4 Gallon CAD Light Aquarium

I had won a gift card to one of my LFS's during their anniversary sale raffle, so a few weeks ago, I went in to pick it up and see if they had anything in stock that I may have wanted. This particular LFS had never really had too much, and when they did have a bit in stock, it was almost always high-end coral and fish.

When I was perusing, though, I saw they had the new CAD Light Nano series in stock. Mini SeriesNEW : CAD Lights, Thinking outside the cube I had never heard of CAD before, but when I saw this tank, I wanted it - BAD.

Now I love my little 2 gallon Fluval Spec tank. It has been by far the best tank I have had in this hobby. Its levels have remained steady, the maintenance has (believe it or not) been super easy, and it's just plain cute ^_^ But I am a coral nut - a BIG coral nut, particularly in the zoanthid department. My little 2 gallon just can't keep up with it, and ever since I broke down my 29 gallon and moved the coral I couldn't bear to lose into my 2 gallon, it's just been too cramped.

So, I made the executive decision that it was time to retire my 2 gallon tank (for now, at least) and upgrade to this new, fancy 4 gallon. I used my gift certificate and leftover money from selling the 29 to purchase this new CAD aquarium and brought it home. (side note: I was contemplating getting one of those new 5 gallon Eco Pico tanks from the Ecoxotic line, but I really like tanks that have an internal overflow that I can then turn into a fuge)

Here's a pic of the tank when I got it home:



Oooohhhh look at that big, beefy LED light!!! AND, it adjusts! I can move it up so I have access to the inside of the tank from above, in case I need to move rock or something. Very convenient!

Here is a pic of it with the LED's on:



The lights, off and on:





One of the coolest features of this tank for me is the fact the internal overflow is removable, which made it so much easier to clean before adding water to the tank.



Granted taking it out now that there is sand and rock in there is out of the question, but the fact that I CAN if I needed to is a nice bonus

I had gotten a bag of live sand that was a mix of black and aragonite. I had wanted straight black sand, but my LFS didn't have a small enough bag of it, and I didn't feel like buying one online. When I added the sand to the tank, I found that all the aragonite has slowly settled to the very bottom of the tank, and the black has stayed at the top. It actually looks pretty darn cool, and the bed now looks the way I originally wanted it to! (btw, I ran a magnet through the sandbed before adding water because I had heard some stories that there are small flecks of metal in certain types of black sand - I have no idea why - and the magnet came out clean)

Once the sand settled and the water cleared, I added leftover liverock that I had kept from my 29 gallon (some of the pieces were just too cool!). They have been in a little 2.5 gallon tank with a powerhead

Pic of the tank with rock:



The aquascaping is done for the most part. There are a few pieces I will be adding from my 2 gallon, and the heater you see in the front won't be out in the open like that. I just stuck it in there temporarily to heat up the tank before I added my cleaner crew.



I love these little strawberry anemones that seem to hitchhike into every tank I've had There are about 3-4 of them in the tank right now, but I suspect over time I will have tons more.



The most interesting part about this tank so far is that it cycled in under a week I couldn't believe it when I did ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests on it two days ago to find all the numbers at 0. I'm still only slowly adding a little bit at a time to the tank, starting with my hardiest corals, and adding my clown and sexy shrimp last.

So far all the zoas in there have done well, and opened up after a few minutes of moving them from the 2 gallon to this tank.

I got my cleaner crew in yesterday from ReefCleaners - thanks John! Everything was alive and super happy to be added to a tank that had some yummy algae for them to graze on They were ATTACKING my liverock within minutes of adding them to my tank. I'll post more pics later of some of the snails - they look pretty darn cool.

I will also post more pics as I add coral to show the difference in color. They are under a T5 and an Actinic in the 2 gallon, and in the CAD they are under LED. It's amazing how different the zoas already look.

Actually, 'strawberry' anemones are cold water species. Those are 'ball' anemones. They don't really hurt anything, and are a neat addition.

Nice little tank!

Originally Posted by Ashlar

Actually, 'strawberry' anemones are cold water species. Those are 'ball' anemones. They don't really hurt anything, and are a neat addition.

Nice little tank!

