CAD Lights Artisan II Build - 50g Long

[ReachTheSky]

Hi. :wavehand:

After much consideration, I have decided to take down my 90g long tank made by Glass Cages in favor of a smaller, more efficient and more modern design. Being my first real reef, it has been a fantastic learning experience and made me a true addict in this hobby. It will surely be missed but will not be the last.

Over these past two days, I have removed and given away just about all of my livestock, thrown out the old rocks and removed and cleaned the equipment used. I will be preparing to put it up for sale after a nice cleaning and vinegar bath.

Old Setup (Mixed Reef):
- 90g Glass DT (48 x 18 x 24) w/ Starphire front + sides; 40g Acryllic Sump (36 x 16 x 16); 6 Gallon Acryllic RO/DI Reservoir
- 70-80 or so pounds of Marco Rock; ~2.5 inch sugarfine sandbed
- Controller - Apex Lite
- Water flow - Quiet One 4000 return (~1000 gph); 2x Ecotech MP40 powerheads
- Lighting - 2x 250w Metal Halides; 2x 48" VHO's; 2x R2 LED Moonlights; JBJ Macro-Glo Refugium Light
- Heating/Cooling - 2x 150w Jager Heaters; 1/4 JBJ Arctica Chiller
- Auto Top Off - JBJ ATO; Two Little Fishies Kalkwasser Reactor
- Filtration - Reef Octopus XS 160; 2x TLF Phosban Reactors (GFO + Carbon); Macro algae in refugium
- Chemistry - 2x BRS Perilastic Dosing Pumps for Calcium & Alkalinity

I believe that some of it is salvageable for the new setup but we'll see.

I did a lot of research on tank manufacturers. It was a big toss up between Elos, CAD Lights, Reef Savvy and LeeMar. I ultimately chose CAD Lights and their beautiful Artisan tanks. Their pricing, fast response times to questions and the fact that they're near my location was another big factor.

Please if you have any suggestions, feel free to chime in. Nothing is set in stone at this time and I am wide open to feedback.

New Setup (Mixed reef with an SPS focus - Concept):
- 50g Rimless DT (36 x 18 x 18) w/ Starphire front + sides; unknown sump/reservoir
- Minimalist aquascape; ~2-2.5 inch sandbed (NO SUGARFINE! That stuff was a flippin' nightmare with high flow. Mistake noted!)
- Controller - Apex Lite (reusing because it's AWESOME!)
- Water flow - On the wire - Eheim 1260 (635 gph) or Water Blaster 2000 (500 gph) for the return. Will certainly reuse one MP40 but I'm not sure if two is really necessary. Suggestions?
- Lighting - 2x AI Vega Color LED fixtures suspended over the tank
- Heating/Cooling - 150w Jager heater (reusing); temperature controlled cooling fan(s). NO CHILLER!
- Auto Top Off - Will reuse the JBJ ATO. Kalkwasser has a strong likelihood of being left out of this build.
- Filtration - I've been pondering the idea of reusing my old Reef Octopus XS160 skimmer. It's slim and works very well but I'm afraid it might be overkill. Thoughts? I will likely also use the same Phosban reactors for GFO + Carbon. I have given biopellets a thought but I think I might stick to macro algae once again for the sake of one less thing to maintain and worry about. Please indulge me with your expertise on this.
- Chemistry - Will probably reuse the BRS dosing pumps for calcium and alkalinity dosing.

It's very early on but as this build comes together, I hope it'll be as fun, interesting and educational for all who follow along as it will be for myself. Cheers.

[cherubfish pair]

I think the macro algae and bio-pellets would compete to some extent at pulling nutrients out of the water. With the pellets, even though most of the bacteria is skimmed out, some reaches the main display and feeds some corals. The macro based refugium will multiply with micro-crustaceans in a fishless environment eventually feeding fish as they make it back to the display.

[ReachTheSky]

True. It will be very difficult for macro algae and biopellets to coexist. I have no intention of running both. It's an either/or scenario here. I love macro algae for it's ability to house fauna and help them multiply. Biopellets are second to none when it comes to phosphate and nitrate removal. It's a tough choice.

[cherubfish pair]

Do you have a link to website/info on CAD products? Where did you get yours?

[ReachTheSky]

Do you have a link to website/info on CAD products? Where did you get yours?
Sure. Here (http://www.cadlights.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=47&products_id=223) is a link to the 50g Artisan that I will be purchasing. I asked them for just the tank and stand since I really don't want/need all the other stuff.

It's about a 30 minute drive out to them so I will likely be picking it up directly.

[cherubfish pair]

I can't wait to see pictures.

I'm upgrading for a 29 gallon to a 50 gallon. We have some awesome similarities.

Mine is an acrylic Glasscages.

[ReachTheSky]

Oh nice. Are the dimensions the same as mine? Make sure you link me to your build thread if you've got one. My 90g was made by Glasscages.

I'm cooking up a sump tank design right now. I didn't really like the one made by CAD Lights so I'll fabricate my own using acrylic and some weld-on. I'll post 3D designs of it later on today.

