Isaac's CADE 1500s2/ Peninsula Reef Build

[Isaac Alves]

Today I’m cleaning the 2 MP60s and replacing their chases with these NEAT Aquatics nautilus wide flow pump guards.

The pulled are currently pretty much covered in algae:

 

[Isaac Alves]

Updated Cade with new wide flow pump guards.

Still dealing with algae.

You can see the wide flow here on the right side. I have the same on the left of the tank.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Fauna Marine Reef ICP Test Total sent out.

This version takes RODI tests too..

Pictures of the instructions:

On the way, costs $10.70 for 2 -day shipping.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Fauna Marin finally got it and scanned it. So it took about a week.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Link to full Analysis Report from @Fauna Marin Support

Fauna Marin Lab

high-level ICP, IP and titration water analysis

lab.faunamarin.de

I'm somewhat confused by the "relational" values. I need to do a little reading on it. I wish there were better explanations.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Still dealing with major brown hair algae issues…slowly receding though.

I’ve been starting to get my hands wet and brushing out. Dropped in a small army of urchins but they’re making slow progress.

Tangs won’t eat the long stuff, lazy pigs.

Nutrient levels too low at the moment with 0.09 phosphates and 3.9 nitrates. Starting to see a patch of cyano and some diatom growth on sand.

 

[Ironfish]

The Kamoer X1 Pro-T is calibrated and ready to dose magnesium.

slightly messy but it’s nicely hidden in this cabinet side. And the bottles are ready to pull out and refill.

All lines dose directly into return:

…now to find some cheap SPS to get the tank consuming elements.

You basically have every single doser out there!
Im trying to decide between a 4 head and Im between the Versa and the Reefdose.
Sure there's a big price difference but if money was not the issue...

Also... can you check/adjust the versa remotely through the phone?
Ive been using a DOS for a couple years but its huge and noisy and only 2 heads. I might keep it for auto water changes.

And dosing wise right now I want to:
- Feed my kalk reactor
- Dose all-for-reef
- Dose amino
- Dose mag

Thanks

 

[Isaac Alves]

You basically have every single doser out there!
Im trying to decide between a 4 head and Im between the Versa and the Reefdose.
Sure there's a big price difference but if money was not the issue...

Also... can you check/adjust the versa remotely through the phone?
Ive been using a DOS for a couple years but its huge and noisy and only 2 heads. I might keep it for auto water changes.

And dosing wise right now I want to:
- Feed my kalk reactor
- Dose all-for-reef
- Dose amino
- Dose mag

Thanks

Yeah.. I guess I do.

1. Off the bat, you can't use the ReefDose for continuous drips. So if you're going to run a continuous kalk drip then I would look at the Versa or a Kamoer stepper, or the DOS (which at lower speeds is basically silent in my experience with it.).
   
   
2. The Versa can be adjusted through Mobius which uses bluetooth -- so not "remote" but nearby, which is the same with the ReefDose. The APEX MXM might add versa in the future but I'm not sure, I've read conflicting statements about that functionality being on the roadmap.
   
   
3. Versa works great as a continuous duty stepper pump. It's quiet.
   
   
4. I like the ReefDose for trace elements and things like magnesium or aminos. It works great as a set and forget. It cloud syncs data and will notify your phone remotely about status, etc. I just don't trust it's accuracy or its very slow bluetooth connection -- again, set it once and forget it. So things like alk, bacteria, carbon dosing, I'd leave to more reliable dosers like the Versa or DOS.
   
   
5. I feel the most confident with the DOS. The amount of data tracking and app controllabilty is so much simpler and less finicky than all the other ones.
   
   
6. Overall, they all work pretty good. I am tempted to pick up another DOS just to maintain Mag and nutrients. I currently have my Mag on a Kamoer T pro but the app-based controller on the phone is awful and hard to trust so I use it to manually dose Mg-- which turns out to be a pain in the butt.
   
   

Hopefully that all helps. If you have any questions just let me know.

 

[LBCBJ]

Great thread, just read the whole thing. I’m in the process of a Cade 500 build, and gleaned some good tips from you. I also appreciate you posting the good AND the bad. It’s good perspective that this hobby can be very challanging at times but we often only see other’s highs.

Following and hope your algae clears up soon.

