New Build CadLights Artisan II 50 gallon cube- From start to finish- Help appreciated

[figuerres]

Yeah CAD Lights could get a lot better rep with the community if they did beter customer service.
I have the 150 gallon artisan II setup.
the gear works.
lacking is:
customer service
handling backorder parts
instructions on how to setup the hardware
better plumbing parts

my tank and stand and sump are good, made right, no defects found.
the skimmer had a huge break in period.
the light they sent for the sump / fuge is junk, it works but I only use it as a work light. I got a different light for the fuge that puts out a lot stronger light.

 

[champion6sigma]

wow, looks great! I'm subbing to see further progress.

I was just working on my wiring for the reefkeeper i'm using on my new build last weekend and i felt like a spider with all those wires hanging around lol:spin3:

Thanks! Every single cubic inch of space will be used after the ATO and BR1 are additional apex stuff is installed. It is crazy. You need spider sense to just figure out where to put things...

 

[champion6sigma]

Yeah CAD Lights could get a lot better rep with the community if they did beter customer service.
I have the 150 gallon artisan II setup.
the gear works.
lacking is:
customer service
handling backorder parts
instructions on how to setup the hardware
better plumbing parts

my tank and stand and sump are good, made right, no defects found.
the skimmer had a huge break in period.
the light they sent for the sump / fuge is junk, it works but I only use it as a work light. I got a different light for the fuge that puts out a lot stronger light.

Absolutely right, they have a good product, but I'm dealing with what sounds like 18 year olds who do not know the meaning of "following through with their promises."

My patience and understanding can only go so far. I've been reasonable with set backs, emergencies, a claim that their website was hacked, blaming on managers, other depts. I eventually had to threaten to call credit company, etc....

I just got the BR1 media reactor yesterday!!! I ordered this tank a LONG time ago. I just got the refund for their lamp tree yesterday....It took me weeks to get a receipt/invoice. I still haven't gotten an invoice for the changes made. I'm still awaiting on the instructions for the PLS150 skimmer. I have no idea how to use it. I've never used a skimmer in my life except for red seas, and that was a pain. I do have instructions for the BR1 media reactor but I haven't had need to use that yet since tank is so new.

Anyone can assist with the PLS? I would like to get that started.....thanks.

 

[champion6sigma]

I've had a CAD Lights 100g running for eight months or so now and love the tank, stand, and sump. Customer service, not so much, just like everyone attests. About the electronics in the stand, aren't you worried about the humidity and the associated rust/corrosion? I had left a metal clamp on the rim of the sump for a week or two, and when I pulled it out it had quite a bit of rust on it. I mounted my Apex and associated electronics to the side of the stand and tried to make it as neat as possible. Would rather it be hidden, but not so much that I'd risk headaches associated with equipment going bad. I'm not saying it will, it's just something I worried about.

I am worried about the messing up the electronics, I bet most every single one state not to put in stand....but I truly am limited on space. Unless I cut into my walls - and make some builtins to help conceal....or devise some sort of cabinetry above tank....all of these are expensive and pose their own problems.....I'm ultimately left with just no room, This space I'm using is next to a wall immediately to the right (the wall is 3 or 4 inches. I can barely fit my arm in it to adjust the mp40 or even flip the switches for living room lights.....(mp40 pretty much only thing that fits. Same thing behind tank, only an mp40 fits behind it....I'm using low profile power outlet plug). If I move tank to the left it blocks the entrance to the master bedroom. Directly in front is my living area, sectional couch....etc... and the only walkway between my living area and dining (open concept house).

What I am going to do is REDO the entire board setup, and placement so its further (we're talking about an inch or two further, from sump), I will utilize a thin flexible, non permeable divider between the electronics and the sump, and I will install fan (multiple if necessary) to run constantly. Surprisingly, not a single thing gets hot on the board. Everything is low voltage my uncle said. vectra, mp40's radion, all run at very low settings. I have a tunze fan i haven't opened but I don't think it will be usable for the sump area. Cooler master makes many fans for computers and consoles or media centers....I might try them (though I still need to worry about their operation in a salt water environment. Even my radion light is mounted low, and poses problems with rust or salt creep.

Maybe I should get a humidity reader to figure out how bad the situation is....maybe I can put a bag of rice in the sump area...doesn't that soak up humidity...i think i read thats what you do when you drop a phone in water...

I'll do more research...i do need to figure out something to help it, before there are any problems in future. I also need to check what material the cad lights sump light is (cheap LED thing). Its mounted on sump and I don't want rust in there....I have a magnetic plastic apex holder thing with titanium screws which seems like it will be fine. I've got a wireless adapter with ethernet for the apex to run since my router and modem are by my media center. Works great but not built for salt water stand.

