CADlights 39g Pro build thread

[reeftivo]

I found the magnets at Lowe's. They are at the end of the screws and hardware isle - assuming that all Lowes are set-up the same. I think I found the screen at Home Depot but I'm sure Lowe's sells it too. Look for the Pet Proof plastic screen. I think it was about $30 or $40 for enough screen to do our 6' patio door and enough left over for several other projects, and it really is pet proof - my cats climb it daily when the door is open.

CoolCorals - I think I have enough of the screen for another sump, PM me your address and I'll send you what I have to try it.

I zip tied the screen to the returns like the cd case. I did it this way to hide it a bit more. Not sure if attaching it to the teeth would make it even quiter. Though truthfully I prefer to hear the slight waterfall instead of just the fans and water rushing into the sump.

I think my water level in the fuge is at about 8" but I'll check tonight. If it isn't I'll get it to about 7.5" to see if that helps. The bubble problem does seem to come and go, well it really never goes, just gets better.

I think the design of the CAD sump is OK but I would really like to have enough space to put a good sponge/bubble trap in it. Not sure but I think if the section for the drain/skimmer wasn't divided there would be more area for bubbles to disipate before moving on the the next chamber.

I really like the design of the ADHI sumps unfortunately their smallest sump is 24" long . I sent them an email to see if they would do a custom fuge and what the cost would be.

what substrate if any do you have in your fuge?

I recommend a water level of at least 7.5 so if you're getting micros at 8 then don't go 7.5.

If your using the stock skimmer, run the return from the skimmer and the drain into a 200 micron filter sock together. and take out the batting they give you with the tank.

Also, if you are running rubble in the drain chamber, make sure the pieces are not too small. I've found that too small a piece will trap micros like the batting and they will push out under the weir right into the bubble trap.

If all that doesn't work then get very coarse black pond sponge. It is very porous and sturdy. you can cut that the width of your sump front to back and run a piece of that wedged at the top of the weir where the water goes back down to the return pump. The coarse sponge will still let sufficient flow through but will trap micros.

IMO the best thing is the filter sock and removing the divider in the first chamber.

 

[marinetankdiver]

what substrate if any do you have in your fuge?

I have an inch or so of course sand along with some rubble and macro algea.

I recommend a water level of at least 7.5 so if you're getting micros at 8 then don't go 7.5.

I didn't figure I would lower it, only raise it.

If your using the stock skimmer, run the return from the skimmer and the drain into a 200 micron filter sock together. and take out the batting they give you with the tank.

I already got rid of the batting, but i will check to make sure the rubble I am using isn't too small. My reluctance to a filter sock is the extra maintenance and cost of keeping them clean. That and the critters they catch.

If all that doesn't work then get very coarse black pond sponge. It is very porous and sturdy.

This is what I am basically using on the side of the bubble trap that leads to the return chamber. the sponge is what really helped cut down on the bubbles but it also cut down the flow to the return chamber too.

IMO the best thing is the filter sock and removing the divider in the first chamber.

I agree with not having the divider in the first chamber. I was thinking about cutting it out and may do that after making sure the water is at least 7.5" and checking the rubble in the drain area and trying a filter sock before modifying the fuge.

Thanks for the additional suggestions.

 

[coolcorals]

The design of the sump is fine. The water level and depth of the fuge substrate are key factors. Granted, the sump is compact, but the turnover and amount of substrate in the fuge area will dictate the laminar flow through the center chamber. Higher water level = less micros to the return. Obviously you dont want 11 inches in that sump but I had no micro issues at all in mine while running it at 7.5 or higher. I did however have an issue with the micros when running below 7.5.

.02

Tivo

This is my first sump, so I'm open to trying anything. Could it be in how I have my plumbing? I'm running the sump between 7.5" and 8" - still trying to determine daily evap rate (about a 1/2g).

I'm only running a pump (Tunze 1073.040 at lowest setting) and heater - no skimmer or any other equipment. Drain tube goes into the far left front corner into a sock over LRR. Fuge has some LRR. Drain isn't creating a huge amount of bubbles/splashing, but I see the small bubbles coming out of the drain, thru LRR & baffles and into return.

