After months of browsing these forums, I’m finally starting my very first reef tank and I’m super excited! I went back and forth trying to decide which tank to get, looking at the Waterbox Marine X 60.2, Red Sea Reefer 170, 250, and I even made a prior build thread thinking I was getting an Innovative Marine INT 50. I ended up shelling out a little bit more money to get the CADE Reef 600 S2, and so far I think it’s definitely been worth it.
There were many things that made me gravitate towards the Cade. I really liked the fact that the stand was aluminum and glass, and slightly taller than other stands. In fact, the features that came with the stand were the biggest draw. Cabinet doors for easy access to two sides of the sump, a little built-in shelf area to store cords and power blocks, an 8 plug power outlet, each with an individual on/off switch as well as a built-in area for controllers. To top it off, the fact that it came with all the plumbing I needed was too good to pass up. I could probably DIY a lot of these added features myself, but it would definitely not look as good, and for a newbie like me, probably add a whole new level of stress.
I decided to stick with the cube aesthetic for a few different reasons. The tank is going in a corner of my office, and it fits the space better. I also like the look of the slightly taller water column, at almost 24 inches, which I think would contribute to a cool looking reefscape. I know this will put some limitations on some of my fish selections, but I’m alright with it.
The set up process took longer than I planned, as I had a few obstacles I had to overcome. The tank is delivered in two wooden boxes, with the stand fully assembled. I thought I would be able to use a dolly to wheel the boxes up a couple small steps, but I underestimated how heavy these things are! My poor wife was struggling with her end, so I ended up leaving the boxes in the garage as I had to come up with plan B. I went out and bought a moving harness for us to use, and with that we managed to get the boxes in the door.
After taking the boxes apart, I had the stand in place in no time. I thought it would be a good idea to put it on a polycarbonate mat, which I previously used under my desk for my chair, since we have hardwood floors. The stand has some adjustable legs on the bottom, but out of the box it was already pretty much level, so no need for me to adjust.
The plumbing was pretty easy to piece together, as there was no glueing necessary. The only part I struggled with was connecting my return pump, a NYOS viper 3.0, to the plumbing. It only came with 1 barbed adapter, which was too small for the included flex tubing, I went to the store to buy a more appropriately sized adapter, but once I got it I noticed the flex tube was actually too short to cover the distance to my return pump (I guess it’s smaller than average), so I had to go back to the store for some vinyl tubing.
Overall, it has been a great experience seeing everything come together, and I welcome anyone that wants to follow along with my build to do so! I appreciate all of your comments and advice, so don’t be afraid to drop in and say hello!
Next up is building my reefscape, one of the things I’ve been looking forward to doing the most! Stay tuned in the next coming days for the next update.
There were many things that made me gravitate towards the Cade. I really liked the fact that the stand was aluminum and glass, and slightly taller than other stands. In fact, the features that came with the stand were the biggest draw. Cabinet doors for easy access to two sides of the sump, a little built-in shelf area to store cords and power blocks, an 8 plug power outlet, each with an individual on/off switch as well as a built-in area for controllers. To top it off, the fact that it came with all the plumbing I needed was too good to pass up. I could probably DIY a lot of these added features myself, but it would definitely not look as good, and for a newbie like me, probably add a whole new level of stress.
I decided to stick with the cube aesthetic for a few different reasons. The tank is going in a corner of my office, and it fits the space better. I also like the look of the slightly taller water column, at almost 24 inches, which I think would contribute to a cool looking reefscape. I know this will put some limitations on some of my fish selections, but I’m alright with it.
After taking the boxes apart, I had the stand in place in no time. I thought it would be a good idea to put it on a polycarbonate mat, which I previously used under my desk for my chair, since we have hardwood floors. The stand has some adjustable legs on the bottom, but out of the box it was already pretty much level, so no need for me to adjust.
The plumbing was pretty easy to piece together, as there was no glueing necessary. The only part I struggled with was connecting my return pump, a NYOS viper 3.0, to the plumbing. It only came with 1 barbed adapter, which was too small for the included flex tubing, I went to the store to buy a more appropriately sized adapter, but once I got it I noticed the flex tube was actually too short to cover the distance to my return pump (I guess it’s smaller than average), so I had to go back to the store for some vinyl tubing.
Next up is building my reefscape, one of the things I’ve been looking forward to doing the most! Stay tuned in the next coming days for the next update.