New Cadlights 34g tank pics

CAPT PETE · #1 12/16/2007, 09:19 PM

Just picked up this Cadlights 34 gal tank. I put the Aquactinic 24" T-5 fixture on it and a Deltec MC500 skimmer in the filter compartment. Here a couple of pics.

Sand and rock will be coming this week. Will post some more pics then.

racksteris · #2 12/16/2007, 10:10 PM

Nice tank.

jewtball · #3 12/17/2007, 01:20 AM

nice tank Capt. cant wait to see this baby up and running. thats an awesome skimmer!

i really love the look of the cad tanks, i am planning to upgrade mine to the 34G like yours when they have them in stock.

Devtech · #4 12/17/2007, 08:17 AM

nice tank man! cant wait to follow along on this

jewtball · #5 12/17/2007, 06:09 PM

i was just wondering, is this the new Cadlights cabinets or did you make it yourself? it kinda looks a bit different than the ones on the cadlights website.

CAPT PETE · #6 12/17/2007, 06:29 PM

I had Cadlights make this cabinet for me. I could pick the color that I wanted.The new cabinets are dark stained and wouldn't match what I have. They custom made this one out of maple.

scottydo · #7 12/18/2007, 03:29 PM

So far so good - looks like an empty tank. JK

CAPT PETE · #8 12/29/2007, 07:20 PM

I got 30lbs of Fiji Pukani rock and sand. The rock is ok but the sand is too fine and blows around too much. Its all over the rocks even with very low flow in the tank. This is a finer sand then I ordered. So hopefully soon, RM will send me out the right sand. After that the snails and cucumbers will get ordered. Here is a pic.

Cristi · #9 12/29/2007, 11:42 PM

Capt Pete

Did you use the Reef Rack system from RM to aquascape? If so, was it easy to use? Your rock work looks great.

CAPT PETE · #10 12/30/2007, 09:22 AM

Cristi, I didn't use the Reef Rack system. I made my own from egg crate, 1/2" pvc pipe and cable ties. It was very easy to make and inexpensive.

boozerell · #11 12/30/2007, 10:02 AM

Did you glue the rock, or are they just resting on the rack? I like the idea of the egg crate and PVC.

tcilmo · #12 12/30/2007, 10:21 AM

Great Tank, cant wait to see it when you get some livestock up in their. Good luck.

CAPT PETE · #13 12/30/2007, 11:47 AM

boozerell, The rock is just resting on the egg crate this way if I have to move the rocks around for any reason I can.

tcilmo, Thanks. My phosphates are elevated. The rocks have some hair algae on them right now. Just waiting for a fluidized reactor and Rowaphos from Deltec, that should take care of the problem.

Cristi · #14 12/30/2007, 02:59 PM

One more question if you don't mind answering--what are you going to put in Chamber 2 in the back? I have the 25 gal CAD and am getting ready to finally set it up.

CAPT PETE · #15 12/30/2007, 05:49 PM

Cristi,
The first chamber is the overflow which has a floss pad to catch debris. The second chamber is split with some of the overflow going into it and the skimmer is placed in there as well. The third chamber which is suppose to be a refugium, I added a baffle and a piece of egg crate so the water has to flow over some carbon and another floss pad to catch any remaining debris before going to the pump. By doing this it created an additional smaller chamber which will just fit a heater. Then there is the area where the pump is placed.
By adding the additional baffle I cut back on all of the bubbles going back to the tank that the skimmer created. It also gave me an area to place a bag of carbon. Here are a couple of pics so you get the idea.

thin crust · #16 12/31/2007, 11:43 AM

nice set up! i wish this was available when i bought my first tank. went with a 25g instead.

btw, my chambers for are set up accordingly:

chamber 1
- LRR/cheato with submersible light/chemipure elite/filter floss/kalkwasser&ato inlet

chamber 2
- tunze doc skimmer/reefkeeper2 temp probe/chiller pump outlet

chamber 3
- return pump/ph probe/2nd temp probe/heater/chiller inlet

CAPT PETE · #17 12/31/2007, 12:47 PM

thin crust, Any pics?

Cristi · #18 12/31/2007, 01:21 PM

Thanks for the pictures! That is a great idea for the 3rd chamber.

thin crust · #19 12/31/2007, 02:06 PM

here ya go. i'll take some pics of the 1st chamber set up this week.

2nd & 3rd chamber

random shots

CAPT PETE · #20 12/31/2007, 05:16 PM

thin crust
Nice tank. I hope I can get mine looking that good.

SpiritRift · #21 12/31/2007, 05:28 PM

capt pete, how do you like the mce500 so far? Would you recommend it ? I have a similar sized tank which I plan to make SPS only and am looking at different skimmer options.

zooloo · #22 12/31/2007, 05:55 PM

awesome tank.....

thin crust · #23 12/31/2007, 06:41 PM

thx Capt Pete. you're well on your way and your set up is already looking awesome. please keep posting your progress.

CAPT PETE · #24 12/31/2007, 08:13 PM

SpiritRift,
I like the MC500 alot. It's an awesome skimmer. It fits perfectly in the chamber on my tank. I have always went for a skimmer that was oversized for the tank that I had. I would rather have a skimmer that will handle the tank easily rather than one that won't keep up. The MC500 is pricey but you get what you pay for.

deltaforcehall · #25 12/31/2007, 11:19 PM

Awesome awesome tank man, i hope my 30 gallon looks that rad when im finished, is that ricordea all over your reef?