 

[Rakie]

Beautiful tank Isaac, nice meeting you today

 

[lubeck]

Hows the tank? Are your mp60s still at 35% ? Do you think 2 mp60s for the Cade 1800 peninsula would be enough?

 

[Isaac Alves]

Tank is still kicking.

Got motivated to post this evening because my ReefMat 1200 was giving me a hard time. Not sure if there was calcium build up or something else but the “flap handle locking mechanism” snapped on me. This part always felt conspicuously cheap for the amount of force and snapping it needs to do.

Today was the day…

Now I need to find this spare part. I saw that RedSea has the entire top plastic piece as one spare part on their support site.

R35464 - Red Sea

Frequesntly Asked Questions - A massive reservoir of useful information for Red Sea products.

g1.redseafish.com

But geez, the whole top portion? I didn’t realize it was molded together. I sent them a note just now via the online form.

 

[Isaac Alves]

@Reefer Reboot is right. The cost ended up being $99 for a replacement head. Sheesh.

Red Sea Support to reach out to me and referred me to two online retailers specifically:

marineandreef.com and fishtanksdirect.com.

Both vendors were very fast in responding via phone and email. I ended up going with MarineAndReef since they just happened to send me a purchase order faster.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Getting reacquainted after the Powder Blue spent 10 months in another tank to be the last fish introduced to this system.

 

[lubeck]

do you have the flow dialed in now. What’s the setup.

 

[Isaac Alves]

do you have the flow dialed in now. What’s the setup.

So flow throughout the tank is good, if maybe a bit strong. But the balance is that the saps that I have are doing well still and the sand is not blowing at all.

I have two MP60s on either side of the overflow column. And, I have an AI Nero 7 magnetically mounted right below the center weir — this pump is strong with a nice wide flow so nothing is getting a strong stream directly at it; and the strength is good enough to push water from one end of the tank to the other with fairly good turnover.

That all being said, I do still intend to try out one of the gyres on the far end of the tank near the surface. Although, the Nero 7, with pump facing somewhat upward pushes a nice wave that travels to the other side. So I’m not worried about surface turnover.

———
An observation about the overflows on the 1500 peninsula — there’s just not enough. My water is always right above the CADE logo that’s etched on the glass, so salt creep needs constant cleanup.

 

[lubeck]

I appreciate the thorough response. I’m considering the 1800 peninsula and was wondering if it’s possible to not put a powerhead on the far side. Doesn’t sound like you can if you’re doing sps.

 

[ronnie]

Tank looks great! I love the dims. Wish I had room for that one. I snagged a used 900 S2 a couple weeks ago that I’m upgrading into. I’ve been impressed with Algae Barns customer support so far. The original owner had the wrong gaskets on (no clue where they found what they had) and they struggled with leaks which is why the sold it so cheap. I broke a door in the move, so I bought a gasket set and door. Gaskets were overnighted and the door is on back order. Not a biggie for me for now.

I skipped through some, but what lights are you running?

 

[Isaac Alves]

I appreciate the thorough response. I’m considering the 1800 peninsula and was wondering if it’s possible to not put a powerhead on the far side. Doesn’t sound like you can if you’re doing sps.

The only thing that was hindering my addition of a gyre on the far side was simply the cable length from the maxspect gyre 330 to the controller didn't reach. But, I did acquire a cable extension from Amazon that I want to test. The next challenge, is that I have a TopLids top that doesn't have an exit path for the cord so I'd have to figure that out as well -- but I don't want to damage the lids. I'm sure a patient use of the dremel would be fine. But, no time just yet.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Tank looks great! I love the dims. Wish I had room for that one. I snagged a used 900 S2 a couple weeks ago that I’m upgrading into. I’ve been impressed with Algae Barns customer support so far. The original owner had the wrong gaskets on (no clue where they found what they had) and they struggled with leaks which is why the sold it so cheap. I broke a door in the move, so I bought a gasket set and door. Gaskets were overnighted and the door is on back order. Not a biggie for me for now.

I skipped through some, but what lights are you running?

@AlgaeBarn customer service is proven. And worth communicating with them directly with any issues or concerns -- very customer focused company.

I'm running an Aquatic Life 3rd gen 42" T5 fixture with two Gen 6 XR30s over either end and 1 Kessil A360X in the center. The T5s are two ATI Coral Plus and two ATI Blue Plus bulbs.