Isaac's Cadlight 70 Gallon Artisan II Build

[Isaac Alves]

Got my DIY kalkwasser reactor parts ready to go for my office tank. Most serendipitous thing to happen is that the @seaside_aquatics dosing container’s base literally fits snugly around the HYCC magnetic stirrer I picked up off of Amazon—— means stronger magnetic contact and secure base —- but I’ll be wrapping this in a wood shelf so it won’t have a chance to fall over.

Ingredients:

• Kamoer X1 pump
• 2.5L dosing container
• magnetic stirrer plate with AC adaptor
• InkbirdSmart outlet
• 1/2” uniseal
• 1/2” Union slip
• 1/2” 90deg elbow
• 1/2” slip barb
• 1/2” ID vinyl hose
• 2 plastic ratchet clamps




#happyreefing

 

[Isaac Alves]

My leopard wrasse loves purple seaweed? Maybe, but I think it’s because I add a couple drops of selcon AND polyp-lab ’s Polyp Booster. I do it for the added omega-3 and the fishy smell —-mostly for the smell.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Day 5 after delivery received from https://drreefsquarantinedfish.com

Of "blacklip butterflyfish" or Klein's butterflyfish and Bella Goby or Valenciennea bella Goby.

Klein is eating LRS and Goby is sifting sand.

​

 

[Isaac Alves]

Maintenance time on the AquaticLife T5 Hybrid. Noticed, by chance, the bank of T5s in the back were not on.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Today was the day to pull cords and test the ballasts and ... might as well clean the whole thing.



Turns out one of the ATI bulbs in the back was bad. But those clips on the fixture are just mangled,I’m guessing from the heat (?).

 

[shoelaceike]

Finally did something on my display.
1) Cleaned my MP40 in a 10 minute HCL bath.
2) Replaced the wet side cage with the LIMPET Wide Flow pump guard. Nice fit. Nice strong build. We’ll see how it works out.
Make sure to wear eye protection when using HCL


​

Hey, how do you like this adapter?

 

[Isaac Alves]

Hey, how do you like this adapter?

Sorry for my late reply. I’ve not been good this year about posting updates. I love the adaptor. Looks great. And definitely keeps the flow going.

 

[Isaac Alves]

I’m posting because I had the misfortune of possibly losing a long time fish, a silver belly wrasse. My reef is still going strong, the tank is doing well but age does mean upkeep. And today I think I failed in aspect I didn’t consider — my @ArtFully Acrylic original lid. I think I may even be the first order for a Cadlights Artisan that they had back when they were first starting up. In any case, it’s been 6-7 years, maybe? It’s been a while.

This afternoon, around 3pm PST, I just happen to be getting out of my office to stretch my legs and check in on what the kids were doing. I must have spent a good 30 minutes with them before grabbing a chunk of Rods food to throw into the tank and watch the fish chomp it up. When I walked into the room with the tank I happen to look down on the floor and there was my wrasse; luckily still moving and semi-wet. I quickly swooped him up and held him in my palms while placing him in the small frag tank, that’s plumbed into the display, to get him into water — the main display has the fitted mesh lid which was still in place. I couldn’t imagine how he got out. Unfortunately he was not able to swim and may possibly have damaged his spine based on his movements. But since I know he’ll jump I had to place him back into the main display using the feed door. He sadly sank to the sand bed and struggled to stay upright; but was swimming a bit and at some point buried himself in the sand.

I figured it was best to leave him be and if he survives then resting was the best thing. So I tried to figure out how he got out. The lid is so perfectly fitted around the tank and he’s quite fat for a silver belly wrasse. The only part of the lid that can be removed is the feed door but it was still in place. As I tried to fit my thumb into all gaps where the lid meets the glass I noticed the mesh directly in the center was torn — sure enough, he literally must have gotten spooked, or tussled with another fish, and shot straight up breaking through the mesh.

The wrasse is still alive ~10pm PST. I moved him into an isolation box because we saw my clean up crew going at him. I’m supposing he’ll not make it through the night which is sad to me. I’ve had him for three years at least.

So what did I learn? I learned that the Lexan/poly mesh, durable as it may be, will and can weaken over time due to all of the extremely harsh elements; We have the salt water and we have UV light bombarding the plastic constantly every day for several years. And yes, I’ve cleaned it every month or so with fresh water and gently wiped it down. But the chemical break down is going to happen. So now, I need to figure out if I want to try and respline a mesh — which I doubt I can do as good a job as the guys at @ArtFully Acrylic (or Clearview lids?) — or just order a replacement lid. They seem to have every lid style and more now — although turn around times seem very long.

That’s all for now. Happy reefing.

 

[Isaac Alves]

​

 

[Isaac Alves]

California water and drought woes have me concerned about random blackouts because of fire prevention or power issues.

Building a DIY UPS.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Backup power build for Display tank:

Looking for help on this thread here:

Aquarium Backup Power - Fuse Placement Help

Here's my Reef Backup Power Layout. I have the power requirements noted. Question: Where should I put fuses? Notes: I am using heavy utility 12awg 3 pole wire to and from switch relay I am using 2awg copper stranded between inverter and battery I am using 6awg copper stranded between charger...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Isaac Alves]

Sunday vibes on the young 5 year old reef. Added some beautiful quarantined fish from https://drreefsquarantinedfish.com/

A young Diamond goby and a citron goby to fit the Monty.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Morning picture of the tank. 5 years and 8 months running.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Beautiful reef!!

 

[Isaac Alves]

​

 

[Isaac Alves]

Full tank shot as of today.

 

[Isaac Alves]

water test …or “Weekly parameters confession” for my living room display tank. I seem to be getting a handle on the nutrients after the post vacation spike.

What have I been doing since December 30, 2021:

• increased my vodka dosing slightly
• rinsed out sections of bio media over time
• micro-dose 5mls of @brightwellaquatics Phosphat-E into skimmer
• maintained strict daily dosing of @aquaforest.eu Pro Bio-S and @faunamarin Bacto-Reef Therapy and added Bacto Reef Balls — all of this at the recommended dosages for my tank size and age.
• cut back on Amino Acids by 50%
• 4% water change weekly

Current issues:
• good: Red Robin acro is extending during the day a bit now
• bad: 2 year old Rainbow Millie from @aqua_sd is growing but no polyp extension still, at all.
• Clownfish still hosting Hammer, but infection on the female has almost completely vanished. I’ve increased feeding of LRS Fish Frenzy and made sure she eats a ton— I think it’s helping.

 

[Isaac Alves]

The tank as of February 23rd, 10:54am PT. at 5 years, 9 months old today.

 

[Isaac Alves]

This tank will be getting an upgrade to a bit larger aquarium. I went with the Cade 1500 S2/P from @AlgaeBarn. And it was delivered this morning:

 

[Isaac Alves]

More photos of the delivered Cade system from @AlgaeBarn. I'm still looking for a service team to help with unpacking and facilitating the transfer. It's a problem that something this large is stacked like this....I'm a bit nervous to even unpack it by myself, especially since the base support boards are not even.