MY FIRST SUMP!! 85 gsllon Cade 900 build

[phillyb614]

I officially have a THIRD tank! Say hello to my 85 gallon Cade 900. Has a 25 gallon Fiji Cube sump. Since I already have a build thread going for my 40 gallon Innovative Marine, I will be using this as my build thread for my newest toy.

I purchased it through FB marketplace for an AMAZING deal! The tank had already been running for 5 months and had already been cycled. The owner went above and beyond on delivering. The rock and sand was all brought over in tank water to keep all the bacteria alive. Also brought tons of buckets of water. Which was great because I only had had time to make 40 gallons of new saltwater.

Yes, this is my first sump. My first 2 tanks are both AIOs. Very excited about all possibilities that come with having a sump. I had to redo some of the plumbing to get it up and running, but was successful and have not had any leaks (KNOCK ON WOOD).

I am planning to put my clowns (my biggest and most dear to me fish) from my 20 gallon cube in this tank. Think they will love it! I will be transferring their toadstool leather home along with them.

Unfortunately, even though the tank is definitely done cycling, I am dealing with very high nitrate readings (40 ppm). I did about a 40% water change today, went through the entire sand bed, and they are still reading pretty high. Maybe I tested the water too soon after the WC? Only waited about 45 minutes. Thoughts?

Clearly plenty of equipment still needs purchased, and there will be plenty of updates coming soon. But here is what the tank currently looks like with it’s way undersized light (on only for pictures).

 

[C12]

looks good, can't wait to see what you do with it!

 

[phillyb614]

looks good, can't wait to see what you do with it!

Thank you! I can’t wait either lol

 

[phillyb614]

After several large water changes, I was finally able to get the nitrates to a level (15 ppm) I felt comfortable with, to place my clowns and their host coral (toadstool) in the Cade this evening. They just received a serious upgrade imo. I have had these clowns longer than any other fish. They just went from my 20 gallon to this 85 gallon.

 

[phillyb614]

Been several changes on the Cade 900 in the past several days.

First, I moved my file fish out of my 20 gallon cube and into the Cade. He is DEFINITELY enjoying roaming around in this larger tank. Plus I think the clowns were happy to see a familiar face and vise versa.

My toadstool/clown’s home, kept coming detached from from the rock a tried gluing it to. So, I resorted to rubber banding it. Hopefully will attach itself in a few weeks. Good thing is, it doesn’t look like it’s dealing with any infection after I cut it off the rock it was on in the 20 that was covered in GHA.

I also got a great deal on a skimmer on FB marketplace. It’s an Octo Classic 110-INT. It appears to already be dialed in and is pulling all kinds of loveliness out of the water. Couldn’t have come at a better time with the livestock creeping up. Everything being handled great by the bio filter though. All parameters looking great except for nitrates are at about 40 ppm. Doing a small water change tomorrow to help with this as well.

Last, but most certainly not least, my Wife pulled the trigger on a fish she had been dreaming of. We picked up a Pink Square Anthias. I was absolutely nervous as hell about getting this fish. So far, everything has been going really well with this fish. No aggression, it’s already eating, it’s swimming around the tank, etc. Man, what a beautiful fish!