Odyssea MH fixture (but I think they're out of stock at the moment.) http://shop.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-24in-Metal-Halide-with-Power-Compact-p/54201.htm

You also often see them on eBay.

 

[reeftivo]

CalmSeasQuest,

I have the same powerchrome giessemann pure actinics and my two little acans pop like crazy with just the actinics on but as soon as I have the 10k running, their colors wash out. I think that if you go with the pure actinics or the actinic plus+ with that 14k Phoenix, it will look sooooooo sick!!! Can't wait to see it. I have a 13k giessemann coming in a couple days and will run it with my pure actinics. I am however starting to like my 10k as the bulb burns in. The yellows are much more subtle, now that is starting to burn in a bit. I'll get some pics tonight (found my old canon 450 camera) and post them tomorrow.

On another note, Eddie at CADlights is making me a 15 gal sump with a much larger skimmer chamber and I have a new NAC6 skimmer that I will beta test in the sump. I've had the skimmer running in 10 inches of new NSW for two days and it is sooo silent. Last night, when I returned home, I wanted to see what it would do. It has not pulled any junk because there was no junk to pull so I introduced a few ounces of skimmate from the tank and Holy Moses! It immediately started to froth with a head of foam like I've never seen before. Thick, thick brown foam. It pulled that small amount of junk completely out in 5 minutes. I had the wedge pipe fully open too! The heat transfer is minimal and when checked this morning, is only running at 70 degrees. My dwyer air meter is not functioning correctly right now (dropped a few times-oops) so I am expecting a new RMB SSV meter soon so I will get some solid air numbers on this. They say it pulls 500lph (roughly 18scfh) which is sick. No wonder this thing has such a thick foam. From what I've seen so far, it may smoke my $650 dollar ATB and these suckers are less than $200 bucks-WOW! The pump is an Atman which didn't thrill me and the web sites say it uses 28 watts but the pump itself says 45watts so not sure whats up with that? I don't have a meter for the electrical draw but it has such a low heat signature that it may well be 28watts.

Overall it's a HUGE skimmer (20 inches tall with a 6" cylinder). It needs at least a 7 inch x 11 inch chamber to seat properly so the stock cad sump would not work for this skimmer. The build quality is very good and easy to assemble even though their instructions are written in slightly broken English. The Diagram they provide is very good. It kind of looks like mini on steriods. The collection cup is huge as well and could hold two cups of skim and has the same type of gaskets as the other NAC skimmers (easy on/a little work to get off). So far, Beautiful skimmer at a insanely cheap price. I look forward to getting this running on the pro as soon as my new sump arrives.

CalmSeasQuest,

Where did you get that acan frag from? It's gorgeous! Nice choice! All you guys have such great looking frags. You guys are making me jealous!

 

[reeftivo]

Merry Christmas you guys!!!! I'm the little guy-LOL

 

[Gillundr]

Nice picture Tivo! Merry Christmas to you and the rest of the gang that hangs out here in the CAD forum. I can't wait to see pictures of lights from both of you guys. This will help me decide what lights I will be putting over my tank. I am pretty sure I'm going to go with the 14k Phoenix not sure on the Actinics. But I am going to wait and see pictures of the Ushio 10k before I order. I do have a 400w SE 14k Ushio over my frag tank and love the color, but I know it would be a different look with a 150w DE. Just saying I know Ushio bulbs are nice from experience. Does it look like you get more light from other bulbs? I was wondering if a good quality light would help a little bit. I'm not looking at really ordering an odysey setup was just interested in looking at them with the super low price. I doubt they are very good quality. I'm not too sure I want to put a 250 over the cad. Still undecided there. Gonna change up the bulbs and see where that gets me. I think the phoenix and then maybe a combo of a couple different actinics or something might be the way I go. Maybe one pure actinic and one aquablue ++ would be a nice look. Might help dim out some of the violets a bit? POST PICTURES haha

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

CalmSeasQuest,

CalmSeasQuest,

Where did you get that acan frag from? It's gorgeous! Nice choice! All you guys have such great looking frags. You guys are making me jealous!

I got the Acan frag from FragExpress.com I was so pleased with the order, I just placed another larger order for all the Acan variations they had along with a couple of rares Zoa (Chong Bong, Darth Maul...) and Yumas.

With these last additions, I'm just about out of space until I complete the new tank. Time to join Reefers Anonymous...

"Hi, My name is Tom and its been "0" days since my last Coral purchase..." :jester:

Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings All! - I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday.

I'm using the down time to build an kalk/ATO and auto water change system in the basement using BRS peristaltic pumps (my family is now convinced I'm nuts :lolspin

 

[reeftivo]

Nice tip on FragExpress.com. I'll have to check them out. Dont be late for your RA meeting this week Tom-LOL. Sounds like you guys are both fiddlers like me and are constantly staying busy with this great (expensive!) hobby.

I still have my NAC6 breaking in so it's ready to pull junk as soon as the new sump comes in. I will also be testing out the reefoctopus NWB 110-2009 version skimmer in the sump as well so I will give you a report as soon as Santa gives me that new camera-HeHe!

