Ron Reefman
Active member
Hey David, I don't know if you have moved forward with your decision yet or not, but here are some of my opinions. BTW, sorry for the long delay but life got in the way.
I did tank measurements and water volume calculations, but it was a long time ago and not really that important to me. If I remember correctly Red Sea doesn't take the water volume in the overflow into consideration and Cadlight (like everybody else) just uses the overall dimensions of the tank. If you use the Red Sea tank measurements and calculate the water volume it comes out at 185g not 160g.
Sure the Cadlight uses a thinner glass, but it's euro braced and not rimless which makes a huge difference to the strength of the front and back. I really wanted the rimless tank and didn't care for the euro brace design. But the cost difference was way too much for me to ignore, so I got the Cadlight. Now, just over a year later, I love the euro brace. I have 3 DIY tanks that are rimless and water getting over the edge on running down the glass is cut by 95% with the euro brace (BTW, I play in my tanks a lot!). Also, I like having the euro brace to use as a shelf when I'm working in the tank. I can pull stuff out of the tank, like a dead snail or a crab carapace, and just set it on the rim until I'm done in the tank. I also move frags from 2 tanks in a back room to the 2 tanks out front and I often use a small container so I don't drip water everywhere. The container sits very securely on the euro brace. It was also easy to make a DIY screen top to sit on the euro brace.
As for sumps, the Cadlight sump is bigger than the Red Sea. And the Red Sea is a tight fit in the stand as they section off about 25% to 33% for a dry compartment. The Cadlight stand is all open, but they don't utilize all the space. Personally, I don't like the Cadlight sump internal design. What is the small middle section for? Who uses sponge filter material anymore? So I am currently building a new sump that will fill the stand and have a bigger area for a bigger skimmer (I already own) and a refugium which I think is a very worthwhile feature on a marine aquarium system.
The Cadlight skimmer is good, although it's touchy when it comes to water depth, so an auto top off is well advised. The main return pump is a lot like the current Jebao 12,000lph return pump and runs very quietly and puts out VERY little heat.
I was very happy with the build quality of the stand, sump and tank. IMHO it's as good as Red Sea. I learned to like the euro brace. I love the open 'floor plan' stand so I can expand my sump. And both the Red Sea and Cadlight use metric fittings (a PITA if you ask me). The skimmer and pump are good, but you can delete them from your system and get a very fair reduction in cost.
Long story short, I like the Cadlight a little bit more than the Red Sea and it cost me about 30% less delivered.
I did tank measurements and water volume calculations, but it was a long time ago and not really that important to me. If I remember correctly Red Sea doesn't take the water volume in the overflow into consideration and Cadlight (like everybody else) just uses the overall dimensions of the tank. If you use the Red Sea tank measurements and calculate the water volume it comes out at 185g not 160g.
Sure the Cadlight uses a thinner glass, but it's euro braced and not rimless which makes a huge difference to the strength of the front and back. I really wanted the rimless tank and didn't care for the euro brace design. But the cost difference was way too much for me to ignore, so I got the Cadlight. Now, just over a year later, I love the euro brace. I have 3 DIY tanks that are rimless and water getting over the edge on running down the glass is cut by 95% with the euro brace (BTW, I play in my tanks a lot!). Also, I like having the euro brace to use as a shelf when I'm working in the tank. I can pull stuff out of the tank, like a dead snail or a crab carapace, and just set it on the rim until I'm done in the tank. I also move frags from 2 tanks in a back room to the 2 tanks out front and I often use a small container so I don't drip water everywhere. The container sits very securely on the euro brace. It was also easy to make a DIY screen top to sit on the euro brace.
As for sumps, the Cadlight sump is bigger than the Red Sea. And the Red Sea is a tight fit in the stand as they section off about 25% to 33% for a dry compartment. The Cadlight stand is all open, but they don't utilize all the space. Personally, I don't like the Cadlight sump internal design. What is the small middle section for? Who uses sponge filter material anymore? So I am currently building a new sump that will fill the stand and have a bigger area for a bigger skimmer (I already own) and a refugium which I think is a very worthwhile feature on a marine aquarium system.
The Cadlight skimmer is good, although it's touchy when it comes to water depth, so an auto top off is well advised. The main return pump is a lot like the current Jebao 12,000lph return pump and runs very quietly and puts out VERY little heat.
I was very happy with the build quality of the stand, sump and tank. IMHO it's as good as Red Sea. I learned to like the euro brace. I love the open 'floor plan' stand so I can expand my sump. And both the Red Sea and Cadlight use metric fittings (a PITA if you ask me). The skimmer and pump are good, but you can delete them from your system and get a very fair reduction in cost.
Long story short, I like the Cadlight a little bit more than the Red Sea and it cost me about 30% less delivered.