The bubbles coming from drain into return chamber are very small - almost impossible to see - but the returns are putting larger bubbles into tank. I just figured that the pump was somehow mixing them together - could the pump be adding bubbles?

Only thing I've replaced is the short stock Durso with a homemade Durso using 1.25" flex PVC so cap is at top of tank. The Durso has a slight bend in it to get past the return BHs - could that be a problem?

I appreciate everyone's input. I'm trying to ensure my setup is okay, before I start adding additional bubble filters. Attached photos of Durso and sump setup.

 

[coolcorals]

I think I have enough of the screen for another sump, PM me your address and I'll send you what I have to try it.

I zip tied the screen to the returns like the cd case. I did it this way to hide it a bit more. Not sure if attaching it to the teeth would make it even quiter. Though truthfully I prefer to hear the slight waterfall instead of just the fans and water rushing into the sump.

Will check Lowe's for magnets - general location really helps.

I'll PM you my address right after this post - I figured this was the bulk stuff, so thanks for offer to share.

Okay, now I understand. I've done screen replacement before and have leftover, but it's the standard limp stuff. This is a much more rigid screen. Also good to know for patio door replacement - so far our cats only stretch on the screen, no climbing - yet!

 

[RealReef]

And now, pictures of Cadlights' new Bubble-Magus skimmer!:

what comes in the box:

collection cup/wedge-pipe:

skimmer body:

Afman PH-1100 pump box. This skimmer was redesigned from the Bubble-Magus NAC3 for Cadlights, and now uses this pump instead of the NAC pump that comes with other Bubble-Magus NAC skimmers. The pump fits snuggly into the body with no teflon tape needed (I might add some to really secure it in there/make sure I'm not leaking any pressure, but it doesn't seem necessary at this point). I did have to unscrew a fitting that was screwed into the "out" hole and move it to the side "in" hole - not sure if they all come like this, but this is definitely a requirement to get the thing to fit together.

Afman PH-1100 pump and intake nozzle. reasonably quiet. not sure how much heat it's adding to the system, but my temperatures have increased about 2 degrees (F) since installing (running between 81-83F). However, I don't know if this might have more to do with the top or the skimmer.

instructions/warranty card(? I don't know this for sure, I guess) that came with the skimmer and pump (the picture was useful; the rest was in Chinese (I'm assuming).

assembled (took about 10 minutes to unpack/assemble, despite no English instructions).

installed/0 minutes of skimming. milky fine bubbles -- awesome. i like the bubbles in the stock skimmer, but this is definitely a big improvement. I'm getting a bit of a straw-slurping sound from the air intake tube. The skimmer does not come with a silencer like the stock skimmer does for some reason. No idea why not. I talked to Eddie, and he suggested that I could use a silencer on it without affecting performance too much. He also suggested sticking a sponge over the top of it to muffle it a little bit (because the sound isn't horrible -- at least it's not grating on my nerves yet). I might look into that.

after 48 hours of skimming, with the wedge pipe tuned to the dryest skimmate setting ("Max"). Not much in the actual collection cup, at this point, but it's clearly ready to start producing if I just tuned it down some. But, I wanted to run it on Max for awhile to start with and then gradually tune it down.

after 72 hours of skimming. I messed around with tuning the wedge pipe for a while, and I finally settled on tuning it down to about "4" to get the water level a little higher/a little wetter skimmate. It's nice to be able to control the skimmate so much more precisely like this -- much better than having a ball valve. The skimmate I'm producing at this point is black and disgusting, just like I like it! And, looking at the skimmer this morning, I've more than doubled this amount of skimmate since I took this picture last night (about 8 more hours). So, it's really taking drawing out that gunk now! I could certainly take out more if I tuned the wedge pipe down to about 3-3.5, too, I think. But, I am going for a dryer skimmate (at least at first).

Question for those with the new Bubble Magus skimmer. I was washing off all the components and noticed that the tube coming from the bottom of the collection cup , not the air intake tube, seems to clogged since water will not run through it. Is this normal and if so what is the purpose of the tube.

Eric

 

[marinetankdiver]

Re: CADlights 39g Pro build thread

The tube coming from the bottom of the collection cup is a drain tube. There should be a removable plug at the end of the tubing. This let's you drain the skimmate without removing the cup. During break-in it helps to leave the tube open so the cup does overflow with water.

