DarkReefer's CADE Reef S2 1800

[DarkReefer]

This is what site flush with the bottom of your tank? I don't think that is the right piece at all for that spot. The plumbing for my Cade 1200 looked like in this video below. The piece that goes flush against the tank (on the underside) is hexagonal, and as I recall flat with no O-ring.

Yeah mine didn't come with the hex fitting there, and the drain valve is different also so it's likely they updated/modified the previous set up a bit. Even still, would expect at least the larger flat washer/combined with O ring there. The Emergency overflow has it.

 

[Jmp998]

Yeah mine didn't come with the hex fitting there, and the drain valve is different also so it's likely they updated/modified the previous set up a bit. Even still, would expect at least the larger flat washer/combined with O ring there. The Emergency overflow has it.

Sorry yes mine does have a flat washer there, having an O-ring there against a flat surface just seems odd to me. I thought O-rings usually went in a channel. I hope you get it worked out.

 

[DarkReefer]

Sorry yes mine does have a flat washer there, having an O-ring there against a flat surface just seems odd to me. I thought O-rings usually went in a channel. I hope you get it worked out.

Cheers mate.
There is a groove on the fitting side for the o ring to sit in so I think it's able to perform a decent enough seal, but certainly not to the same extent as the o ring/flat washer combo that the top side has.

See how it goes.

 

[shadyraro]

Yeah that's interesting that you didn't get hex fittings, is your emergency also not a hex?
There definitely should be 2 gaskets each for the overflow and emergency pipes, that o-ring just doesn't look right by itself.
This hobby can be so frustrating and I sometimes wonder why I even have a tank lol, but with the bad times there's way more good times so hopefully you get everything sorted.

 

[DarkReefer]

Yeah that's interesting that you didn't get hex fittings, is your emergency also not a hex?
There definitely should be 2 gaskets each for the overflow and emergency pipes, that o-ring just doesn't look right by itself.
This hobby can be so frustrating and I sometimes wonder why I even have a tank lol, but with the bad times there's way more good times so hopefully you get everything sorted.

Yeah nope, the emergency also not a hex fitting either.
I don't think it looks right either, but I sent CADE a msg last night with the photos above and they responded saying 'yes that is how it's supposed to be'.

I personally call bs on that and would have thought that it should match the other one.
I haven't taken apart the emergency to see if the top side is just an O ring and the bottom side has the flanged style O-ring/gasket. Probably need to at least try and give that a bit of a tighten up with some pliers too.

I definitely question whether I want to continue putting myself through it some days, but like you say. Other times it's really nice and peaceful and enjoyable.
That said I'm not so sure I'd go out and get another one lol.

Still struggling with the filter roller. Haven't been able to pull it out and clean but this morning woke up to it overflowing because the float switch wasn't triggering. I pulled that out and gave it a brush down and rinse off in case it was algae causing it. Seemed to be working again before I left for work so fingers crossed.. lol
Missus even asked how much another one would be because she's as sick of it as I am haha

 

[shadyraro]

I have a feeling the wrong box of plumbing got packed in with your order by mistake.
As far as I was aware all the white Cades I’ve seen have the hex fittings as they’re the newer systems.
Hence why Cade said the plumbing was correct when technically it is, but it’s still crap if it was a mistake and trust me I’ve been down that road before lol.
And do yourself a favour and get a ReefMat, you and your wife will thank me for it later

 

[DarkReefer]

I have a feeling the wrong box of plumbing got packed in with your order by mistake.
As far as I was aware all the white Cades I’ve seen have the hex fittings as they’re the newer systems.
Hence why Cade said the plumbing was correct when technically it is, but it’s still crap if it was a mistake and trust me I’ve been down that road before lol.
And do yourself a favour and get a ReefMat, you and your wife will thank me for it later

Yeah no idea. Not overly impressed considering the first photos I showed they said something was missing and to check the top side for a double up of the gaskets but then show them the O-ring in there and it's like.. no its fine...
uhuh... sure.