Eh, I could never find a definitive term for them, and since they look almost identical to the strawberry nems we have out here from the Sound, I've just called them that. Whatever their name, they sure are neat! And they multiply like crazy!!

What's really cool is that you'll get ones with different colors. I've had them that were orange, white, red, purple, and even blue. (Most of mine are white, though, since normally they're in the shade.)

Originally Posted by Ashlar

What's really cool is that you'll get ones with different colors. I've had them that were orange, white, red, purple, and even blue. (Most of mine are white, though, since normally they're in the shade.)

Blue would be so COOL!! I've also had orange and pink, but never anything else. Mine sometimes get this green iridescence in the tentacles, too.

Wow thats a nice little tank. Cad makes real nice tanks, I have a 39 cad pro reef and love it.

Very cool. I just got that same tank in the 8 gallon size to use as a Frag/quarantine tank. Still waiting to set it up though. Those are cool little nems, I wish I would get fun hitchhikers rather than just aiptasia and hair algae...

Originally Posted by spinycheek

Very cool. I just got that same tank in the 8 gallon size to use as a Frag/quarantine tank. Still waiting to set it up though. Those are cool little nems, I wish I would get fun hitchhikers rather than just aiptasia and hair algae...

don't wish too hard - anything could happen!!!

hehe

what a cute little tank Shawna!! I'm excited to see it bloom into a full zoa masterpiece

Wow that's a stunning tank!

I think I know what I want for Christmas!!!!!!

Originally Posted by rgrking

Wow that's a stunning tank!

I think I know what I want for Christmas!!!!!!

You wouldn't be disappointed! This tank is AWESOME!

i saw one today at the lfs. so tempting. I didn't get one though.

Looking good! I really like the CAD tanks. They have some nice cone skimmers out now too.

How are the seals between the filter compartment and the tank on yours? Mine leak like crazy, so hardly any water actually goes where it's supposed to. I was thinking of just siliconing it closed.

Nice tank! Was the price shown on the sticker including the LED light?

The one I saw was 159.00

Originally Posted by spinycheek

How are the seals between the filter compartment and the tank on yours? Mine leak like crazy, so hardly any water actually goes where it's supposed to. I was thinking of just siliconing it closed.

Hmmm...I haven't noticed any issues with mine. It's a little different since the entire filter compartment is removable, but everything still flows and returns where it's supposed to. I think siliconing it closed would be a good idea, especially if you are finding the water isn't going where it's supposed to.

Originally Posted by chris&barb

Nice tank! Was the price shown on the sticker including the LED light?

Thanks! The price was for everything you see, which is a pretty good deal! Online I could find the tank for anywhere between $90 and $100 new, but then I had to pay shipping. So overall, I'd have ended up paying the same amount if I bought it online, and also risked it getting broken or damaged en route.

Originally Posted by rgrking

The one I saw was 159.00

That's pretty high...was that for the 4 gallon or 8 gallon? The LFS I got mine from was selling the 8 gallon for $159.00.

it might have been the 8 gallon not sure. All I know is that it was pretty! Those LED's looked great!

Update time!!

So the tank levels are still great! Cycled in under a week, and everything has remained steady. Had a nitrate jump once (I think perhaps due to a dead snail?) but that was gone after a water change. I have now moved all the coral over I want to from my 2 gallon, and my clownfish, who had decided those sexy shrimp he was sharing a tank with looked too tasty to leave alone >.< Needless to say the 2 gallon I had intended on retiring after setting up the 4 gallon is now a Sexy Shrimp tank - and one of the shrimps have eggs already We'll see where that goes!

So here are some pics of the coral I have in the tank. Most of the zoas are from the 2 gallon, the acan colony I just acquired from a local reefer, and most of the liverock was leftover from when I broke down my 29 a few months ago. I had it in a very small tank with an airstone to keep the rock "live". There were still a lot of pods on it after transferring it to my 4 gallon! Wooo! The aquascaping is not necessarily done, but I'm giving everything a rest for a little while. I just keep looking in the tank and feeling it is too crowded with the rock. We'll see!

Full tank shot:



Goliath, the camera hog :



All the coral:

Looking good. Congrat's on the eggs! Man I have got to finish my build!!

Nice pics Shawna!! That is a cool looking little tank.