 

[reeftivo]

I have an inch or so of course sand along with some rubble and macro algea.




I didn't figure I would lower it, only raise it.



I already got rid of the batting, but i will check to make sure the rubble I am using isn't too small. My reluctance to a filter sock is the extra maintenance and cost of keeping them clean. That and the critters they catch.



This is what I am basically using on the side of the bubble trap that leads to the return chamber. the sponge is what really helped cut down on the bubbles but it also cut down the flow to the return chamber too.



I agree with not having the divider in the first chamber. I was thinking about cutting it out and may do that after making sure the water is at least 7.5" and checking the rubble in the drain area and trying a filter sock before modifying the fuge.

Thanks for the additional suggestions.

I think a good alternative to the sponge then would be #4 enkemat. The material used to mesh skimmer impellers. They sell it in sheets and you could double it up and put it between the weirs on the return side.

If you decide to remove the divider in the sump then let me know and I'll walk you through it. All you will need is a small hammer and small blunt nose pliers.

Let me know if you wish to remove the divider and I'll walk you through it.

On another note: Spoke with Eddie and he has again made some changes to the artisan and pro systems. He has re-designed the overflow box with two intakes (top and bottom) and glass walled re-enforcements. This will help with sediment settling and drastically cut down any overflow noise. He also is scrapping the stock return pump and going with the Sicce PSK 2500 (650gph/40 watts) at no extra charge. I've contacted Eddie to see if there will be a discount for the Sicce for people who have already purchased the systems.

I'll post when I find out.

Tivo

 

[RealReef]

The tube coming from the bottom of the collection cup is a drain tube. There should be a removable plug at the end of the tubing. This let's you drain the skimmate without removing the cup. During break-in it helps to leave the tube open so the cup does overflow with water.

Well that explains it. It was a struggle but I got the plug out. Now it makes sense. Thanks for the feedback Sam.

Eric

 

[reeftivo]

Question for those with the new Bubble Magus skimmer. I was washing off all the components and noticed that the tube coming from the bottom of the collection cup , not the air intake tube, seems to clogged since water will not run through it. Is this normal and if so what is the purpose of the tube.

Eric

Looking great!

Simple silencer with no air restriction is an old plastic 35mm film can. You just snip off an inch of the tubing, drill two holes side by side in the cap, push the cut piece into one hole about a half inch in and push the pump airline into the other hole. This way you will still be using the full i.d. of the tubing without restriction unlike the silencers that have a nipple that slides into the tubing creating a smaller i.d.

Just a thought

Tivo

 

[meinestrasse]

On another note: Spoke with Eddie and he has again made some changes to the artisan and pro systems. He has re-designed the overflow box with two intakes (top and bottom) and glass walled re-enforcements. This will help with sediment settling and drastically cut down any overflow noise. He also is scrapping the stock return pump and going with the Sicce PSK 2500 (650gph/40 watts) at no extra charge. I've contacted Eddie to see if there will be a discount for the Sicce for people who have already purchased the systems.

I'll post when I find out.

Tivo

Now you've really got me interested again. Nice work, Tivo! I may have to skip Glass Cages for this. If only the 39G came with Starphire glass...

On another note, UPS finally contacted me about the damage investigation. They are NOT coming to pick up the broken tank. They just want me to e-mail photos to them of the box, damaged goods inside the box, etc. from different angles. I'm on my own with disposal.

 

[reeftivo]

Now you've really got me interested again. Nice work, Tivo! I may have to skip Glass Cages for this. If only the 39G came with Starphire glass...

On another note, UPS finally contacted me about the damage investigation. They are NOT coming to pick up the broken tank. They just want me to e-mail photos to them of the box, damaged goods inside the box, etc. from different angles. I'm on my own with disposal.

Too bad there isn't anything salvageable on the tank. Looks like a hammer and a trash can.


Regarding the starfire glass on the pro; Yah, it would be nice but the darn low iron doesn't like to bend.

Glass Cages makes some really nice tanks but they seem to be hit or miss at times with their build quality. I guess most manufacturers have similar issues but in CADlights case their primary problem is shipping. I had only read raves on the mitre edges, thickness and overall look of their tanks. I did read a post that showed pictures of poor glueing on the back pane of a tank from CADlights but it was rectified by Eddie (may even be in this thread).