Gillundr, Heres a couple of pics you asked for buddy!
The first is the 14k with the stock blue actinics.
The second is the 10k/pure actinic combo.

Picture does not do it justice (looks better in person), but it is still not the nice colors of the 14k.

10k

Merry X-Mas!!! HOHOHO

 

[chartwell]

I'm not trying to hijack this thread but I'm setting up a CADlights 50 gallon system and it uses the same sump, light, etc as the 39 Pro. After reading about the issues had and modifications made by people on this thread I have some questions.

It came with a Durso standpipe that is 15" tall and the tank is 20" tall - do you think I should go ahead and use it, or make the Gurgle Buster design instead? I guess I could set it up with the Durso and see how loud it is?

I don't have any actual pipe/tubing to do the plumbing and I am leaning towards vinyl tubing. I see where some people have check valves worked into the tubing, which seems like a great idea. Did that all come standard with your systems or did you add it later? Did you buy the valves online or at a local store?

I see where some people changed from the split PVC pipe return to a Y type flexible design - would you recommend doing this?

My skimmer is the Bubble Magnus Mini - it appears that the water returns to the sump from it by just exiting a port down near the base - no tube or elbow or anything to return it up higher. Is this correct?

I would REALLY appreciate any close up pictures of anyone's plumbing and how the skimmer sits in the sump. I know it is not the same tank, but the set up is really similar.

Thanks!

Susan

 

[reeftivo]

The durso at 15 inches will work fine. If you have excessive gurgling then let us know and we can help. Dont glue your durso! Some have glued it and regreted it. The only piece that should be glued is the return pipe assembly because it will be under pressure. I have not used a Hofer GB but I've read they work well.

I use the barbed 1/2 in "Y" in my overflow instead of the stock cad union because the stock union creates a slightly uneven flow through the returns (right side flow is stronger). The Y helps even out the flow. It is tricky to get that Y in there and clamp it down but its do-able.

The bubble magus mini just sets in the skimmer section as is, and should operate fine in 6-8 inches of water. The return on the skimmer does just point straight down to the bottom and thats how it is designed. Just clean it in a mild vinegar solution before putting it in sump and leave the wedge pipe wide open for at least three days until you start getting uniform bubbles rising. Then you should be able to start fine tuning it to get foam spill over into the cup.

Go to the beginning of this thread and see Art C. build. He and the rest of us have good plumbing pics in here.

I hope Eddie gets you your plumbing soon!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas Chartwell!!

Tivo

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

Hi Susan,

Welcome to the CadLights club. I knew ReefTivo (our resident water flow/skimmer expert) would assist. Speaking as one that glued his durso and regrets it, I couldn't agree more.

You should probably start a new Cadlight 50 thread for all the others that will acquire the same system (they may not read this one.) The forum on the Cadlights sight is also often helpful - And congrats, that looks like a beautiful setup. Many of us which it had been out when we purchased our 39's.

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

I rec'd the Geiseman PowerChrome Pure Actinic and Actinic+ T5s (still waiting on the Phoenix 14K) I tried a couple variations and took photos, although they do not accurately show the vast differences in the bulbs...

The Pure Actinic is extremely Violet in color. While it does increase coral "pop" when only the actinics are on, IMO it is a very undesirable color (purple.) It is also very low par and is almost completely washed out by the MH.

The Actinic+ on the other hand is a very nice bulb. It appears significantly brighter than the stock T5 and adds more 420 nm actinic. Nice pop and light output.

Stock T5 (left) vs. Actinic+ (right) - In person, the Actinic+ appears much brighter than shown in the photo.

Stock T5s only

Pure Actinic front, Actinic+ rear

All stock bulbs

Stock MH with Actinic+ (front) Stock T5 (rear)

Stock MH with Actinic+ in front and stock T5 in rear

Here's a couple of livestock shots under one Actinic+.

The FTS shots are untouched. I tried to adjust the white balance on the livestock shots, but my Photo shop skills are as bad as my photography skills. As a result, the colors are off a bit, but you can see the "pop" provided by the Actinic+.

My conclusion was I didn't care for the Pure Actinics at all. I'm replacing both stock T5s with the Actinic+'s and hoping the Phoenix 14K won't make things appear too blue. The Actinic+ are much nicer and brighter than the stock T5s.

But of course, your mileage may vary

 

[Gillundr]

Yeah I had those purple looking Pure Actinics from UVL on a 55 before. It was pretty cool for about a week. Then the purple got really to be too much for me. I don't know. I think I like the blue look better than the purple look. It looks more natural to me I think. Maybe I'm wrong lol. Think I may try the Actinic + and a 14k phoenix like your doing. That has been the way I was leaning to begin with but was also considering a 10 or 12k bulb as well Wanted to hear what tivo thought after break in. I don't want yellow either though so if his stays too yellow I will probably end up with the 14k, heck it would be fun to compare a 14k to a 20k and see how much color and growth change if you get much better colors out of a 20k than a 14k but slower growth I would rather the 20k. I personally rather have nice looking small corals than ugly big corals. haha.

