CADE REEF 450 - Floating SPS Build

[riley.jones01]

Current FTS:

I am about to start my new tank build and wanted to document the process here and hopefully get some helpful feedback.

Tank: CADE REEF 450 S2/M
Stand: UNS 50C in Piano White
Light: AI Prime 16HD
Skimmer: CADE Skimmer that came with tank (We'll see how good or bad this is)
Flow: AI Nero 5
Apex/Trident

I have completely copied Coral_fish_zoa from instagram and his "floating reef", although I plan to do almost entirely acros with maybe a few zoas or gonis (my wife likes movement in the tank). I am going to use Reef Moonshiners and Trident controlled dosing to handle Calcium/Alk. I used them both on my previous tank and it worked out great.

(Coral_fish_zoa on Instagram)

I got a piece of acrylic from Lowe's, heated it with a heat gun and gently let it bend slightly past 90 degrees. I drilled several 1" holes in the "bottom" of it and siliconed it to the back glass panel. The holes will allow small fish to swim in and out of the rockwork. With the weight of the rocks, the panel bends slightly and ends up being ~90 degrees and parallel with the bottom of the tank.

The rock work is all one piece. I bonded together a bunch of smaller rocks using the Aquaforest stone fix and Tunze Coral Gum. Both excellent products, cant recommend them enough. The combined rockwork fits into a 5 gallon bucket or small cooler for the inevitable move 1-2 years in our future.

I have a devious bengal cat that likes to eat cords so everything has to be hidden. I also hate seeing cords so it's a win/win for me to go out of my way to hide them.

I found this idea on here from another user and ordered the same light pole that he used. Getting the threads to fit into the AI Prime was a huge headache and took multiple different orders to find an adapter that fit. I ended up cutting a 1" hole in the wall plate to put a grommet in and pass the cable into the wall.

AI PRIME 16 HD wall mount

Hello fellow reefers! I’m in the process of installing my prime 16 lights on a wall microphone mount , I’ve searched all over for other options for this light and have not seen anything other that the flex arm, fixed arm and hanging kit. So I will put my pics up for anybody out there in my same...

www.reef2reef.com

I used these grommets to cleanly pass the cords through the wall:
Amazon product ASIN B0CQ7GG9J7
This is the link to the light pole:
Amazon product ASIN B00E86LADS
And the thread adapter needs to be 1/4" female to M5 male. This is the adapter that finally worked:

Androokie 1/4″ to M5 Thread Adapter – Wireless Film Lights

wirelessfilmlights.com

The inside of the stand is a work in progress. When all is done, there will be little to no visible dosing lines or cords.

I think I am going to have to order one of those 3D printed space saving Trident housings in order to get it to fit cleanly.

If all goes to plan, I should have water in the tank by the end of the weekend. I have to finish up my RO station in the garage. Ran out of 2x4's and dont quite trust what I have constructed to hold 65 gallons of water. I also plan to get outlet covers for the switches and outlets that are below the RO unit.

 

[Tahoe61]

Well that's all kinds of awesome. Nice work.

 

[riley.jones01]

@Tahoe61 Thanks!

 

[riley.jones01]

Under cabinet cable management and lighting is just about finished. Most of the cables are managed on the backside of the stand and the plugs ran through the back and hidden in the adaptive reef board. I still have to run the dosing lines and set up my second DOS, but that can wait. I wont have any coral in the tank for a while so no need to dose 2 part yet. I plan to get the printed reef trident housing and shelf so I can mount it on the left above the DOS containers. The second DOS will be set up on the right side, with acro power below.

 

[DatsoonDave]

Holy cow. My new cade set up looks like amateur hour compared to what Riley havs going on here. The floating rock is outstanding. Well done, I have some work to do ! Haha

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Well I'm following along that is for sure! I love the floating aquascape idea!