I'm not bashing Glass Cages because like I mentioned, they make some really nice tanks, but read some reviews of their builds and overall satisfaction, then make your decision.

BTW

Here's the e-mail Eddie sent me:

i just finished a meeting with our UPS rep here in the warehouse and he doesnt see how they can break them. they will address the issue and give us an "exceptional handling" option for all of our tanks. so as of now it is definitely much improved.

Thanks so much and i hope the guy with the refund will change his mind so he too can experience how good these tanks are. oh Steve i forgot to mention to you of some of the new improvements we made to the Professional series.

Both the Artisans and the Professionals now have top and bottom surface skimmers and glass walled reinforcements. the top and bottom surface skimmers greatly reduce noise and increase drain efficiency. also we have ditched the old sump pump and upgraded it to the Sicce PSK-2500. this pump is imported from Italy. man this pump rocks and is totally silent, pumps 650GPH consistently and uses only 40W. puts out very low heat also. these new pumps retail for around $120 just the pump alone and we are now just giving them out with the Professional packages for no extra charge.

Thank you, your friend
Eddie


Tivo

 

[schnitm]

Too bad there isn't anything salvageable on the tank. Looks like a hammer and a trash can.

Too bad Eddie didn't let me keep the first one. I'm sure it could have been patched. Maybe not well enough to put in my second floor living room but certainly well enough to give it a go next to my big sump in my garage. I was briefly having dreams of a Cadlights 39g frag growout tank.:bigeyes:

Fortunately for my marriage Eddie had it picked up.:love2:

 

[meinestrasse]

Here's the e-mail Eddie sent me:

i just finished a meeting with our UPS rep here in the warehouse and he doesnt see how they can break them. they will address the issue and give us an "exceptional handling" option for all of our tanks. so as of now it is definitely much improved.

Thanks so much and i hope the guy with the refund will change his mind so he too can experience how good these tanks are. oh Steve i forgot to mention to you of some of the new improvements we made to the Professional series.

Both the Artisans and the Professionals now have top and bottom surface skimmers and glass walled reinforcements. the top and bottom surface skimmers greatly reduce noise and increase drain efficiency. also we have ditched the old sump pump and upgraded it to the Sicce PSK-2500. this pump is imported from Italy. man this pump rocks and is totally silent, pumps 650GPH consistently and uses only 40W. puts out very low heat also. these new pumps retail for around $120 just the pump alone and we are now just giving them out with the Professional packages for no extra charge.

Thank you, your friend
Eddie


Tivo

Tivo,

I have e-mailed Eddie with a settlement proposal in lieu of providing me a refund for the destroyed tank. If he agrees, I will take delivery of a new tank. If not, I will go with the Glass Cages. I believe I have made a very reasonable offer considering how this all came about.

If this works out, you should get a free Artisan!


UPDATE:
Eddie has agreed to a settlement proposal, and I will accept delivery of a new tank. It ships on Monday with the new design. I will post photos of it when it arrives. Hopefully it will arrive in one piece.

 

[reeftivo]

Sounds good! Hopefully it all works out.

Keep us posted!

Tivo

 

[marinetankdiver]

micro-bubble update and mods to refugium

micro-bubble update and mods to refugium

So I removed the divider in the first chamber so the return and skimmer share one large area. My first thought was what have I done! Removing the divider must have reduced the back pressure for the drain line because my drain started to "breath". The overflow would fill up and then the vacuum would take over and quickly drain the overflow, then it would stop and the overflow would refill.

To fix this I need to slow the draining down so I put a ball valve, I plan on changing this out with a gate valve, in the drain line and closed it partially. That fixed that problem and actually allows me to control the level of water in the overflow and reduces the turbulence in the sump significantly.

In hindsight I should have tried the ball valve before removing the divider. This would have reduced the turbulence that I was hoping to reduce by removing the divider. Removing the divider only made the turbulence worse.

The water level in the first two chambers is right at 9" which may be a bit too high for the skimmer but so far it seems fine.

My micro-bubbles are back but I am hoping that they will go away as the air that got into the return line from having the pump turned off clears out. If not then I'll break down and use a filter sock.

