New Cadlights 50 gal build (1 Viewer)

[hipusmc]

Hi yall! Been awhile since I've gotten outa the sw game. Gonna start a brand new Cadlight 50 gal build. So stay tuned.

Cadlights 50gal 3 sided starphire build w/ cabinets
Pipeless protein skimmer from cadlights w/ Teflon build
18 gal sump from cadlights as well

Kessil a350w 90w led
Vortec mp10w
Custom sch 80 PVC fittings with gate valve
American dj 9 outlet leds outlet
40lbs Carib alive special grade reef sand
45lbs of dry rock
Mag 5 or cadlights cheap pump. Can't decide yet

Suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Traclly Le Tran]

Sounds like a good start to me!

 

[steveb]

On your rerturn pump I would look at either a Reef Octopus Water Blaster HY-3000 Pump or Eheim 1250/1260 Universal Pump.

For sand take a look at Tropic of Eden.

 

[hipusmc]

The reef octopus does sound good but i will have to get that later. Me and the wife have this rule where we can't spend more than 50 bucks without letting each other know. Lol. This setup has cost me more than 2500 usd already and she won't take to kindly on more purchases for the time being.

The only reason she's agreed on this build was because I got her an LV handbag. Good lord that thing cost as much as my setup. Who pays that much for a darn handbag? Its just a handbag!


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[hipusmc]

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[hipusmc]

The green yoga mat. Since the wife says i can't spend anymore on my FT I'll steal and cut up her mat. Hehe. Hell she has like 5 of them. Why would you need 5 mats for yourself. I don't understand that as well. Hopefully she won't notice is missing.

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[hipusmc]

The 2 metric plumbing fittings from cadlights are 1.68 OD, 1.3 ID inches for the intake and .8 inches OD and .64 ID return. I ordered a sch 80 1.5 inches and .5 inches. Sure hope that fits since i think sch 80 are thicker.


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[hipusmc]

These new cadlights tank has 1 drain and 2 return.

Now on to the tank.10/10
Tank is gorgeous, no chip or dings. Silicon seems are superb. Before i purchased this setup i did my research and many people have complained of our packaging and QC. Maybe they've cleaned up their act. Couldn't be happier.

Cadlights Stand 6/10
Not happy at all with the construction. Holes were not drilled correctly. It doesn't go in as it should. Some holes were drill way too far in that when i screw in the cam bolts, bolts are on top. Lucky a lil exp with a dremel and have dewalt tools handy. Took me about 4 hrs to assemble the stand. Ridiculous. No manual. Called and waited 2 days for them to send it along with the summer manual . By the time ireceived the manual construction was done. QC on this is subpar. Pieces of mdf were scratched. I didn't want to deal with send it back.

Cadlights Sump 9/10
Sump was awesome to my standard. It wasn't as clean as the tank but seems were very thin. Good job cadlights

Skimmer 8/10
Works beautifully but not correctly out of the box. The minimum vibrations caused it to become loose and i was aware of the issue. A lil Teflon tape around the insides rim solves it. Would be nice if they told me about it and i didn't have to do research on it. Slight design flaw but i guess time will tell.

Plumbing 8/10
I'm using my own sch 80 fittings as their was cheaply made and its in metric. I would figure a US company would use US sizes. No biggy their plumbing would work but those cheap ball valve would be a pain to use in the future. Purchased gate valve instead.

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[hipusmc]

Where do you guys think i should place the tank. Where it currently is our should it be where the 29g biocube are?


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[hipusmc]

Gotta hurry up and get this done before wife comes home and I'm in the doghouse again. Lol


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[hipusmc]

So i made an executive decision and moved it.i think it looks better this way. I can see the tank from the sofa. More eye candy. Let their be water!!!

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[hipusmc]

Teflon blue tape the inside tube for a tighter grip


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[hipusmc]

Ran across an issue yesterday. My union and 1.5 inch gate valve is way too big. Ordered a 1 1/4 inch hope that should fit now. Also plumbed the check valve horizontally instead of vertically. Do you guys think it will be a problem?

Plumbing will have to wait. . Awaiting arrival of my kessil a350w and mp10w. Yah!!!! Now that the dust has settled. Will redo aquascape.

Correction plumbed the mag7 as a return not a mag 5.

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[hipusmc]

Updated pictures for your viewing pleasure.

My 3 assistant(2 yorkie and a Pomeranian) they approve

Wife came home from work yesterday and was not happy. Found out i stole and cut up her yoga mat. Lol!! I was so exhausted and forgot to hide the evidence. Hehehe. Took her to a big bowl of Pho. Everything better.

Went to home depot 3 times yesterday as i couldn't get everything the first time. Gotta go back now since need to get 1 1/4 inch pvc pipes. Bought 1.5 inch for nothing.

Anyone needs a sch 80 1.5 inch gate valve, 1.5 inch bulkhead fittings and union? Needs some chaeto or couple lbs if live rock to seed my tank.


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[steveb]

Also plumbed the check valve horizontally instead of vertically. Do you guys think it will be a problem?

Absolutely. Relying on a check valve to prevent a flood is asking for just that. Calcium deposits and biological processes will over time prevent that check valve from working properly. Better to design your drains and returns in a manner that will minimize water draining from the tank back to the sump when the power is shutoff.

 

[SeanM]

Absolutely. Relying on a check valve to prevent a flood is asking for just that. Calcium deposits and biological processes will over time prevent that check valve from working properly. Better to design your drains and returns in a manner that will minimize water draining from the tank back to the sump when the power is shutoff.

X2 accident waiting to happen. I used a check valve on my first reef and ended up dumping water on floor when it slimed up and didn't close properly. Better to eliminate it now

 

[hipusmc]

Cool thanks guys that makes since well remove it altogether.

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[inigomontoya]

x3 it is unanimous One common fix is to drill a small hole at the top (mine is on bottom right past 90) of your return line so that air can enter immediately. I also set lock lines up rather high so it still wouldn't be a problem even if that clogged.
The obvious issue with this is that you do end up a with a drizzle of water coming out the hole. Mine is in the overflow so no big deal, except for the noise. A fix I saw on RC is I zip tied a small piece of foam (that goes over your return pumps as a pre-filter) to where it stretches down to the water. Now it just drips down that and no noise.

 

[steveb]

I use loc lines on my returns and like you said I just set them high enough so that when the power goes out (and it will) water drains from the tank until its low enough to allow air to enter the loc line and break the siphon. You just have to figure the gallons of running tank depth - power off depth and make sure your sump can handle that volume. In my case its (96x40x1)/231 = 17 gallons that will drain through the four returns before siphon break occurs. My sump is 60x40x12 with a running depth of 8 inches. So (60x36x4)/231 = 37 gallons. So I still have 20 gallons of room in the event of a power outage (that margin takes care of all of the water in the plumbing).

 

[hipusmc]

Cool thanks will do. Some more goodies just came in. Can't wait for my kessil

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