My Cadlights SAIO 75g build

[ijnoj09]

Awesome.. Can't wait to see pics!

[Reduck]

So we got it swapped out today, I'm exhausted. Long day. Apex will have to wait till tomorrow. lights are mounted up and heater is running on its own controller. just running the stock circ pumps and skimmer for now.
Just ran out of steam. Tomorrow is another day!

Plans are Apex mounting/connecting, Radions, MPs, reactor, and ato. Plus some wiring. Then a quick wc.
I'll get the dos up Sunday.

I'm a bit concerned about the sump in this tank. While it flows like a true sump, I'm trying to decide where to sense the ato level. I'll figure it out after a good night sleep.

Also, trying to figure out CADs reasoning for such SHORT AC cords on their devices. Really short. Had to add 2 foot extensions to the circ pumps and the skimmer.

I'll post up pics tomorrow! Too tired...

[rqc]

I think the ATO sensor should be on left side where the return is.

[Reduck]

Filled and running. Hopefully I'll have time to connect the ATO today. Skimmer is quite sensitive to high levels. Found that out the hard way when manually topping off. Then onto the dosing system...

[Reduck]

Originally Posted by rqc

I think the ATO sensor should be on left side where the return is.

And that's exactly where it ended up! Thanks!
Next up, DOS....
Then battery back up and final wiring tweaks.
Thinking about hanging the radion power supplies on the top, upside down...they take up space...

[jguinn]

Originally Posted by Reduck

Filled and running. Hopefully I'll have time to connect the ATO today. Skimmer is quite sensitive to high levels. Found that out the hard way when manually topping off. Then onto the dosing system...

Looks VERY nice! I'm impressed. How is your wife's Tang doing?? Looks like he is happy about the additional real estate.

[Reduck]

Tang is oblivious. Graze, cruise, repeat. Only gets upset if there's no nori in the clip..

[Reduck]

One week later...

[Mac4]

Love this thread! I contacted CAD lights, they will have more SAIOs in November. What are the dimensions of the back "sump"? Are you happy with the CAD lights skimmer? Would love to see more updates/Pics
Thanks

[Reduck]

Originally Posted by Mac4

Love this thread! I contacted CAD lights, they will have more SAIOs in November. What are the dimensions of the back "sump"? Are you happy with the CAD lights skimmer? Would love to see more updates/Pics
Thanks

Sorry. I've been quite lax at updating here. The sump is roughly 5.5" deep and runs the full 36". It is divided into multiple compartments. I'm ok with the new gen pls skimmer. It has its quirks, but most skimmers do!

The biggest issue I see with the saio is if I want to upgrade to a larger skimmer, I must do a HOB.

I'll update some pics later when I return from vacation...

[champion6sigma]

I'm getting the pls 150 conic super space saving. My cad lights 50 gallon cube is coming tomorrow. What is the tank pad for underneath the tank and between stand supposed to be made of? I didn't know it comes with one, doesn't say in the description. Do you like the recessed cover? Any thoughts on the plumbing.

Hows the tank doing reduck?

[champion6sigma]

Originally Posted by Reduck

Sorry. I've been quite lax at updating here. The sump is roughly 5.5" deep and runs the full 36". It is divided into multiple compartments. I'm ok with the new gen pls skimmer. It has its quirks, but most skimmers do!

The biggest issue I see with the saio is if I want to upgrade to a larger skimmer, I must do a HOB.

I'll update some pics later when I return from vacation...

Any regrets on the ecotech products?

Did the mp10 work? I returned both my mp10's brand new in box and ordered the vortech mp40's to be on safe side and to have wider flow with the larger heads. I've got the xr30w pro, and custom mount looking forward to setting up, but i've had a lot of second guessing on wether a different light system would have been better, maybe an led and t5 ATI combo.

[Reduck]

Originally Posted by champion6sigma

I'm getting the pls 150 conic super space saving. My cad lights 50 gallon cube is coming tomorrow. What is the tank pad for underneath the tank and between stand supposed to be made of? I didn't know it comes with one, doesn't say in the description. Do you like the recessed cover? Any thoughts on the plumbing.

Hows the tank doing reduck?

Tank pad is a soft rubber sheet that helps take pressure off the seams.
The cover is useless. I built a screen top.
Plumbing is all self contained. No issues. I'd think twice about the pls skimmer though, it's had moments where I wanted to throw it out the window,
Tanks is going great. Just little time for updates due to family illnesses.

Originally Posted by champion6sigma

Any regrets on the ecotech products?

Did the mp10 work? I returned both my mp10's brand new in box and ordered the vortech mp40's to be on safe side and to have wider flow with the larger heads. I've got the xr30w pro, and custom mount looking forward to setting up, but i've had a lot of second guessing on wether a different light system would have been better, maybe an led and t5 ATI combo.