Someone said try adding wd40 silicone to the screws in radion. I think it was the company that makes my radion mount...since it has some screws...perhaps I can add a dab(drop) of that stuff onto every metal screw or part in the sump area and light area?

thanks for additional input

 

[champion6sigma]

I'll be taking some additional pics soon, I'll be breaking out my canon 70d and I need to research how to take pics of an aquarium. Seems like camera lenses pick up the intensity of the light and I need to choose the right settings. May have to use the tripod, I know there are some settings which you take picture and it takes seconds if not minutes to process. My brother in law is a police forensics guy and he uses canon to take crime shot photos, so I may ask him for input and what type of background light or settings to use for best effect.

More than likely after thanksgiving. You all have a nice holiday. I'm so happy i was able to get the tank running before our guests arrive. I'll resume setup/mods after Friday.

 

[figuerres]

I'll be taking some additional pics soon, I'll be breaking out my canon 70d and I need to research how to take pics of an aquarium. Seems like camera lenses pick up the intensity of the light and I need to choose the right settings. May have to use the tripod, I know there are some settings which you take picture and it takes seconds if not minutes to process. My brother in law is a police forensics guy and he uses canon to take crime shot photos, so I may ask him for input and what type of background light or settings to use for best effect.

More than likely after thanksgiving. You all have a nice holiday. I'm so happy i was able to get the tank running before our guests arrive. I'll resume setup/mods after Friday.

I will try to make a few posts over the next few days.
Camera, if you can get raw images that is best, adobe light room or photo shop can adjust the white balance.

Skimmer, rinse with some rod water and hook it up it may need to run in the sump skimming like crazy for up to 2 weeks and will settle down over time. If the one you have is like mine the top rotates and has three screw things that can clamp it in place leave them a bit lose and rotate the top to adjust the foam and water level.

 

[chimmike]

OP, with all due respect, I think you went absolutely hog-wild overkill on your pumps.
The Vectra is WAY overkill for your setup, and TWO MP40's is serious overkill as well.
A single MP40 in that dimension tank is more than enough flow, and you can use a mag drive pump (significantly less cost) for your return. You'll have to have the Vectra turned down so low (due to drain flow limitation) that it won't even be worthwhile to run it. You could return the Vectra and a MP40w and save that money towards some excellent WWC corals or something

I do like how thorough you are on this, but I question your experience. Certainly this is a great hobby to get into, but throwing that kind of coin at a build without being absolutely sure could be a recipe for disaster.

I look forward to seeing you have everything pieced together and running, and wish you the best of luck!

 

[champion6sigma]

I will try to make a few posts over the next few days.
Camera, if you can get raw images that is best, adobe light room or photo shop can adjust the white balance.

Skimmer, rinse with some rod water and hook it up it may need to run in the sump skimming like crazy for up to 2 weeks and will settle down over time. If the one you have is like mine the top rotates and has three screw things that can clamp it in place leave them a bit lose and rotate the top to adjust the foam and water level.

I'll try to loosen the screws and twist the top. When ever I plug in now, it does absolutely nothing. I can't twist anything so maybe those things are too tight.

Do you have the pls150?

thanks for the help.

 

[champion6sigma]

dazed and confused.

dazed and confused.

OP, with all due respect, I think you went absolutely hog-wild overkill on your pumps.
The Vectra is WAY overkill for your setup, and TWO MP40's is serious overkill as well.
A single MP40 in that dimension tank is more than enough flow, and you can use a mag drive pump (significantly less cost) for your return. You'll have to have the Vectra turned down so low (due to drain flow limitation) that it won't even be worthwhile to run it. You could return the Vectra and a MP40w and save that money towards some excellent WWC corals or something

I do like how thorough you are on this, but I question your experience. Certainly this is a great hobby to get into, but throwing that kind of coin at a build without being absolutely sure could be a recipe for disaster.

I look forward to seeing you have everything pieced together and running, and wish you the best of luck!

All my products are able to go into a larger tank one day...though maybe they will burn out before that happens.

As far as the vectra, it is supposed to be able to run at up to 2000 gph, my stock cad lights pump is rated at 500 supposedly. Running the vectra at 25 percent to 500 seems reasonable. Mine's calibrated now so its actually able to run at a slight trickle of water all the way up to what I tried to estimate is the max flow for the tank...Then between those two numbers I never run it at the lowest or the highest...its running at around what my cadlights was doing. The vectra is dead silent...and doesn't seem to be a problem. I was assured it can run a nano.....all the way up to a much larger tank of course. The calibration thing is what makes it all possible. It ramps up power very slowly and then you stop it when a smidge of water is falling out of return. Then at that point you can fine tune it up or down to make the perfect minimum...and then you set the max speed it will ever get to, which for me is no where near 2000gph.