Will just continue to monitor I guess and see how it plays out.

LOL yeah I was so tempted by one of those when I put my part list together initially. Only went with Clarisea because it fit in the section I wanted it in, think the Reefmat was slightly larger.
Will have to take a look into it some more and see if I can make it work there. I probably need to pull the clarisea first give it another but better clean and see if that helps any... if not it can get lost LOL

 

[DarkReefer]

Pulled the Clarisea filter roller completely apart last night and gave it a good clean up with a toothbrush in a tub of water. So far... fingers crossed it seems to be doing what it should be... see how it goes after a few more days haha.

Also, I was rewatching the CADE Reef S2 Detailed Assembly guide the other day and it appears that it shows the hex fittings & washer in the animated part, but shortly after in the part where they physically show you them installing it, they have the same twist fittings/valve etc that mine has. It looks like there's some sort of clear washer/o ring in there but it's not entirely clearly visible.
End result looks like it could be similar to mine (except maybe I got the top and bottom switched around on the emergency overflow to get that black washer on the underside.

 

[DarkReefer]

Well I noticed this morning that the Clarisea was trickling again.
Alarm is yet to sound but I think it's just a matter of time. Despite cleaning it all up, this unit seems to be leaking or allowing water to escape in the same place as it was previously. Here's a few bad photos to show it, no idea how or why the water gets around the fleece but it's literally coming straight out of the gap in the white grille. So annoying.

Measured up for the Reefmat 1200 and I think I can squeeze it into the refugium slot without modification though she'll be tight.
Been wondering if I could get away with the Reefmat 500 despite it stating it's suitable for systems upto 500L (mine is around 780) as it states it's max flow is 6000lph.
I think my flow rate is hovering maybe somewhere around the 5300lph mark (Vectra M2 running at 70%) not factoring in plumbing/head height which may cause some reduction, but then I wonder if I'd be doing a disservice to the system in the long run should I ever need to up the flow rate for any reason OR if it really starts thriving and I add a heap more fish and coral it'll have a lot more work to do.

Bit unsure there as I don't really want to potentially limit myself and for an extra 40 bux it's probably not worth the headache of doing the smaller one (buy once, cry once kinda thing) but the 1200 is just so massive it's a bit on the ridiculous side LOL.

 

[JonoH]

Well I noticed this morning that the Clarisea was trickling again.
Alarm is yet to sound but I think it's just a matter of time. Despite cleaning it all up, this unit seems to be leaking or allowing water to escape in the same place as it was previously. Here's a few bad photos to show it, no idea how or why the water gets around the fleece but it's literally coming straight out of the gap in the white grille. So annoying.

Measured up for the Reefmat 1200 and I think I can squeeze it into the refugium slot without modification though she'll be tight.
Been wondering if I could get away with the Reefmat 500 despite it stating it's suitable for systems upto 500L (mine is around 780) as it states it's max flow is 6000lph.
I think my flow rate is hovering maybe somewhere around the 5300lph mark (Vectra M2 running at 70%) not factoring in plumbing/head height which may cause some reduction, but then I wonder if I'd be doing a disservice to the system in the long run should I ever need to up the flow rate for any reason OR if it really starts thriving and I add a heap more fish and coral it'll have a lot more work to do.

Bit unsure there as I don't really want to potentially limit myself and for an extra 40 bux it's probably not worth the headache of doing the smaller one (buy once, cry once kinda thing) but the 1200 is just so massive it's a bit on the ridiculous side LOL.

That must be frustrating!

I have the 1200 in my sump, had to do some mods to get it to fit properly (was originally set up for 6 socks!).
I love it, the rolls last close to 2 months - so not sure if the smaller ones you would need to change over more often?

 

[boogie79]

I had the same issue with the leaking (have the 1200). My husband and fish guy had to do a counter twist (one hold the top of the overflow pipe, while one tightened below). I have the 500 in my sump, had to remove the baffle but it's been fine.

