CADlights 39g Pro build thread

[reeftivo]

not familiar with the led's but they look really good. I dont think they are dimmable but still a good deal. I've seen them on another members thread and they are very powerfull. More than the stock fixture for sure!

Is that a blenny or a goby in the front! What kind is it? Looks awsome but can't tell which it is from the pic.

Off topic, I wish the mods would move this thread out of the DIY forum and put it in the nano or general discussion because there would be way more traffic here. At least we have eachother!!!! LOL!

 

[mylifeismyown66]

Here is the link to the new LED fixture. it just came out within the last week or so so i think you may be confusing it with the LED pendant that I have. I believe it is dimmable and even has a remote lol Also it is less watts and less bulbs, but the bulbs have reflectors so I am guessing they are still around just as strong as the LED pendant that they offer than I have over my tank.
Thats my blue spotted jawfish. My 3rd attempt, but I have made sure there is no way in hell he is jumping out lol

 

[reeftivo]

sweet!

Thanks!

 

[mylifeismyown66]

I actually messaged Eddie about it and I guess it is more equivalent to the 150w halide they normally come with so it is not comparable to the LED pendant that is equivalent to a 250w halide. I know the wattage was less, but I thought maybe the reflectors with the LEDs might have brought it up closer to the 250w range. Oh well, I will just have to wait when I can afford those super expensive fixtures that can even simulate a thunderstorm and clouds lol

 

[coolcorals]

Thanks buddy!

The super man is just a millipora I got from so. cal tropical that is blueish/purple (stalk blueish/polyps purplish) and resembles the superman costume color a bit. Mine has bit the dust so I had to frag it in an attemp to save a couple good branches. Fingers crossed!

Hope all is well! Been off-line for a couple weeks - travelling (including visiting a couple So Cal reef shops) and cleaning up my old PC to move everything to a new PC (way too many unorganized/dup reef photos).

The Superman Milli sounds really cool. How's it doing? I thought Millis were tough, but so far I've had mixed results - lost one, had one start to die (frags are doing okay) and one that seems to be doing well.

Surprised what a huge learning curve there was moving from LPS to SPS!

 

[coolcorals]

Okay so I am finally getting my 2 MP10w ES vortechs today!!! I am still unsure on where to put them though... I feel like with the way my rock is set up the flow might be better with the vortechs on the sides of the tank, but I have seen most on here putting them on the back walls and I do think they will look better on the back walls. Just look for opinions and pros/cons

Wow, that Orange Plate sure looks very happy. What type of clam is that?

I notice you are running LEDs. Look nice (CADlights?). Most I see either look too yellow or too blue. How long have you had yours? Everything looks happy.

Congrats on the Vortechs! I have Koralias and am in the process of adding more to increase flow. Just wondering which ones you had (I have two 750s and just added a 240) and how you liked your placement/direction of flow.

 

[coolcorals]

i can attest to the fact that iron does in fact collect on the magnets, and it does in fact scratch your glass.

i have several scratch marks on my tank to prove it. sigh. i'm sure no one notices them but me, but that is so frustrating.

Are you talking about the MagFloat magnets used to clean the glass? I've never noticed any scratches (other than those that occurred from shipping), but maybe I should check a little closer.

Boy, I'm just full of questions tonight!

 

[coolcorals]

some new pics from my Cad...

first

Ok, one last post for tonight. Great photos and nice tank. How to you get your fish to pose for photos? Mine are always a blur.

 

[mylifeismyown66]

Wow, that Orange Plate sure looks very happy. What type of clam is that?

I notice you are running LEDs. Look nice (CADlights?). Most I see either look too yellow or too blue. How long have you had yours? Everything looks happy.

Congrats on the Vortechs! I have Koralias and am in the process of adding more to increase flow. Just wondering which ones you had (I have two 750s and just added a 240) and how you liked your placement/direction of flow.

The clam is a maxima. Hes been in the tank for about a month and a half now. I keep trying to put him in the rockwork, but he keeps on jumping lol. Yeah they are the CAD LEDs and I love them .I get great color from my corals. The vortechs are totally worth every penny. My koralias were (2) 750s and (2) 425s set on a wavemaker with my AC Jr controller.

 

[reeftivo]

The Superman Milli sounds really cool. How's it doing?

Thanks coolcorals,

Sorry to say that I lost the milli!! Tried to frag two of the branches but they did not take and TN continued. Everything else is doing fine! I got my hands on yet another skimmer to try out. Yeah! I love my 9410 but wanted to try a less aggressive skimmer w/o a needle wheel. I picked up a tunze classic 9210 and it's breaking in now. After 24 hours I'm getting a nice foam head with absolutely no pre-cleaning prior to installation. Nice! I want to try this because of the zeovit I use. Venturi's are recommended with the system so we'll see how things progress. I've got plenty of back up, so if it doesn't pan out then back goes the 9410.

BTW, your tanks looking great.

Tivo

 

[timdanger]

Are you talking about the MagFloat magnets used to clean the glass? I've never noticed any scratches (other than those that occurred from shipping), but maybe I should check a little closer.

Boy, I'm just full of questions tonight!

I use a "super" Nimble Nano.

 

[timdanger]

Ok, one last post for tonight. Great photos and nice tank. How to you get your fish to pose for photos? Mine are always a blur.

thanks!

they definitely don't pose -- i just take a lot and see what i end up with and delete the ones that are out of focus or no good. i'm shooting with a nikon d40, and now i'm using a nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens.

i've found that the best things you can do are 1) set your camera on a tripod; and 2) lower your f-stop down (i don't know i'm using these terms correctly) as low as you can (e.g. f/1.8 is better than f/3.5). that will help you have focused pictures (tripod reduces handshake vibration) and less blur (because the lower f-stop will "freeze" the frame better.

i also definitely recommend using post-processing software to correct white balance and over-exposure (i am really bad with manually setting white balance).