Zero regrets on the ecotech hardware. Mp10 is working fine. It sticks to 10mm glass perfectly. Mp40 great power. Radion pros are insane. Love them all. Wouldn't change a thing. The ecotech backup battery has already saved me twice on power outages.

[champion6sigma]

Originally Posted by Reduck

Sorry. I've been quite lax at updating here. The sump is roughly 5.5" deep and runs the full 36". It is divided into multiple compartments. I'm ok with the new gen pls skimmer. It has its quirks, but most skimmers do!

The biggest issue I see with the saio is if I want to upgrade to a larger skimmer, I must do a HOB.

I'll update some pics later when I return from vacation...

Originally Posted by Reduck

Tank pad is a soft rubber sheet that helps take pressure off the seams.
The cover is useless. I built a screen top.
Plumbing is all self contained. No issues. I'd think twice about the pls skimmer though, it's had moments where I wanted to throw it out the window,
Tanks is going great. Just little time for updates due to family illnesses.




Zero regrets on the ecotech hardware. Mp10 is working fine. It sticks to 10mm glass perfectly. Mp40 great power. Radion pros are insane. Love them all. Wouldn't change a thing. The ecotech backup battery has already saved me twice on power outages.

I just realized you have a ALLINONE system with sump in back....mine has the herbie or dersie plumbing to sump underneath. Yours must not have all the piping that I was concerned about the metric or european system used compared to american and if i should switch out like some of the other posters here.

Thats disappointing news about the PLS super space saver upgrade i paid for. Well hopefully its better than the hanging one it was supposed to come with. I guess I could use the space savings in my smaller stand for the 50 cube. I needed the sump on bottom to maximize the water capacity on top.

Sorry about the family illnesses. I'm disabled so medical malfunction is something I can truly sympathize with.

Glad you like the ecotechs. I was worried I might need to switch to ATI or other. One thing I'll have to deal with now is light bleed. I'm going to mount low. I'm going to give their tank cover a try, I cannot use open mine must be fully closed to prevent pet hair and dander, dust from falling. There is always thick layers of gunk on top of my red sea max enclosed ALLINONE. I do not want alien artifacts in the small salt water tank.

You had quite a lot of equipment for the previous tank.

Did you get a reeflink?

Thanks again for responding.

I'm hoping others with a stand sump can also offer advice on setup.

I too had some issues with cad lights never calling me back. I've called them many many times, to the point where I'm sure they are tired of me. But I take no pleasure in bothering people without good reason.

sincerely,
eric

Any other advice on my particular build? I started a new thread in the beginners setup. Appreciate it.

[Reduck]

Don't get me wrong. When the skimmer works, it does a fine job. It's just that on occasion, it just stops. Then I take it apart, clean it, and fiddle with it to get it going. There is def a new skimmer in my future. It's got to be dependable and work. it's just unacceptable for a skimmer to not function 100%. If it was 3-4 years old, I'd say ok. But its not even 6 months old. Sadly I have very few choices that will fit in the saio sump. Probably going to get a bubble magus g5 as its footprint is close. May even need to shave some acrylic to get it in.

As for control, I have all Apex stuff. It does the job. Home or away. Always without fail. It's not cheap, but neither are my tank critters. I need to know that I can leave the house and not worry about something going wrong.
Also the flexibility in programming is insane. I think I have every module they make, plus DOS and DDR. It all just plain works. Worth every penny for that peace of mind.

I'll get back to a normal schedule soon and do some real updates.
Good luck on your build!

[champion6sigma]

Originally Posted by Reduck

Don't get me wrong. When the skimmer works, it does a fine job. It's just that on occasion, it just stops. Then I take it apart, clean it, and fiddle with it to get it going. There is def a new skimmer in my future. It's got to be dependable and work. it's just unacceptable for a skimmer to not function 100%. If it was 3-4 years old, I'd say ok. But its not even 6 months old. Sadly I have very few choices that will fit in the saio sump. Probably going to get a bubble magus g5 as its footprint is close. May even need to shave some acrylic to get it in.

As for control, I have all Apex stuff. It does the job. Home or away. Always without fail. It's not cheap, but neither are my tank critters. I need to know that I can leave the house and not worry about something going wrong.
Also the flexibility in programming is insane. I think I have every module they make, plus DOS and DDR. It all just plain works. Worth every penny for that peace of mind.

I'll get back to a normal schedule soon and do some real updates.
Good luck on your build!

Thanks REDUCK

I'm waiting on the tank to arrive right now.

Sounds like I'm heading down that same path, of cad light component upgrades. After having the red sea all in one with sump in the back, I knew i never wanted one again. water height and noise were issues. lack of usable water volume. A 34 gallon red sea is not at all 34 gallons in the viewing area unfortunately.

That APEX system is just amazing. I'd love to have one but I know I'm pushing past the limits of what my wife and I had planned to spend on the stuff we have already bought. Perhaps in the future. I do want peace of mind though so I need to rig our tank now best I can to avoid issues. Also maybe get advice if we do go out of town. If its best to just shut everything off but powerheads, etc.....then again, I don't remember the last time we've taken a vacation.