 

[DarkReefer]

I had the same issue with the leaking (have the 1200). My husband and fish guy had to do a counter twist (one hold the top of the overflow pipe, while one tightened below). I have the 500 in my sump, had to remove the baffle but it's been fine.

Yeah this is effectively what I had to do. Just used a pair of pliers (with some paper towel folded over the pipe ends to minimize damage) to hold the top and then twisted the bottom as tight as I could.

That must be frustrating!

I have the 1200 in my sump, had to do some mods to get it to fit properly (was originally set up for 6 socks!).
I love it, the rolls last close to 2 months - so not sure if the smaller ones you would need to change over more often?

Yeah mate, driving us nuts.
Even the early hours this morning alarm went off as I suspected it would.

Was actually thinking this morning whether the SK5000 is actually undersize for the tank.
If I'm actually getting over 5000LPH turnover, then maybe that's why it's blowing out. That said it's weird that it never did it with the first 2 rolls, so I just don't get why it's changed part way through the 3rd. I don't think I've messed with the return pump and increased it during that time, but it's possible I did and have since forgotten about it as I do recall at some point wondering/thinking about the flow.
Initially thought maybe some algae was in there causing a blockage or something, but after cleaning it out and scrubbing everything with a toothbrush to get into the corners etc, you'd think it'd be plenty clean.

Might try and turn down the return pump a bit and see if that will help with the issue, at least then I don't have to go and buy a new roller straight away. Plus I can sell it off on FB or something without feeling guilty that it's broken if it fixes the issue

 

[DarkReefer]

So I turned the pump down Friday night to about 63% (from 70%) and it seems like the roller is operating properly again. Hasn't been flooding or setting off the alarm like previous so fingers crossed it stays that way!

Did a water change yesterday and drained the sump. Had to jam something under the float for the ATO as it was siphoning out to the UV and into the main sump where the pump for it sits (Once I realised what was happening I pulled the pump out to cancel the siphon that had started up).

I drained most of the sump using a normal pump then used the new wet/dry Vac for the remainder to try and suck out the detritus and man does it suck water fast. Within seconds the 20L barrel was full and in need or emptying. Pretty happy with it overall so will have to do that every so often now give the sump a clean out.
Next time I need to double check the water level before I start as I had to half guess using an old inaccurate mark I'd made previously lol.

Starting to think about some more additions to the tank.
I'd like some sand sifting gobies (hopefully 2) to keep the sand bed being turned over and I really need something for the aiptasia... they're starting to get a bit excessive even though I've hit a couple of spots with Aiptasia X equivalent before once or twice and they're still hanging about and back with a vengence.

Think a filefish will just die off once the aiptasia is gone, which I don't want. Can't really do berghia nudiebranch as they'll get picked off by the wrasse and possibly the red line cleaner shrimp so was thinking maybe a copper banded butterfly but I know these are considered 'expert' level fish because they're so tricky to feed and keep fat. I'd also like some more wrasse and maybe some chromis or something similar that'll just add to movement/community.
Would be good to potentially do a bunch at once so any new tank mate aggression is spread out and the existing fish aren't able to just target a single newbie.

 

[JonoH]

So I turned the pump down Friday night to about 63% (from 70%) and it seems like the roller is operating properly again. Hasn't been flooding or setting off the alarm like previous so fingers crossed it stays that way!

Did a water change yesterday and drained the sump. Had to jam something under the float for the ATO as it was siphoning out to the UV and into the main sump where the pump for it sits (Once I realised what was happening I pulled the pump out to cancel the siphon that had started up).

I drained most of the sump using a normal pump then used the new wet/dry Vac for the remainder to try and suck out the detritus and man does it suck water fast. Within seconds the 20L barrel was full and in need or emptying. Pretty happy with it overall so will have to do that every so often now give the sump a clean out.
Next time I need to double check the water level before I start as I had to half guess using an old inaccurate mark I'd made previously lol.

Starting to think about some more additions to the tank.
I'd like some sand sifting gobies (hopefully 2) to keep the sand bed being turned over and I really need something for the aiptasia... they're starting to get a bit excessive even though I've hit a couple of spots with Aiptasia X equivalent before once or twice and they're still hanging about and back with a vengence.