 

[coolcorals]

The clam is a maxima. Hes been in the tank for about a month and a half now. I keep trying to put him in the rockwork, but he keeps on jumping lol. Yeah they are the CAD LEDs and I love them .I get great color from my corals. The vortechs are totally worth every penny. My koralias were (2) 750s and (2) 425s set on a wavemaker with my AC Jr controller.

Everything says Maximas like the rock work - guess not. Would love to get one, but it would have to stay in sand. Maybe the aquacultured ones are ok in sand.

Had not been on CADLight site in over a yr - lots changed. How long have you had the LEDs running? Something I'd like to try, but still nervous.

So what do you like about the Vortech, over Koralias? I know Vortechs are better, but wondering if it's amount of flow, type of flow, less space, less heat?

 

[coolcorals]

The Superman Milli sounds really cool. How's it doing?

Thanks coolcorals,

Sorry to say that I lost the milli!! Tried to frag two of the branches but they did not take and TN continued. Everything else is doing fine! I got my hands on yet another skimmer to try out. Yeah! I love my 9410 but wanted to try a less aggressive skimmer w/o a needle wheel. I picked up a tunze classic 9210 and it's breaking in now. After 24 hours I'm getting a nice foam head with absolutely no pre-cleaning prior to installation. Nice! I want to try this because of the zeovit I use. Venturi's are recommended with the system so we'll see how things progress. I've got plenty of back up, so if it doesn't pan out then back goes the 9410.

BTW, your tanks looking great.

Tivo

Too bad. I hope half the frags from my Blue Milli will survive. A couple are encrusting and a couple appear to still have TN.

You must have quite a collection of skimmers!

 

[coolcorals]

I use a "super" Nimble Nano.

I use both MagFloats and Nimble Nano. Have never seen any scratches on glass of either CAD or 3+ yr old BC14. How can do you detect scratches, if not obvious?

thanks!

they definitely don't pose -- i just take a lot and see what i end up with and delete the ones that are out of focus or no good. i'm shooting with a nikon d40, and now i'm using a nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens.

i've found that the best things you can do are 1) set your camera on a tripod; and 2) lower your f-stop down (i don't know i'm using these terms correctly) as low as you can (e.g. f/1.8 is better than f/3.5). that will help you have focused pictures (tripod reduces handshake vibration) and less blur (because the lower f-stop will "freeze" the frame better.

i also definitely recommend using post-processing software to correct white balance and over-exposure (i am really bad with manually setting white balance).

I did get a tripod a yr ago, and it's definitely better than trying to steady using the back of a chair! I'm sure the f-stop has a lot to do with it - as does camera. Your Nikon is a really nice camera.

My Canon is a much cheaper camera, and I'm using the Underwater mode (Aquarium mode makes everything blue). But Underwater tends to bleach out the lighter colors (yellow, tan, white, lite blue, etc).

So no trained Clown Fish, just lots of photos and a bit of luck! Everyone's CADs are maturing well and looking nice!

 

[reeftivo]

Too bad. I hope half the frags from my Blue Milli will survive. A couple are encrusting and a couple appear to still have TN.

You must have quite a collection of skimmers!

Fingers crossed! Hope all settles down!

Skimmers? yes! owned many, sold many and even have given some away.

The thought of bubbles cleaning water fascinates me-LOL!

Probably have spent more time staring at skimmers than my displays-LOLOL!:lmao:

 

[reeftivo]

So far very positive results with the Tunze 9210 classic skimmer. Will post pics soon!

Skimmer started pulling tea after 24hrs with no rinsing before start up. It's about as loud as my 9410 and hangs off the side of my sump so it opens up much more sump space. Sad to say it's not a candidate for the stock CAD sumps because of the dimensions but from initial observations, it should work well for my zeovit system. My 9410 is a skimming monster but may actually remove too much for zeovit. All recommendations for best color are the use of venturi/beckett skimmers which skim well but are gentle to phyto and other trace elements which help more with color. Only time will tell, but so far I've got 200ml of tea in 5 days and it is getting darker by the day.

I posted the info on the zeo forum but thought I would pass the info here as well, in case anyone else is looking for a good venturi skimmer.

Jury is still out though. Will keep all posted

 

[meinestrasse]

I am finally setting up my tank after nearly a year of owning it. I have a question though for anyone that upgraded the return pump to the Tunze Silence 1073.20. How are you connecting the pump to the return bulkhead? The fitting on the return pump requires larger tubing than what fits on the barbed bulkhead connector that shipped with the 39G Pro. I realize I'm going to have to make some mods. Assuming I use the OEM bulkhead for the return, what sort of adapters and tubing do I need to connect the pump to the bulkhead?

 

[reeftivo]

HMMM? I have the .040 and the threaded adapter off the pump was fitted with 1/2 in and 3/4 (tapered for cutoff if needed). If yours is not then you could use some teflon tape around the bulkhead fitting to thicken it up a bit and then just use a stainless hose clamp on it (been there done that!-LOL).

Note: Just remembered my older Cad does not have a barbed fitting off the bulkhead (straight pvc).

 

[reeftivo]

anyone looking for a deal on a BM NAC6A skimmer w/ SWC bubble box?

PM me if interested. It's my old one that's been shelved for a while.

Figured I would let the Cad peeps have first dibs

Tivo