Cadlights 50G Artisan Cube Tank Build Thread

Sinful Aquatics said:
Richard, I dont know if anyone asked this yet, but why didn't you choose the stock lights?the ones with the actinic t5s?
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Hey Peter, well first of all I got the light before I got the tank. But my main reason for getting that light was the efficiency. My fixture on my old tank is a PFO acrolight running 250w hqi and 2x75w VHO actinics. I pretty much stopped using the actinics and I wanted to use less energy on this new tank. So I researched all the metal halide reflectors out there and lumenbright had one of the best par values due to it's ability to focus light better. Pretty much it seems like lumenbright and lumenmax are the best reflectors out there for focusing light. The only reflector that outperformed the lumenbright was the lumenmax elite which doesn't look so good as an open top pendant.

Another good thing about the lumenbrights is that they don't get hot. Because of the larger internal space and the well positioned vents the lumenbrights are able to stay at nearly room temperature without active cooling. This means less heat transfer to the tank, no halides burns from accidentally touching it and less energy consumption from using fans and chillers. And since I am using 20k radium bulbs I didn't feel the need to have supplementary actinics. You can see how blue the light is in the pictures.

The Cadlights fixtures are nice and definitely the way to go for something affordable and sleek looking but as with all sleek looking halide pendants it is less efficient at focusing light. But if you use a 250w halide you would probably get around the same (probably a bit higher) par value within the focus beam as compared to the 150w lumenbright. I haven't done tests yet (still need a par meter) but this is going by the research that Sanjay did and also other reefer par tests.

Hope that answers your question. Are you going to get a Cadlights soon?
 
cocoaandme said:
What kind of substrate are you using?
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I used CaribSea Aragonite Seaflor Special Grade reef Sand. I really liked the look of the substrate you chose while still in the bag at the LFS but I have never saw it in a tank, and I was too much of a chicken to take a chance on not liking it.
 
BriGuy31+ said:
I used CaribSea Aragonite Seaflor Special Grade reef Sand. I really liked the look of the substrate you chose while still in the bag at the LFS but I have never saw it in a tank, and I was too much of a chicken to take a chance on not liking it.
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Yeah I wanted the finest grain sand and that was the finest my lfs had. I had larger grain sands before but with this tank I was going for a miniaturized look.
 
One day's skimmate:
swc1.jpg


Pretty good considering it's just taking up the stuff from the rock. The bubbles coming from the output should go down within a week or two.
 
deadmanh said:
you aren't going to use the drop in chiller for this setup? what are you going to use instead?
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Haha I'm not going to be using any chiller for this setup. The evaporation from the rimless tank and the distance of the light from the tank will be enough to keep it cool during the summers. Plus I am keeping my pumps low wattage to eliminate unnecessary heat build up. I actually didn't use that chiller for my old tank either. I didn't need it. Which is why I am selling it.
 
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