Shadyraro's Cade 900 S2

[DarkReefer]

Gorgeous. I would love for my tank to look like that in 6 months (Cade 1200 just finishing cycling).

I wish mine would look this clean as well lol.
I've got algae galore on the sand. Need to check for dinos but I've been a bit lazy.

 

[wickedxreef]

Hey mate, thanks for checking out my build!
With the equipment I was considering getting 2 medium Reef Flare Pro Blues, but to be honest the 2 radions are doing a fantastic job so for now I'm just leaving it as is.
I did have a Vectra S2 prior to installing the RF base pump and that was more than adequate, I only ran it it 50% so an M2 might be overkill. I am waiting on 2 RF smart switches to arrive, one each for the skimmer and algae reactor, but apart from that I would basically have the same setup if I did it again.

The main reason I have gone with the Reef Factory equipment is for the ability to remotely control any of the gear from anywhere, and because I want to automate my tank as much as possible. With family and work etc I didn't want the tank to control my life, and I didn't want to have to worry about it at all especially when I was away. I get notifications if there's any issues and I can go on the RF app and check and adjust anything if I need too, I also have a camera (fish cam) so I can check out the tank also.
You're going to love the 900 they're an awesome setup!

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the detailed update. I’m curious how you handle water changes in the tank? Your comment of the tank controlling your life hits home. Sometimes my life gets busy and I want the tank to be able to maintain during these times.

 

[shadyraro]

I wish mine would look this clean as well lol.
I've got algae galore on the sand. Need to check for dinos but I've been a bit lazy.

A whole lot of snails and a pair of watchman gobies will keep your sand squeaky clean

 

[shadyraro]

Thank you for the detailed update. I’m curious how you handle water changes in the tank? Your comment of the tank controlling your life hits home. Sometimes my life gets busy and I want the tank to be able to maintain during these times.

No problem!
I mix my own salt and do a 20% water change every fortnight using Quantum mixed macro probiotic salt. I pump it out and while the new salt is refilling I’ll clean out the skimmer cup, I also empty and swap out the carbon in my small media reactor which has about 40g in it.
After the tanks refilled I’ll top up the RO reservoir and job done.
It’s pretty straight forward and takes less than an hour to do, I’ve been doing it this way since I started the 900 and it seems to work well.
Also the ReefMat is a fantastic piece of kit, no filter socks to change and I got 104 days out of my last roll!

 

[DarkReefer]

A whole lot of snails and a pair of watchman gobies will keep your sand squeaky clean

Definitely need to up the snail population. Only have 1 strombus at the moment about 3 or 4 cowries and maybe 6 or so trochus.

 

[shadyraro]

Definitely need to up the snail population. Only have 1 strombus at the moment about 3 or 4 cowries and maybe 6 or so trochus.

Get some turbos (I have about 12) and sand sifters, they're machines at moving the sand around.

 

[carnivorouswombat]

Hello, I just bought a mantis 150 skimmer, how deep is your sump level that you run it in? I can't find a manufacturer's recommendation but it looks like it is doing its job well for you

 

[shadyraro]

Hello, I just bought a mantis 150 skimmer, how deep is your sump level that you run it in? I can't find a manufacturer's recommendation but it looks like it is doing its job well for you

Hey there!
My sump water level sits at around 9 inches and I run it on level 20. The mantis skimmers are a great unit, they’re very quiet and I get a lot of skimmate from it.

 

[carnivorouswombat]

Hey there!
My sump water level sits at around 9 inches and I run it on level 20. The mantis skimmers are a great unit, they’re very quiet and I get a lot of skimmate from it.

Thanks all plugged in and breaking in. Thanks again

 

[wickedxreef]

I have two follow-up questions. do you happen to have a picture of your electrical cabinet? Also, do you happen to run a UV sterilizer on the tank?

 

[shadyraro]

I have two follow-up questions. do you happen to have a picture of your electrical cabinet? Also, do you happen to run a UV sterilizer on the tank?

Hey there, I don’t run a UV on my tank as I don’t see the need too. My water is crystal clear and I put it down to the ReefMat and skimmer working in tandem, and I don’t have a large amount of fish at the moment and they all look healthy.

Pic of electrical cabinet

 

[wickedxreef]

Hey there, I don’t run a UV on my tank as I don’t see the need too. My water is crystal clear and I put it down to the ReefMat and skimmer working in tandem, and I don’t have a large amount of fish at the moment and they all look healthy.

Pic of electrical cabinet

Thank you! Did you just use a Velcro strip and cable management in there? At least that is what it looks like. It’s so nice and neat in there!

