Cade 1500 S2/P Build

[Isaac Alves]

I'm a big fan of your build! I got the wire extension for the ReefWave and ran it along the inside of the tank just above the waterline using clear 3M cable clips.

As for the water line, mine naturally sits at or just below the etched CADE logo. I let the water sit right at the rim of the emergency overflow, there's usually a constant trickle of water through that drain. Hope this helps!

Thank you for saying so. I’ve been trying to keep the thread going the last couple weeks — I’ve been dealing with all kinds of cyano/dinos/etc. in the tank the last few weeks so it was time to let people see the uglies.

In any case, more flow on that other end is what I think I need to add.

Having the water level below the CADE logo would be ideal. I get a lot of salt creep with it being so high. I keep thinking the over flows are just not wide enough, or the bottom weir is getting build up — I’ve unfortunately seem to be too lazy to get to that bottom one and scrub it more frequently.

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In any case, thank you for the reply. And I love your aquascape. Happy new year !!!

 

[Hardy_Reef]

Thank you for saying so. I’ve been trying to keep the thread going the last couple weeks — I’ve been dealing with all kinds of cyano/dinos/etc. in the tank the last few weeks so it was time to let people see the uglies.

In any case, more flow on that other end is what I think I need to add.

Having the water level below the CADE logo would be ideal. I get a lot of salt creep with it being so high. I keep thinking the over flows are just not wide enough, or the bottom weir is getting build up — I’ve unfortunately seem to be too lazy to get to that bottom one and scrub it more frequently.

—-

In any case, thank you for the reply. And I love your aquascape. Happy new year !!!

Best of luck getting through those issues. Flow was definitely my issue as well. I actually ended up replacing 2 MP40s with MP60s recently and it was a night and day difference in the polyp extension, color and overall consumption.

 

[JC Reef]

Sir @Hardy_Reef we need an update here?

 

[Hardy_Reef]

Hey everyone, I have a bit of a data dump for y'all. First I'll go over the equipment currently running on the tank, then provide my stock-list and lastly go over testing, methods, etc.

Equipment:

3 GHL Mitras LX7 7206s
2 Orphek OR3 120 Blue Plus LED Strips
GHL Profilux 4
2 GHL Doser 2.1s
GHL Maxi 2.2
GHL KH Director
2 Ecotech Vortech MP60s (these replaced the MP40s I initially installed)
2 Maxspect XF350 Gyre Cloud Editions (to replace the Red Sea ReefWave 45)
Ozotech Poseidon 200
Red Sea ReefMat 1200
Reef Octo Elite 200-INT (replaced my Reef Octo Elite 150-INT)
Sicce Syncra SDC 9.0 Return Pump

Stock-list:

Gem Tang
Powder Brown Tang
Tomini Tang
Hippo Tang
Powder Blue Tang
Black Ocellaris Clownfish
Ocellaris Clownfish
Royal Gramma
Pajama Cardinalfish
Diamond Goby
Melanarus Wrasse
Orangeback Wrasse
2 Japanese Swallowtail Angelfish
5 Lyretail Anthias
Copperband Butterflyfish

Methods/Testing/ Lessons:

Some time ago I ran into some issues with the dosing of Captiv8 Reef Blueprint products in conjunction with Reef Labs ICP testing. This isn't a dig at either company, but I found that certain levels of trace elements in the Isol8 MT solution led to poisoning the system with Iodine even while running an algae reactor.

To correct this issue, I shut down all trace element dosing, and the Reef Pro balanced 2-part additive (which had also contained trace elements) because although the Reef Labs ICP stated levels were in range, the look of the corals was raising a red flag. During this, I continued the dosage of saturated kalkwasser based on the measured pH value of the system.

I ended up trying the Fauna Marin Complete ICP and even had my RODI water tested which showed different values in comparison to Reef Labs (now, the samples were sent in 2 months apart, so I'm not saying one is wrong). After receiving the FM results, I continued to just dose kalk and sent in another sample to FM about a month later. With the elevated elements trending downwards, I ordered the FM line of Elements and dosed it in accordance to the instructions you get with the results.

I'm getting ready to send in another sample, but the corals look considerably happier, polyp extension is good, color is getting more intense and the degradation I observed months ago is healing.

