Reduck's Cad SAIO 75g build

[jguinn]

Tank is looking GREAT! It's been longer than I would like since I've been able to check in. Was out of town last week and got to fly back to the east coast from lovely Las Vegas (yea, right) with a wonderful virus that had my temp up to like 103.7 on the flight home.

Anyway... those new corals from Ultimate look stellar. Great coloration and all the tissue looks really healthy.

Definitely let us know what you think of the Santa Monica Drop-in. I had just enough hair algae growth when I got back from my week away to annoy me. My wife decided that the AFS wasn't getting enough pellets in the tank, so she took it upon herself to supplement with additional feeding by hand. She did a great job keeping everything else in good shape - even scraped the glass - so I was hesitant to say too much about overfeeding! But hopefully that's the cause of the little bump in hair algae. You've got my attention with the algae scrubber, though.

 

[Reduck]

Tank is looking GREAT! It's been longer than I would like since I've been able to check in. Was out of town last week and got to fly back to the east coast from lovely Las Vegas (yea, right) with a wonderful virus that had my temp up to like 103.7 on the flight home.

You've got my attention with the algae scrubber, though.

Thanks!
Feel better! Nothing worse than flying whilst feeling like crap.

Keep an eye on @reefwiser too. He just bought one too for his IM40!

 

[Reduck]

Quick shot of the ATO tank. Fits on the pull out tray perfectly!


And a FTS for the weekend. No time to mess with algae scrubber yet!

 

[squirrelieygrrrl]

Sweet looking tank Reduck! How do you like CAD's AIO, how much space is there in the back chamber? After having a tank with a sump, and then having an IM 38 I doubt I'll ever go back to an AIO, too cramped for my tastes. Eddie from cadlights can be tricky to narrow down when it comes to service, though I had a decent experience. I bought one of the first 5 artisan series ever made on a group buy from nano-reef when they were first released, which is the tank I've been working on now in its second run. None of us had poor service, but it could have been that they were trying to keep it together since there were approximately 20 of us buying tanks on that thread. They are indeed exceptionally well built in my opinion, and I will definitely be upgrading with them in the future from my 40.

I like your solution for the ato reservoir, I've been filling mine by putting a bucket on a chair and then siphoning down to the reservoir.

I'm a sucker for a nice indophyllia/acanthophyllia they are one of my absolute favorite corals second to acropora. That one you have is a real looker.

 

[Reduck]

Sweet looking tank Reduck! How do you like CAD's AIO, how much space is there in the back chamber? After having a tank with a sump, and then having an IM 38 I doubt I'll ever go back to an AIO, too cramped for my tastes. Eddie from cadlights can be tricky to narrow down when it comes to service, though I had a decent experience. I bought one of the first 5 artisan series ever made on a group buy from nano-reef when they were first released, which is the tank I've been working on now in its second run. None of us had poor service, but it could have been that they were trying to keep it together since there were approximately 20 of us buying tanks on that thread. They are indeed exceptionally well built in my opinion, and I will definitely be upgrading with them in the future from my 40.

I like your solution for the ato reservoir, I've been filling mine by putting a bucket on a chair and then siphoning down to the reservoir.

I'm a sucker for a nice indophyllia/acanthophyllia they are one of my absolute favorite corals second to acropora. That one you have is a real looker.

Thank you!
I like it a lot. The sump area has a lot of room for skimmer, fuge, reactor , etc. Coming from an IM 40 this is like nirvana! The only PITA is getting to the middle of the back which was the same on the IM tank. I'd have gone with a sumped system, but didn't when we saw this tank. It flows like a real sump and it fit perfectly. I know there is a larger, sumped system in my future. Just not now.
Glad you like my big ole monster! He just ate before so he's especially fat and happy at the moment!

 

[squirrelieygrrrl]

That's good to hear its functional, I wouldn't expect much less from CAD. They make great tanks, though everything below the tank on their sumped models is garbage. I'm a short little thing at 5'2", so an AIO of that size I doubt I'd be able to service the back chambers with out a stepladder! lol.

How's the DOS to program? I still haven't fired mine up yet. I read on another forum that there is a programming error on fusion that causes 10% of the dosing schedule to dump at 11:59pm. Have you encountered this or have they corrected it?

 

[Reduck]

I use a step ladder too @5'7" It's just plain safer than reaching or leaning. I can get the socks changed and skimmer cup emptied and reactor refilled without height assistance, but cleaning, etc, I'd rather be safe.
DOS was iffy at first but they've put a few firmware and hardware updates out and it pretty darn reliable. I think that most people overcomplicate their dosing schedules. I keep it simple. Do all my alk at night, cal in the morning. Break it into 5ml shots. No issues at all. Parameters have been dead on since I did the pump head mod back in spring. Early units were getting cracks in the head. Mine was one of them, but they shipped two new ones and it's been fine since. Now if they'd ship my DDR, I'd be thrilled!