[cherubfish pair]

Reach,

Same dimensions.

You have pm.

[ReachTheSky]

Here's the sump that I plan on building:

http://i.imgur.com/sLZ1b.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/09q7V.jpg

It's roughly 27" x 12" x 13" and will be fabricated with 1/4" thick acrylic. I thought Vivid's sump design with the filter socks was genius and very convenient so I decided to use it. I hope they wont mind.

The fuge will be lit by focused 3W Cree LED's. The baffles for the fuge will be made with black acrylic to prevent light from reaching the other chambers and promoting coralline growth on the skimmer and return pump.

Leaving plenty of room up front to hang any reactors I'll need. The remainder of the room beside it will be used to house the RO/DI water and Calcium/Alkalinity containers, all of which I will also fabricate with acrylic.

So, what do you guys think? Any suggestions as to what I can modify, add or delete?

[cherubfish pair]

Here's my 50 gallon build thread:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2076409

[shaggss]

nice start. as for the sump, a lot of people advocate having the return section in the middle with the refuge and skimmer sections on each end. that way you can control the flow through the refuge by either tapping off a drain or better yet of the return pump. I would go for a ehiem 1262 myself. better to have a more powerful pump than needed, especially if you will tap off of it. I have a 50G total water volume and feel I could go bigger yet than the 1262, though my return is 5' high with a couple of 90s to slow it down.

I would definitely look at carbon dosing. it works great and is very little maintenance. I currently dose vinegar and it keeps parameters all good.

Looking forward to the pictures....

[ReachTheSky]

Interesting idea. I will look to designing that. I did not use dual baffles between the skimmer and fuge chambers for the sake of more real estate overall but that design seems like it might require me to.

I decided that I will use biopellets after all via the SRO BR70. :)

[ReachTheSky]

I have a few questions for you guys about. I can't seem to make my mind up on these:

- I currently have two Vortech MP40 WES pumps sitting in my closet. I plan on using one but will that be enough? Would both of them be overkill? Please chime in.

- The tank will have a TON of nutrient export with the biopellets and the skimmer rated for over 3x it's size. The refugiums only purpose here is to grow pods. I will have a few Wrasse and I do want to keep a Mandarin as well. What would the best setup be? I was thinking of using a bunch of rubble rock and maybe a small ball of Chaeto to culture them. Any recommendations?

[thegrun]

Here is what I use in my CAD 50 Cube:
50 gallon CAD Lights Artisan Series 24" x 24" x 20".
·Two Ecotech MP-10 Wireless Pumps
.26 Gallon Custom DIY Combo Sump, Refugium, Top-Off Tank.
.JBJ Auto Top-Off system.
.16 Watt compact fluorescent flood light 5400K.
·Eheim 1260 Return Pump (635 GPH) 65 watts.
·One Eheim Jager 150 Watt Heater
·One Eheim Jager 100 Watt Heater
·Tunze DOC 9001 Protein Skimmer.
·BRS Dual GFO/Carbon Reactor.
·Aqua Illuminations Sol Blue 75 Watt LED Light Fixture.
·Two BRS MP2 Dosing Pumps (1.1 mL Per Minute)
·Neptune Apex Controller

[thegrun]

I like using two MP-10 better than a single MP-40 for better cross flow and variety of flow. I think if you used both MP-40's you would have to dial them down so much you wouldn't get much variation in flow. MP-10's still put out 1000GPH at the lowest settings (even if you set them at 10% they still run at nearly 30%).

[ReachTheSky]

I did a bunch of research and searching. A few people with SPS tanks were not satisfied with the flow two MP10's provided for their 50g-55g longs and ended up getting a third. I figure I'll try it out with both MP40's and see where it goes. Might as well since I have them. They hold value pretty well so if it comes down to it, I'll sell/trade them for MP10s.

[ReachTheSky]

Minor update. Haven't purchased anything just yet but I did sell the old 90g setup to a local reef enthusiast. I won't set anything up until after the holidays. On the bright side, this gives me plenty of time to thoroughly research. :)

Speaking of research, I've been reading up on LED's quite a bit. I'm sorely disappointed after discovering that neither the AI Vega or Ecotech Radion fixtures have anything below the 453nm spectrum. Why on Earth did they leave this out?! Aren't the Violets supposed to bring out some of the best coral coloration?

Despite this setback, I will probably stay with the Vega's anyway because their style and controllability is quite attractive. I was thinking of supplementing them with Ecoxotic 403nm Stunner Strips. Any thoughts?

[shaggss]

If it is within your budget, the GHL Mitras is getting really good reviews.

[ReachTheSky]

Yes, I've been drooling over that thing for quite a while. I would need two to get good coverage but I just can't justify spending $2600 on lighting equipment alone.

I'm digging up dirt on the Maxspect Razor at the moment. It looks stylish, powerful and has an almost complete spectrum. It's got all the blues, violets and whites under the sun but no reds. Eh, no matter. Better the reds than the violets and at $500, it's quite a bargain. VERY impressive. Onto the next...