Overall I think I will be happier with this configuration as I can raise the level of water in the return to a point that allows some cascading water movement but limits the overflow noise. The single first chamber should allow the bubbles more area to dissipate before moving on th the next chambers as well (I hope)

 

[marinetankdiver]

UPDATE:
Eddie has agreed to a settlement proposal, and I will accept delivery of a new tank. It ships on Monday with the new design. I will post photos of it when it arrives. Hopefully it will arrive in one piece.

Can't wait to see pictures of the new overflow. Should have waited another month to get my tank. Oh well.

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

So I removed the divider in the first chamber so the return and skimmer share one large area. My first thought was what have I done! Removing the divider must have reduced the back pressure for the drain line because my drain started to "breath". The overflow would fill up and then the vacuum would take over and quickly drain the overflow, then it would stop and the overflow would refill.

To fix this I need to slow the draining down so I put a ball valve, I plan on changing this out with a gate valve, in the drain line and closed it partially. That fixed that problem and actually allows me to control the level of water in the overflow and reduces the turbulence in the sump significantly.

I'm not sure it's a good idea to restrict the drain side - Better to place the valve on the feed side and simply reduce the flow to the tank, thereby reducing the return flow.

I had a similar "gurgling" problem on a frag tank I set up that shares the sump with my 39GPro. It was difficult to balance the flow between both tanks (I use a Hyperflow 20HF at about 1000 GPH.) The optimal flow resulting in siphon/non-siphon gurgling from the Frag tank. I resolved it by place a 12" length of RO tubing into the overflow drain allowing air to constantly be pulled into the drain and breaking any siphon - perfectly silent.

This coupled with the Ziplock back trick I posted earlier in this thread to silence the waterfall noise associated with the Durso on the Cadlights, has completely silenced all water sounds.

I think we all battled micro-bubbles early on - I simply accepted the fact I'd need to change out a filter sock once a week. Another advantage of removing the divider is you now have room for more skimmer

 

[marinetankdiver]

I'm not sure it's a good idea to restrict the drain side - Better to place the valve on the feed side and simply reduce the flow to the tank, thereby reducing the return flow.

I tried slowing down the return pump but that didn't do anything but make the problem worse. I do have a tube in the top of the Durso as well so this problem was really weird.

After searching RC for solutions to this "breathing" problem slowing down the drain was about the only thing I found to fix it. I had a ball valve handy so that is what I tried. I also saw that using a larger diameter pipe at the end of the drain would slow it down too so I will probably try that too.

I'm watching the level in the sump to make sure that my pump isn't pushing more water into the tank than can drain. I've also tested running with the drain valve closed to make sure the tank can handle the water from the sump and vice versa and everything is good so no flooding problems, at least not from an overflowing perspective.

Thanks for the suggestions and bright side of removing the divider and yea I figure I'm going to end up with a filter sock

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

You're right - this is a "weird" problem. I've never heard of a siphon/non-siphon problem on the Cadlights at any flow rate.

I don't see a mechanism whereby simply removing the divider would cause this. Perhaps it altered the lay of the drain line itself? (higher/lower, bent or straightened...)

You might try adjusting the distance the Durso air line extends down into the drain line. I found it can be "tuned" - Extending it further into the drain might work better at "breaking" any siphon that might form.

 

[reeftivo]

Siphon/No siphon?

Sounds like your RO tubing in the hole of the Durso is pushed in and hitting the collar of the PVC where the Durso union connects to the stand pipe.

I had a similar surge issue and found that when I pushed the RO tubing down to where I thought it was good it was stopping against something (the edge of the PVC where it connects). Ultimately it wasn't pulling enough air and the siphon surge would build. I cleaned out the tube with warm RO and put it down past the lip and my problem was solved.

Just my experience!

BTW Marinetankdiver, Get a filter sock in there!(-: You'll be happy! It cuts down all my overflow drain turbulence and stops all my micro issues with my drain. The only drawback is a bit more maintenance in cleaning the sock. too many positives for me not to run one. If you're worried about it trapping pods then when you clean it, turn it inside out and rinse through a coffee strainer and dump the pods back in the fuge or feed the DT.

Tivo