 

[riley.jones01]

Ill post more update pics this weekend after the rest of my parts arrive to complete my DOS setup. I have almost finished my cycle, ammonia is at 0, nitrite is approaching 0 and nitrate is starting to read about 5ppm. Ill probably do a 20% water change this weekend and potentially add some zoas or something small to hold me over until reefapalooza.

current livestock is a pair of clowns and CUC consisting of 5 blue leg hermits and 5 nassarius snails. Ill get some more "terrestrial" snails at some point, for now i am just trying to keep the sand bed churned up and clean. I also added a small piece of LR on the right side that touches the sand so the crabs have a way to get back up into the rockwork. I dont think I will keep this there long-term as it defeats the purpose of a floating reef.

Cycle has been relatively quick. I had some pre-cycled bio media, a bottle of fritz turbo start, and added some clowns to help cycle. I know, controversial choice but i have cycled every single tank ive ever had this way and never lost a clown. Lights have been off during the cycle to help control any dino or algae problems. Ill probably add a small UV sterilizer and potentially O3 as I had both on my previous tank and they worked wonders at preventing disease, algae, and having crystal clear water. O3 might have to wait a while because ORP probes seem to be out of stock everywhere.

My cat also decided he wanted to go for a swim and busted my lid. I managed to scrap it back together for now, but have a lid from Toplids on order to *hopefully* keep him out.

 

[riley.jones01]

Tank update:

Everything is still going smoothly. Cycle seems to be completed, nitrates are sitting around 20-25. Ill do a 30% water change tomorrow to bring those down slightly.

Plan to get a few more tester corals this weekend before going crazy at Reefapalooza next weekend.

Under cabinet is almost complete as well. I think I am going to order one of the mini trident housings to save a little space. All my dosing lines are 1/4 RO tubing and routed through the cable channels, into some RO bulk heads, and up the back of the tank into the tubing holder.

 

[riley.jones01]

UPDATE: I have added a UV sterilizer to the tank for algae and other nuisance prevention. I couldnt think how I would add a pump to feed the UV then I had an idea. I had an Eheim 2213 in a closet from a previous tank that is just the right flow rate for the UV. I added a ton of matrix into the eheim (no mechanical to minimize it becoming a nitrate factory) and have the output plumbed into the UV. The intake and outflow of the canister/UV is two eheim intake pipes so they hand on the back with no risk of slipping out. I did this as cleanly as I could, but the stand is now completely packed.

I am planning to remove my sand (slowly) and replace it with reborn media in a few weeks. The flow is creating huge sand drifts and leaving a bare corner in the front. Once things are cleared up, I will take some FTS. I have about 40 frags in the tank so it is looking completely packed. For now, here is a teaser:

Only other equipment I might add in the future is Ozone. I havent decided if I want to run ozone on this setup and it might just be overkill.

 

[DatsoonDave]

Dam. I thought I was intermediate level I think I just realized I am still at amateur status

 

[riley.jones01]

Dam. I thought I was intermediate level I think I just realized I am still at amateur status

My setup is complete overkill, i am just a gear junky and love adding gadgets to my tank.

 

[riley.jones01]

Update: I have had the canister/UV running for a few days now. The water is crystal clear, no algae on the glass, and the sand is clearing up. Very pleased with the setup.

 

[riley.jones01]

FTS:

Reborn media going in this weekend to fill in the empty spots in the front.

 

[AydenLincoln]

How did you attach the panel to the back glass?

 

[riley.jones01]

A lot of silicone

 

[riley.jones01]

Got ICP results back today. Looks like either my matrix or my AF Life Biofil is leeching Al and/or Si. Going to monitor on future ICP results to see if it goes down over time.

 

[riley.jones01]

A few updates:
My lid from Top Lids finally arrived. I couldnt be happier with the fit and finish of the lid. I have had lids from a few other manufacturers before and this is by far the best one.
My Two Little Fishies Reborn finally arrived and I got it added to the bare spots at the front of the tank. Overall, very happy with the progress.

 

[riley.jones01]

These pics are about 3-4 weeks apart. Reef moonshiners is doing its thing and SPS is all starting to color up very nicely. Dealing with a little bit of algae but nothing out of hand. CUC is doing an OK job keeping it at bay. I might add a little diversity to the crew this weekend and see if that can knock out the last little bit of algae.

 

[Popeye_ali]

How’s everything looking?

 

[DHill6]

Update?