As far as the mp40's I did order two mp10's originally and due to the glass thickness I was told not to take a chance on being at the maximum size glass (slightly over according to mp10 specs) So yes, I've got to run the mp40's at very low speed because one, they are way too powerful, and two, my tank dimensions are short.

What I regret most is not getting thicker substrate. Maybe the mp10's could have worked...but based on manufacturers specs...I didn't know what to do and i was running out of time, losing my mind, and my health has been failing, along with our old red sea which is a akin to a swamp. Its going to take a long time to clean once my health gets back up.

Returning and exchanging is a tough thing to do. I bought the mp's at dr foster and smith which amazingly allow returns. I bought everything else at bulk reef supply, which do not for these type items (apex , ecotech).

Even my lighting is overkill...maybe the xr15 would have worked, so i run the xr30 pro at low output, i've got great spread....and ability to hopefully acquire some nice corals maybe a year from now once I'm more knowledgeable, and hopefully with the kind support and advice of all of you all.

As far as throwing around money...yes it was tough letting go of 4 thousand. I do hope its all worth it. I am very inexperienced. I did know i was getting quality products all around...

I'm also dissapointed about backups, supposedly can't run the vectra on it until they release an adapter for it. I was told it would work as is.

Where do you buy products from? Is it expensive to exchange or return? I lost money having to exchange the mp10's for the 40's. And time, took about 2 weeks to accomplish. maybe 3.

Its not fun second guessing everything I bought. I've done that for the last 3 months ever since making the initial order for the cad lights tank. The stress of aiming for perfection, not achieving it, weakens me. Then my body attacks myself. Even my wife thinks the tank is too complicated and shes unhappy with the products because its taken so much of my time to try and learn things, the programming, the actual setup, and everything else involved.

Hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving.

 

[champion6sigma]

I think I do have an older photoshop....I will try to take some pics tomorrow as we host our thanksgiving dinner. I'll remember to check for white balance settings. Yes, camera does do raw photos, I'll change the settings on the cam too.

Thanks, you'all

 

[figuerres]

I'll try to loosen the screws and twist the top. When ever I plug in now, it does absolutely nothing. I can't twist anything so maybe those things are too tight.

Do you have the pls150?

thanks for the help.

I have whatever they sent, see they keep changing versions of stuff and never really document stuff. It almost looks like what the website calls the pls-300
But not quite....

It has 3 bolts that have plastic knobs and they can be left partly lose, the base has holes in the rim and so does the bottom of the top part. The twist adjusts how much flow goes thru at one extreme no foam gets to the cup, at the other extreem the cup will run over with almost straight tank water.
The trick is to find a 'sweet spot' that makes decent skim foam and not too much water.
When I first got it all I had was water overflows, in time it started getting less extreme and making decent skim.
Even now I have to be careful or it will over skim and fill the cup fast.
My cup has a drain hole that they shipped with a plug, I got some silicon hose that fits and I run that to a gallon jug. I have a clamp on the hose so that if it over skims the waste goes back to the tank and not over flow my gallon jug.

I undo the clamp every few days to let it drain and use paper towel to get a thick sludge that sticks to the inner cup walls.

 

[figuerres]

Supposedly I have a pls-250 but it's not the same as the website shows.... almost but not really.... part of why I will not buy any more from them, every thing keeps changing and who knows why they are doing that.

 

[chimmike]

Ahh, build with intent to use in a larger setup in the future.

all making sense now

 

[champion6sigma]

Ahh, build with intent to use in a larger setup in the future.

all making sense now

That actually wasn't high on the list of why...but its on the list somewhere. Our current home which we bought new 3 years ago...only has room for the 50 gallon, I will never upgrade the tank while we live here. The red sea we had was 34.

That being said, if we moved, I'd love to be able to buy a larger tank for my family. Or if things go south, my organs fails, all my products will be an easy sell since they would fit with any size tank.

It all started with me buying an ecotech light. I was happy with their reviews, the company, the function and look of the produdcts, and wireless ability, and I figured I couldn't go wrong with buying the remainder of their products. I would have happily stayed with the mp10 if it weren't for the glass issue. That is the SOLE reason I upgraded the powerheads, based on the advice of a forum member online..and ecotech customer service.

The vectra...I just thought i was super cool and worked well in conjunction with the mp's and the radion and the battery backups.