 

[reeftivo]

Got the 13k giessemann and installed it with the pure actinics. Will post pics tomorrow. I do like the 10k for my application but will have to hang the fixture to run it. after a couple days it began to bleach two of my higher acros and burn off the coralline. It was only about 10 inches from the nearest specimen. I think I'll take a cue from CalmSeasQuest and try the actinic + bulbs. Those actinic + look really good. The 13K bulb appears to bring out the same colors I liked with the 14k but is definately more intense. The best colors I've ever had were with the 20k radium bulbs. I was just a bit dissapointed to see the intensity it had with my CAD ballast. After I get more base growth on my corals I may try the 20k with a couple giessemann aquablue T5s and see what happens.

On another note, has anyone tried out the vantec fans for the light fixture besides me? I'm really happy with mine and you can't beat a lifetime warranty! The only thing I have to remember is to disconnect the small wire coupler before I take off the fixture. I yanked off the fixture a couple of times and forgot to unplug the fan each time. No harm but it did scare me a bit.

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

On another note, has anyone tried out the vantec fans for the light fixture besides me? I'm really happy with mine and you can't beat a lifetime warrenty! The only thing I have to remember is to disconnect the small wire coupler before I take off the fixture. I yanked off the fixture a couple of times and forgot to unplug the fan each time. No harm but it did scare me a bit.

I'm going to install the Vantecs in the cabinet as part of my sump/frag tank experiment using the Evil Par30 LED lamp - Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I received my 14K Phoenix today, I'll swap it out tonight and take a few pics.

 

[reeftivo]

Nice! Looking forward to the pics.

I have the vantec in the fixture at the lowest setting (quiet!). I also used the transformer from the vantec fan I fried on my radio shack fan in my stand. I used to have 2 fans but did'nt need them. Without fans, I got alot of condensation all over the cabinet walls and since running just the one fan on low, it dissapated all condensation and my temps are stable at 78. It is cool over here right now so my chiller never comes on but when it heats up it is nice to have the option to turn those suckers (fans) up.

 

[timdanger]

I ordered a Phoenix 14K though MD and T5 (Pure Actinic Giesemann D&D Powerchrome and Actinic + Plus Giesemann D&D Powerchrome) through BRS to play with. BRS was a bit cheaper and I already had a pump order coming from them, but they don't carry the Pheonix.

I just picked up a beautiful Acan, so I'm hoping the 420 actinics will make it glow

unbelievable acan!

 

[timdanger]

CalmSeasQuest,

I have the same powerchrome giessemann pure actinics and my two little acans pop like crazy with just the actinics on but as soon as I have the 10k running, their colors wash out. I think that if you go with the pure actinics or the actinic plus+ with that 14k Phoenix, it will look sooooooo sick!!! Can't wait to see it. I have a 13k giessemann coming in a couple days and will run it with my pure actinics. I am however starting to like my 10k as the bulb burns in. The yellows are much more subtle, now that is starting to burn in a bit. I'll get some pics tonight (found my old canon 450 camera) and post them tomorrow.

On another note, Eddie at CADlights is making me a 15 gal sump with a much larger skimmer chamber and I have a new NAC6 skimmer that I will beta test in the sump. I've had the skimmer running in 10 inches of new NSW for two days and it is sooo silent. Last night, when I returned home, I wanted to see what it would do. It has not pulled any junk because there was no junk to pull so I introduced a few ounces of skimmate from the tank and Holy Moses! It immediately started to froth with a head of foam like I've never seen before. Thick, thick brown foam. It pulled that small amount of junk completely out in 5 minutes. I had the wedge pipe fully open too! The heat transfer is minimal and when checked this morning, is only running at 70 degrees. My dwyer air meter is not functioning correctly right now (dropped a few times-oops) so I am expecting a new RMB SSV meter soon so I will get some solid air numbers on this. They say it pulls 500lph (roughly 18scfh) which is sick. No wonder this thing has such a thick foam. From what I've seen so far, it may smoke my $650 dollar ATB and these suckers are less than $200 bucks-WOW! The pump is an Atman which didn't thrill me and the web sites say it uses 28 watts but the pump itself says 45watts so not sure whats up with that? I don't have a meter for the electrical draw but it has such a low heat signature that it may well be 28watts.

Overall it's a HUGE skimmer (20 inches tall with a 6" cylinder). It needs at least a 7 inch x 11 inch chamber to seat properly so the stock cad sump would not work for this skimmer. The build quality is very good and easy to assemble even though their instructions are written in slightly broken English. The Diagram they provide is very good. It kind of looks like mini on steriods. The collection cup is huge as well and could hold two cups of skim and has the same type of gaskets as the other NAC skimmers (easy on/a little work to get off). So far, Beautiful skimmer at a insanely cheap price. I look forward to getting this running on the pro as soon as my new sump arrives.

CalmSeasQuest,

Where did you get that acan frag from? It's gorgeous! Nice choice! All you guys have such great looking frags. You guys are making me jealous!

very very interesting stuff. i feel no need to upgrade my sump or skimmer at this point, but the NAC6 big boy is kinda awesome. having said that, my mini is still going strong.