Think a filefish will just die off once the aiptasia is gone, which I don't want. Can't really do berghia nudiebranch as they'll get picked off by the wrasse and possibly the red line cleaner shrimp so was thinking maybe a copper banded butterfly but I know these are considered 'expert' level fish because they're so tricky to feed and keep fat. I'd also like some more wrasse and maybe some chromis or something similar that'll just add to movement/community.
Would be good to potentially do a bunch at once so any new tank mate aggression is spread out and the existing fish aren't able to just target a single newbie.

Have you tried peppermint shirmp?
I have always had about 10 in my tank (can only see about 2-3 at any given time as they hide away), and never had any aptasia that i have seen.

I had a copperband but it didnt last even though it seemed to be eating!

 

[DarkReefer]

Have you tried peppermint shirmp?
I have always had about 10 in my tank (can only see about 2-3 at any given time as they hide away), and never had any aptasia that i have seen.

I had a copperband but it didnt last even though it seemed to be eating!

Nah haven't tried those, don't wrasse or something eat the peppermint shrimp?
I heard they also eat corals though? (I know there was a reason I had dismissed these in the past though).
Might be a cheaper option to look at. The redline has been okay, but it's larger than a bunch of the fish I have plus I've heard that when shrimp have a purpose to the fish (ie. cleaning them) the fish tend to leave them be and they get along.

Could be something worth looking at though, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[JonoH]

Nah haven't tried those, don't wrasse or something eat the peppermint shrimp?
I heard they also eat corals though? (I know there was a reason I had dismissed these in the past though).
Might be a cheaper option to look at. The redline has been okay, but it's larger than a bunch of the fish I have plus I've heard that when shrimp have a purpose to the fish (ie. cleaning them) the fish tend to leave them be and they get along.

Could be something worth looking at though, thanks for the suggestion.

Havent had any issues with mine eating coral that i have noticed.

Not sure on wrasse though, i dont have any in my tank (yet...)

I have heard that they can be hit and miss on aptasia though, like they may eat them when they are small, but not the larger ones.

 

[DarkReefer]

Havent had any issues with mine eating coral that i have noticed.

Not sure on wrasse though, i dont have any in my tank (yet...)

I have heard that they can be hit and miss on aptasia though, like they may eat them when they are small, but not the larger ones.

Glad to hear you haven't had any issues.
Perhaps they might be worth a shot if I put them in over night perhaps. Let them scurry off into the crevices before the wrasse see them lol

I've got a few decent sized ones happening (around 1-2$ coin size) some possibly even getting around 20c piece size lol.

 

[DarkReefer]

Pretty big weekend for the tank.

So, Saturday morning at stupid o'clock I woke up once again to the Clarisea alarm going off, so I hit the alarm button and went back to bed. The joys...
Once I'd gotten up a few hours later I did some tests, this was mainly so I could see where the tank was sitting & compare my results against an ICP test I sent off on Thursday. It's the first ICP I've done on this tank so will be interesting to see.

Results came back similar to what they've been for a while, though mag and calcium need some work, I've bumped both the dosages on these up. Mag now getting about 200ml every day now but could probably go even higher tbh, can't believe how much mag this tank seems to soak up. Never had to chase it so much but I really need to work out at some point why it's happening, it's costing me a bunch trying to bump this up all the time. Perhaps I need to consider a different salt ? Idk...

Temp - 24.9
pH - 8.0
Nitrate - 13.3
Phosphate - 0.034
Salinity - 1.026
Alk - 8.7
Calcium - 370
Magnesium - 1245

Later that day I went to the LFS to have a look and picked up some new friends for the tank.
Came home with these awesome looking Orange Spot Goby pair. They're pretty big too and have already made a huge improvement to some of the sandbed (and moved some furniture around whilst they were at it!).