To experiment, I shut down the algae reactor that was running and solely rely on my skimmer and Tropic Marin NP Bacto-Balance as a carbon dosing and those are doing the job to keep the nutrients in check.

I'm running a CO2 scrubber in conjunction with the kalkwasser dosing to keep pH elevated. Right now I'm enjoying an 8.4 set point with the lows staying above 8.2 at night. the Scrubber is recirculating and also tees off to feed the air dryer and ozone generator to keep the water crystal clear and the ORP in the neighborhood of 300mV.

I'm excited to try GHL's new Coral Pop LED modules for the Mitras. If possible I would like to ditch the Orpheks (which have been great for spread) and add another Mitras fixture, orient the lights perpendicular as opposed to parallel to just make everything a bit more seamless and free up a plug in the CADE power center.

Stay tuned for pictures!

 

[Hardy_Reef]

 

[Hardy_Reef]

So if y'all have been following this build thread for a while you've probably noticed that I have been using GHL products since the beginning and that also applies to my reefing journey as a whole. All of those products were purchased by me with no partnership. That being said, GHL reached out to me a little while ago and offered to send me the new Coral Pop LED modules to upgrade my Mitras from the 7206 to the 7506. In return, they wanted me to share my experiences with the new modules with y'all (more than a fair deal IMO).

The LEDs arrived last week and I got them installed over the weekend. It was very simple to swap the modules. Unscrew the faceplate, slide out the splash guard, unscrew the old modules and reflectors, install new, etc. Once the firmware on GCC and the Mitras was up-to-date, switching the entire fixture from the 7200 settings to the 7500 setting was a breeze.

First impressions:

GHL was serious when they added an additional UVA channel, when cycling through the individual channels, it made my green corals glow so brightly , they looked radioactive.
This is a blue-heavy module...however, the white LEDs they incorporated still make it possible to run a more white or balanced looking light profile. I like the heavy-blues in the evening to show the coral's fluorescence, but I like the balanced look most of the day for the fish.

On the chance I didn't make it clear enough, I wanted to again thank those at GHL who gave me this opportunity!

I'll add some photos here shortly.

 

[JC Reef]

Can you post before and after pictures

 

[Hardy_Reef]

Can you post before and after pictures

We'll use the pictures I posted July 30th as the before

 

[Hardy_Reef]

Morning ramp without Orpheks

Midday with Orpheks

Night with Orpheks

 

[BeanAnimal]

I just upgraded 1 of my 3 Mitras to the coral pop modules. Not sure what I think yet, I am having trouble getting them dialed into to my liking. What is your impression of them without the orphek's on?

 

[Hardy_Reef]

I just upgraded 1 of my 3 Mitras to the coral pop modules. Not sure what I think yet, I am having trouble getting them dialed into to my liking. What is your impression of them without the orphek's on?

I reached out to Schmitt_Reef on Instagram for his power balancing settings; I found it was easier to dial in after that. The Orpheks do provide some additional pop, but I mostly have them for spread.

I am strongly considering a new hanging rail, adding a 4th mitras and turning each of them 90°. If I get around to doing that, I'll most likely get rid of the Orpheks.

My corals have really taken off since the switch though, coloration has improved drastically IMO. Polyp extension and growth has also been significantly better and I think it's due to the coral pop and better optimized flow. Hope this helps!

 

[BeanAnimal]

You mind sharing your settings and schedule or light composer project and power settings? I plan on doing some testing tomorrow.

 

[Hardy_Reef]

You mind sharing your settings and schedule or light composer project and power settings? I plan on doing some testing tomorrow.

Absolutely! Sorry for the late reply, it's been a busy weekend.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Absolutely! Sorry for the late reply, it's been a busy weekend.

Thanks - I look forward to seeing. I fiddled around in energy settings and boosted the blues and uvs and cut the whites a bit and built a 20ish K profile in composer. I have AB+ now kind of with a bit more pop than the 7206 and a bit more output, but overall not happy with the settings yet.

 

[BeanAnimal]

But in power manger boosted the snot out of the uv/blue area and cut the whites.

Like I said, not settled yet and no clue how the coral will respond.

 

[Hardy_Reef]

But in power manger boosted the snot out of the uv/blue area and cut the whites.

Like I said, not settled yet and no clue how the coral will respond.

Attached is a screenshot of Schmitt Reef's power settings in GCC (which is what I'm using) and then my schedule/intensity from the app.