 

[champion6sigma]

I have whatever they sent, see they keep changing versions of stuff and never really document stuff. It almost looks like what the website calls the pls-300
But not quite....

It has 3 bolts that have plastic knobs and they can be left partly lose, the base has holes in the rim and so does the bottom of the top part. The twist adjusts how much flow goes thru at one extreme no foam gets to the cup, at the other extreem the cup will run over with almost straight tank water.
The trick is to find a 'sweet spot' that makes decent skim foam and not too much water.
When I first got it all I had was water overflows, in time it started getting less extreme and making decent skim.
Even now I have to be careful or it will over skim and fill the cup fast.
My cup has a drain hole that they shipped with a plug, I got some silicon hose that fits and I run that to a gallon jug. I have a clamp on the hose so that if it over skims the waste goes back to the tank and not over flow my gallon jug.

I undo the clamp every few days to let it drain and use paper towel to get a thick sludge that sticks to the inner cup walls.

yeah, seems like their products don't stay in the lineup long, nor is their documentation, and the reviews aren't great - of the skimmers or other small things.

I would never buy from cad lights again. There is too much stress involved, I don't believe they stand by their products, god forbid something was wrong with the tank, stand, or if my products fail, what sort of headache, shipping costs, and arguing, and maybe it would take 50 phone calls, 10 emails, to finally get something done. Maybe I would get a new one within months if something of theirs failed or needed replacing.

I'm going to be working on tank today, and will try to get the skimmer working per your directions.

I'm hoping this weekend i can redo the entire electronics board. I'm probably going to order the wxm module today. i should have done it cybermonday.

 

[champion6sigma]

pls150

pls150

So on the skimmer, there is a level with 3 screws, which I have no loosened up. The large cone above it can now "rotate" a quarter inch max...is that what you mean by rotate? And is that the part you are referring to..the very large cone? What about all the other screws, such as the level with 8 screws? How loose on them? What above base screws? Does the air line/valve need adjustment of any sort?

thank you.

 

[champion6sigma]

I've got it in water, its running ( i only know this because I feel some sort of mild vibration on black intake nozzle thing) but nothing is happening..

 

[Greybeard]

Having researched CAD and DBP before buying, I ended up with a Marineland 60g rimless cube. Came with virtually nothing... that way I could pick the individual components at my leisure. It did come with PVC for a Durso type drain, which I eventually tossed and replaced with a Herbie system.

The issues you're having with under tank space are precisely why I ended up building a custom stand for my 24" cube. It's got a shelf all the way around the tank, and gives me 38x38" of usable space under the tank... and it's still quite a squeeze to get everything in there.

 

[champion6sigma]

pls150 working

pls150 working

I called cadlights. My pump was not working right, I had to take entire thing apart, tinker with it, and then submerge in water. It worked then. I reinstalled everything correctly. Everything is working now. Now there is water in cone. I've got bubble level correct. Only two of three screws are tight, the red flower one remains loose for slight correction to levels. Bubbles go halfway up inner tube only of collection tube. Now I'm happy. Thought told me if pump was not working I could return it, I pay for that, then they send out another. Or I could pay for shipping and they send one right away.

 

[champion6sigma]

Having researched CAD and DBP before buying, I ended up with a Marineland 60g rimless cube. Came with virtually nothing... that way I could pick the individual components at my leisure. It did come with PVC for a Durso type drain, which I eventually tossed and replaced with a Herbie system.

The issues you're having with under tank space are precisely why I ended up building a custom stand for my 24" cube. It's got a shelf all the way around the tank, and gives me 38x38" of usable space under the tank... and it's still quite a squeeze to get everything in there.

I hear you greybeard. I went with the cad lights because the dimensions of their 50 gallon (or their 60 gallon versa, which is probably same as yours) is the absolute largest I could fit in the spot we have selected for a tank. I'm severely limited with space. I actually barely clear the mp40 behind it and to side of it. The wall is holding up the back one and I have enough space for a light switch next to the side one. Its that close.

I bet that larger stand comes in handy!!! Do you have a link to a thread? I'd love to see your setup...and how you landscaped the tank..what livestock you chose.

I thought i was making a smart move with cadlights, but only thing i'm happy with is tank, and the stand somewhat.

You don't like dorso? Mine's working OK. With the stand doors closed its fairly quiet. I use hoses for the emergency return and the vectra. I upgraded the hoses from the cad lights stuff. I also clamped the hoses down. I added piping to the cadlights stock so i can manipulate the direction a bit since I now have my sump vertical aligned rather than lateral. Its on left and electronics are to right.