I also couldn't go past this little Mandarin Dragonet. Wasn't quite planning on one of these yet but it looked awesome and I couldn't help myself. I enquired with the LFS about whether my 8 month old tank would be likely to have enough food in there to keep it happy for a bit and they seemed to think there would be but I'd have to add some pods once a week or something at least to start with.

Took them home and floated the bags for 30 minutes and then started adding some water.
They took to their home well and the existing residents have all been nice. The cleaner wrasse enjoyed having a bit of a pick at everyone also and the sand sifters were later spotted opening up nice and wide to let the cleaner in and around their mouths/gills etc.

Had one moment where I was a little worried, the Dragonet was moving around near the power heads and seemed fine, getting close but then moving on. When I went back to check a few minutes later, it was like it had been sucked in and was resting awkwardly against the grille. I got my hand in there straight away and was able to dislodge the little guy without much issue and it swam away all happy as if nothing had happened.
Wasn't about to have that happen again, so I managed to dig out the mp40 foam covers that come with the units and cleaned them up and placed them back over the power heads. At least now it should muffle some of the drag into them and the little guy has no risk of being sucked through it.

Chucked a bunch of frozen mysis/brine shrimp in there also to try and get everyone to feed. Whilst I saw the dragonet picking at the glass a little here and there I didn't see it eat any of the shrimp yet. The Sandsifters also hadn't eaten any just yet also but I think they were still settling in the tank.


Next day I went out to another LFS that had some copepods in stock and picked up 2L of them along with some phyto. I also got myself the Reefmat 1200 and we also picked up another friend, a nice looking Copperband.

Acclimated the copperband and attempted to give it some brine/mysis shrimp also whilst it was in the bag so it had no competition but didn't seem all that fussed. Once it was ready I added it to the tank and again no aggression from any fish thankfully and it was off and swimming around checking the new digs out.
Seems to be picking away at something here and there, hopefully today it gets stuck into some of the aiptasia, there's plenty for it to eat LOL.

Whilst the fish was acclimating I was busy setting up the reefmat.
Feels like such a nicer and easier unit to use. Setup was a little slow as I was making sure I was doing things properly and trying to learn it all but I think changing out the roll in future will be such an easier time compared to the Clarisea. Seems to go through a bit of material though (so far apparently 1.37m since around 2.30-3pm yesterday).
The motor is much louder than the Clarisea, but honestly as long as it works well and I don't cop stupid alarms I don't care.

Had to reshuffle where I had the filter and where I had the 'refugium' so it could fit without removing baffles etc. I know it's not quite ideal as there's minimal flow where the fuge is now but it's what I've got to work with.

Looking forward to seeing how everything goes.
Really hoping all the fish settle in nicely and can be long time residents of the tank as they each bring a bunch of character.

 

[JonoH]

Pretty big weekend for the tank.

So, Saturday morning at stupid o'clock I woke up once again to the Clarisea alarm going off, so I hit the alarm button and went back to bed. The joys...
Once I'd gotten up a few hours later I did some tests, this was mainly so I could see where the tank was sitting & compare my results against an ICP test I sent off on Thursday. It's the first ICP I've done on this tank so will be interesting to see.

Results came back similar to what they've been for a while, though mag and calcium need some work, I've bumped both the dosages on these up. Mag now getting about 200ml every day now but could probably go even higher tbh, can't believe how much mag this tank seems to soak up. Never had to chase it so much but I really need to work out at some point why it's happening, it's costing me a bunch trying to bump this up all the time. Perhaps I need to consider a different salt ? Idk...

Temp - 24.9
pH - 8.0
Nitrate - 13.3
Phosphate - 0.034
Salinity - 1.026
Alk - 8.7
Calcium - 370
Magnesium - 1245

Later that day I went to the LFS to have a look and picked up some new friends for the tank.
Came home with these awesome looking Orange Spot Goby pair. They're pretty big too and have already made a huge improvement to some of the sandbed (and moved some furniture around whilst they were at it!).