 

[squirrelieygrrrl]

I'll be waiting to hear what you think about the DDR. I had plans to get one as well.

 

[Reduck]

Sorry for the lack of updates. Busy at work and home with the painting etc. Been running carbon since painting started to make sure nothing affects the tank, even though we are using 0 voc paint. Haven't installed the algae scrubber yet. Waiting till we come home from vacation next week. I believe in the rule of never changing anything a week before going away.

Tank is all set to autopilot. Feeder full, fresh media, clean socks, and full ato tank and clean skimmer cup set to dry skim.

When we return I will be moving the tank into another room so the painters can do the living room. That'll be fun...not!

Off to the Keys we go!

 

[jguinn]

Sorry for the lack of updates. Busy at work and home with the painting etc. Been running carbon since painting started to make sure nothing affects the tank, even though we are using 0 voc paint. Haven't installed the algae scrubber yet. Waiting till we come home from vacation next week. I believe in the rule of never changing anything a week before going away.

Tank is all set to autopilot. Feeder full, fresh media, clean socks, and full ato tank and clean skimmer cup set to dry skim.

When we return I will be moving the tank into another room so the painters can do the living room. That'll be fun...not!

Off to the Keys we go!

Have a great time in the Keys! That's actually where we got married - the Marriott Beachside on Key West. Also first place I ever drank Louis XIII, thanks to some generous stranger! Fun place.

Moving that tank definitely does not sound like a fun time. I assume the strategy there will be to relocate the livestock into very temporary holding containers, drain the majority of the water into a Brute, move the tank, and then refill with the same water?

Do you monitor your tank's potassium level? I just recently started after reading some info and have been dosing Red Sea's potassium supplement to get it up higher than normal sea water (about 550ppm) and the coloration and growth on my zoas has been phenomenal. Something to look at. I was really skeptical at first but have been pleasantly surprised.

Hope your flights don't have some nasty, sick guy on them spreading germs like I did on the way home from Vegas!

 

[Reduck]

Yes, brutes, then right back in after we slide it into its temp location: is the plan. Unless it falls on a wc weekend. Then it's brutes, slide, fsw, then back in. Same reverse procedure.

I don't test potassium. Using reef energy a and b though. Corals really light up post dose!

All I hope is that we get there and back with no delays like we had last spring! Spending an extra night there was not fun....ok it wasn't that bad, but not planned..
Thanks!

 

[creefer]

Nice set up! I've never seen one of these SAIO builds. Thanks for sharing. Seems like a really nice set up. I like the idea of the open interior of the stand.

 

[Reduck]

Nice set up! I've never seen one of these SAIO builds. Thanks for sharing. Seems like a really nice set up. I like the idea of the open interior of the stand.

Thanks!

 

[Reduck]

Wow. Finally! I go on vacation and the DDR shows up! Tank did alright in auto pilot. We did have a full on panic on our first day away. Complete one hour power outage. I knew cause my apex emailed me! Not that I could do a dang thing about it. The house painters were there too. Luckily the backup battery took over and kept up circ till it came back on. Seems most of my area went out. Probably car accident took a power pole down, anyhow, no harm, no foul.
Anyhow the tank did ok on its own. Came home, scraped some glass and stuck the DDR in. It's overkill for a dosing container. That's all I'll say about it. Looks nice too.
This weekend, WC time and the algae scrubber!
Here's a shot of the DDR installed. Still can't believe it's here.

 

[Reduck]

Oh yea.. Key West was awesome! Mid 80s every day. Fine dining and adult beverages were consumed daily. Good friends etc. No flight issues at all, unless you count the screaming baby behind me coming home..
We are already planning to go back in March or April. Love it there. Can't wait to retire and move there....

 

[Reduck]

Be vewy vewy quiet. I'm hunting peppermint shrimp. They went to the dark side and started eating my corals, staring with the plate, and indiophillia....they must go now.

 

[reefwiser]

They are crafty little B**ters.

 

[Reduck]

Well I tried a few different traps and the little monsters evaded all trapping attempts. So in doing a wc this weekend, I'll be pulling all rock out to net them. Hate to make a mess but they gotta go.
Aargh!

Update! Ron 2, Shrimp 0.
Had to take rock etc out but I got em...

 

[reefwiser]

Woo hooo
http://gif.co/oIO5.gif

 

[Salty1962]

We are having a heck of a time setting the skimmer! Its either to fast, or to slow. Its pulled some gunk already but we can't seem to get it a steady flow of bubbles with out filling the cup and when we back it down it practically stops! We have it about 6" of water. Fish not n yet just some coral so no real bio load yet.. How did you figure your to put in 8" of water? It really stinks they give you no paperwork at all with any suggestions or anything!

It takes some time to get it set just right but when it is mine runs well. It is super sensitive to water level changes. It does pull out some major gunk.