Look forward to the new pics when they are up.

E

[champion6sigma]

Any updates reduck?

I've got our tank up and running with our old fish so far happy and better in clean water. Got the apex!

[Reduck]

Originally Posted by champion6sigma

Any updates reduck?

I've got our tank up and running with our old fish so far happy and better in clean water. Got the apex!

Sorry. Its been a while. Had to move the tank while the LR got painted. It looked better where we moved it so its staying put. Its now a room divider between the kitchen and dining room.
Meanwhile some other life changing events occurred that kept me from updating etc.

I finally gave up on the cad skimmer. It just kept getting worse with the pump stopping. I replaced it with a Bubble Magus G5. I had to modify it a little to get it to fit. I took off about 5mm on each side of the base of the cone support and repositioned the air intake and it fits quite nicely. I did need to fashion a riser for it. Ended up using the stand that was attached to the cad skimmer temporarily, and ordered a nice acrylic adjustable stand.
It was skimming yuk within 24 hours. Holds adjustment perfectly. Very easy to adjust air flow. Quiet too. Much more powerful pump.

Also since ridding the tank of the 2 rogue coral eating shrimp, I added a new brain and some crusting montipora. If the monti takes off, I'll add some acropora.

Tanks is rock stable too. Dosing spot on. I wish I had a little more Nitrates, but I will increase feeding a little bit to help that.


I'll add some pics as soon as I get a chance.

[reefwiser]

update?

[Reduck]

Originally Posted by reefwiser

update?

yea. I know. Been so lost in family and work, I've had little time to spare.
Been keeping up with normal maintenance. Added a skimmate collector recently to cut down on bi weekly yuk fest. I'm also in the progress of adding a swabbie to the skimmer lid.

Got a modified acrylic stand in the sump holding the new skimmer in a good place so this week, during the WC, I will raise the sump level accordingly.
I have stopped running socks for a while to see what happens. The water has stayed pretty clean and it appears the corals appreciate the extra particles floating around.

I fell into the group of Hanna users that have bad reagents so I went and got a Red Sea Pro Alk kit. Boy, was that an eye opener. I had thought the tank was stable at 10dkh, but the RSP kit is telling me its stable at 8.6dkh. Since everything seems to be doing ok, I'm not changing my dosing one bit.

I've added a pair of Kaudern's Cardinals in the past week. One is quite finicky eater, the other a pig. So I've taken to mysis or brine daily to keep Mr Finicky happy. I caught him eating a pellet the other night, so I will start weaning the frozen back this weekend.

That's about it. Hopefully I'll get some time to do some pics this weekend!
Thanks for prodding me to update!

[reefwiser]

Glad everything is going fine.

[MrRBW]

any updates on the tank? I have an old DAS AIO tank that I want to upgrade and this one caught my eye. I'm tempted to stick with an internal sump system again as it relieves certain headaches and worries about having a sump below. I've had the cad pls-100 for a couple years now and yes it's a pita, but when it's tuned nicely it works great, just needs a lot of tlc. What are your thoughts on this tank overall, in hind sight would you have picked another type of tank? Hope all is well health wise and tank wise.

[Reduck]

Originally Posted by MrRBW

any updates on the tank? I have an old DAS AIO tank that I want to upgrade and this one caught my eye. I'm tempted to stick with an internal sump system again as it relieves certain headaches and worries about having a sump below. I've had the cad pls-100 for a couple years now and yes it's a pita, but when it's tuned nicely it works great, just needs a lot of tlc. What are your thoughts on this tank overall, in hind sight would you have picked another type of tank? Hope all is well health wise and tank wise.

Sorry. Its been quite a while. Had family issues and life caught up with me.
Anyhow tanks is fine. Nothing major. Its pretty much on autopilot. I still like this tank a lot. There are some quirks, but once you get used to the AIO its pretty nice. The only reason I would pick another tank is to go larger. Next step will be at least double this size!\
As for CAD, I really have not had dealings with them in quite a while. I had some issues with the skimmer but replaced it with a BM and its been superb.

[MrRBW]

Good to hear things are working out. How easy was it to modify your BM-G5? Is the equipment compartment easy to access and work on? Any pics? I'm trying to find actual dimensions of the tank and sump compartment, any chance you have them readily available? Sorry to be pesky, you're the only one I found so far with this tank and who responded lol

[Reduck]

Originally Posted by MrRBW

Good to hear things are working out. How easy was it to modify your BM-G5? Is the equipment compartment easy to access and work on? Any pics? I'm trying to find actual dimensions of the tank and sump compartment, any chance you have them readily available? Sorry to be pesky, you're the only one I found so far with this tank and who responded lol

Next time I clean the skimmer I'll take pics. I had to shave about 1/4" off its base sides to slide it in and I put it on a stand to raise it to a good level.