I also couldn't go past this little Mandarin Dragonet. Wasn't quite planning on one of these yet but it looked awesome and I couldn't help myself. I enquired with the LFS about whether my 8 month old tank would be likely to have enough food in there to keep it happy for a bit and they seemed to think there would be but I'd have to add some pods once a week or something at least to start with.

Took them home and floated the bags for 30 minutes and then started adding some water.
They took to their home well and the existing residents have all been nice. The cleaner wrasse enjoyed having a bit of a pick at everyone also and the sand sifters were later spotted opening up nice and wide to let the cleaner in and around their mouths/gills etc.

Had one moment where I was a little worried, the Dragonet was moving around near the power heads and seemed fine, getting close but then moving on. When I went back to check a few minutes later, it was like it had been sucked in and was resting awkwardly against the grille. I got my hand in there straight away and was able to dislodge the little guy without much issue and it swam away all happy as if nothing had happened.
Wasn't about to have that happen again, so I managed to dig out the mp40 foam covers that come with the units and cleaned them up and placed them back over the power heads. At least now it should muffle some of the drag into them and the little guy has no risk of being sucked through it.

Chucked a bunch of frozen mysis/brine shrimp in there also to try and get everyone to feed. Whilst I saw the dragonet picking at the glass a little here and there I didn't see it eat any of the shrimp yet. The Sandsifters also hadn't eaten any just yet also but I think they were still settling in the tank.


Next day I went out to another LFS that had some copepods in stock and picked up 2L of them along with some phyto. I also got myself the Reefmat 1200 and we also picked up another friend, a nice looking Copperband.

Acclimated the copperband and attempted to give it some brine/mysis shrimp also whilst it was in the bag so it had no competition but didn't seem all that fussed. Once it was ready I added it to the tank and again no aggression from any fish thankfully and it was off and swimming around checking the new digs out.
Seems to be picking away at something here and there, hopefully today it gets stuck into some of the aiptasia, there's plenty for it to eat LOL.

Whilst the fish was acclimating I was busy setting up the reefmat.
Feels like such a nicer and easier unit to use. Setup was a little slow as I was making sure I was doing things properly and trying to learn it all but I think changing out the roll in future will be such an easier time compared to the Clarisea. Seems to go through a bit of material though (so far apparently 1.37m since around 2.30-3pm yesterday).
The motor is much louder than the Clarisea, but honestly as long as it works well and I don't cop stupid alarms I don't care.

Had to reshuffle where I had the filter and where I had the 'refugium' so it could fit without removing baffles etc. I know it's not quite ideal as there's minimal flow where the fuge is now but it's what I've got to work with.

Looking forward to seeing how everything goes.
Really hoping all the fish settle in nicely and can be long time residents of the tank as they each bring a bunch of character.

Nice!
I am keen to add in some Goby's also, but wonder how much sand they will drop on the coral?
Keep us posted on how they go.

Did you drop the feed rate of the Reefmatt down on the app - that will help lower the usage - you can also by the replacement rolls of Ali Express for less than half the price in AUS.

 

[DarkReefer]

Nice!
I am keen to add in some Goby's also, but wonder how much sand they will drop on the coral?
Keep us posted on how they go.

Did you drop the feed rate of the Reefmatt down on the app - that will help lower the usage - you can also by the replacement rolls of Ali Express for less than half the price in AUS.

They definitely will a bit, so I'll no doubt have to do some maintenance blow off here and there with a turkey baster or something. I already had one Rhodactis that I had sitting on the sand on a frag plug that went missing. Spent a few minutes sifting my fingers through a sand mound they made (where it used to be) before I found it had been completely kicked out of the way and was under a Nepthea coral so I moved it to another spot lol.

I dropped it slightly, but might consider doing it some more. I think I dropped it to 2-2.5. instead of the 3-3.5cm it was set at originally. Don't necessarily want it going off all the time but don't want to burn through the rolls either so will find a happy medium eventually!

Thanks for the tip I'll have to check it out.
Was thinking about whether my clarisea spare roll would work but it looks like there's a 2cm difference between the width of the two so I think I'm out of luck!