I just set up my tank last week and it was leaking water from a bulkhead into my ato reservoir. Second issue was dr Tim’s reef evolution salt never cleared up. Ended up draining the whole tank. Bulkhead had a crack in it and a new one is coming. I’m switching to Nyos salt which I’ve heard great things about.

How’s your tank coming along? Any other fish in the future?

 

[shadyraro]

Thank you! Did you just use a Velcro strip and cable management in there? At least that is what it looks like. It’s so nice and neat in there!

I just set up my tank last week and it was leaking water from a bulkhead into my ato reservoir. Second issue was dr Tim’s reef evolution salt never cleared up. Ended up draining the whole tank. Bulkhead had a crack in it and a new one is coming. I’m switching to Nyos salt which I’ve heard great things about.

How’s your tank coming along? Any other fish in the future?

Yeah I used 4" velcro strips in the cabinet and it's great, it makes it easy to move anything around without the need to drill holes or screws.

That's no good about the bulkhead, my ATO bulkhead was also leaking when I tested it but luckily it just needed some thread seal tape and it's been fine ever since. I would recommend putting thread tape on all your threads just to be on the safe side.

I'll do an update soon about my tank but it's cruising along nicely

 

[wickedxreef]

Thank you! Did you just use a Velcro strip and cable management in there? At least that is what it looks like. It’s so nice and neat in there!

Yeah I used 4" velcro strips in the cabinet and it's great, it makes it easy to move anything around without the need to drill holes or screws.

That's no good about the bulkhead, my ATO bulkhead was also leaking when I tested it but luckily it just needed some thread seal tape and it's been fine ever since. I would recommend putting thread tape on all your threads just to be on the safe side.

I'll do an update soon about my tank but it's cruising along nicely

Good idea about the thread tape. I’ll give that a try when the new drain fittings come in. I also love the idea about the Velcro and will order some now. Thank you

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Hey there, I don’t run a UV on my tank as I don’t see the need too. My water is crystal clear and I put it down to the ReefMat and skimmer working in tandem, and I don’t have a large amount of fish at the moment and they all look healthy.

Pic of electrical cabinet

Nice looking electrical cabinet! Looks very clean and organized

 

[shadyraro]

Update:

I added some new corals over the past couple weeks, 24k gold torch, reverse bleeding apple scolly, ultra red rim Trachy and a few different zoas.
I also added a mandarin dragonet which is doing great, he’s more of a night owl but sometimes I see him roaming around the tank during the day.
My pax has been offline for a few weeks as I turned the last lot of chaeto into sludge, my fault as I forgot to harvest it after 3 weeks sitting when I usually do it about every 10-12 days.
That would explain my higher than normal phosphates so hopefully now being back online with fresh chaeto things sort themselves out.
I also had to relocate 2 of my scollys from the ledge they were sitting on as they were receding. I soon realised the Goni’s on the rock in front of them were fully extending further than I thought, they were probably stinging them so hopefully now they’re happier in their new spot.







That’s all for now, happy reefing!

 

[shadyraro]

I managed to grab one of these p04 smart testers today, my LFS finally got some back in stock and they’ve already sold out.
It did its first test on setup and after its second I’ll check the result against Hanna and salifert.

 

[wickedxreef]

Can’t wait!!!!

 

[shadyraro]

Update:

The smart tester has done 3 tests so far and I’m pretty impressed with the results. After comparing it to salifert and Hanna, they were all within 0.03 of each other so I’m pretty happy.
I’ve currently set it to test twice a day for the first couple weeks then I’ll drop it to once a day, the 2 reagents say it’ll do 160 tests so I should get a few months out of the set hopefully.

And with new equipment comes a cabinet reshuffle to fit everything in!
The cabinet is tight enough as it is so I removed the shelf to open it up more and I think it worked. I hung the doser and KH keeper on the side wall and I might also hang the smart tester, or maybe just leave it sitting where it is. I also have an x3 doser that I used for trace elements previously and this will probably go above the x4 doser, then that should just about do it.

Anyway here’s a few pics of today’s cabinet reshuffle, and I also installed an LED light strip inside the cabinet to give it more light.

Happy reefing!

 

[wickedxreef]

Looking really good and glad to hear the smart tester is working as expected. Looking forward to additional updates on how it progresses.

Makes me think I should remove the shelf as well. My cabinet is getting extremely tight quick. How’re you liking the pax? How often do you find yourself having to maintain it and what benefits have you seen from it?