Question To All The Salty Sponsers Of Ovas And Members

[jamilism]

Hey Guys

I recently started on working a  Fluval Edge 12 Gallon ... tank has finally cycled - went to Le Niche and grabbed 8 Cardinal Tetras - 3 assorted guppies and 6 pearl dianos ... with a few live plants. Tanks been going great and water parameters are extremely well

Now on to the salt water section :

My wife has been bugging about the "NEMO" fish - i explained clowns dont do well in freshwater and she shows interest in actually letting me keep some. So the journey and research starts on saltwater - i have been reading on saltwater for almost 2 years and have a fair idea ... my questions is

Between the new Fluval Marine / Cad Light and Innovative Marine tanks - which one would you choose - all in one kits to save me the trouble ! I looked at RSM 250 - but no led was the deal breaker !

Who carries these ? Do you have one in stock or display - i think i saw one at Le Niche but didn get much chance to look at it in details as the store was closing but Marc Andre was kind enought to let us ina n buy my fishes as my kids looked and questioned.

[Stussi613]

I personally have the CADLights 8g tank and I love it.  I haven't seen the specs on the Fuval Marine yet, but I'm familiar with the IM Nuvo series from reading on nano-reef and they are also quite popular.  I like that they have add on options you can put into them (like InTank media baskets) but don't like that they don't actually come with lights.  Allot of reefers that use them either use the AI Nano lights (2x-3x the cost of the tank) or they use something like an AI Sol, or Radion fixture which is even more expensive.

I'm running the stock CADLights reef lights with 2 additional Ecoxotic EcoPico 453nm strips added to it and my corals are flourishing.  All I had to add to the tank was a heater (>$20).  The lights I added were optional to give a little more pop to things and to create a staged lighting effect where the strips come on at 6am, then main lights come on at 2pm and go off at 10pm and the strips go off at midnight.  All in I think the two strips, adapter and splitter were less than $100.

I find the CADLights has more bang for the buck and you could get a decent used controller and some other goodies for the price you'd have to pay to add lights to the IM.

The only thing I didn't touch on before, and I'm saying this from experience, is that you can't keep clowns long term in a tank under 10g, and you can't keep two of them, long term, in anything under the 18G.  I have two Picasso Clowns in my 8g that are growing out and they are trying to sort out which will morph into the female.  And they fight.  Like crazy.  And one of them doesn't really have anywhere to go to get away from it.

I think there are a few places in town that stock the CADLights tanks, but I've never seen the IM Nuvo's in stock here.

One thing I'll point out is that you're timing on setting up Saltwater is great, Albert Thiel has a great book on setting up nano tanks, which we have in the library, and he's actually our resident saltwater expert on the site.  If you go to the form dedicated to asking him questions he'll answer you pretty quickly and guide you along the way.

[jamilism]

Hey Stu

Thanks for shinning some light on the topic

Marc Andre from Le Niche spoke highly about CADLight tanks - apparantly they are a bit expensive compared to the Fluval Marine but the overall quality of the product is good. Now having heard that - i couldnt mind spending some time with Google and his search buddies  . Turns out many people had reported tank leakage or tank cracking ... now i am sure only those who rants or complains takes the time to post these - no one talks about the tank running great with "no cracks" but since the tank will be on the 2nd floor with carpet as the base - i am worried if down the link the tank gives up. These things are luck of the draw and i understand.

Innovative Marine tanks are awesome - the skimmer and other equipments they sell are very good - however same drill - many reported tank failing after 6 months [nano-reef / reef builders]. Cause of the issue - shipping - when not delievered on frieght - shippers like UPS or FEDEx really goes out all the way to make sure the package shakes enough. IM has been kinds enough with exchanged tanks but so far only in the USA. I have any US address in Ogdensberg but scared about buying tanks there - deals on some these at marinedepot are amazing. The 24 G version is a piece of art !

Fluval as a brand seems to be rated as low or mid range grade - however i believe they have come a long way and so far with my edge and its led probs - i had amazing customer service from them - replacement led came in 4 business days. It seems they dont have much reviews online regarding the tank and i like to read up befoer commiting to any purchase (where possible). Fluval marine comes in three sizes wit skimmer - led lights - cabinet just to name a few. I would however certainly change the lights to leds and get hyrdro wave controller kit.


We shall see how this journey takes me ..

And yesh i already purchased a ebook version of that said book ... amazing book with a lot of info !

I personally have the CADLights 8g tank and I love it.  I haven't seen the specs on the Fuval Marine yet, but I'm familiar with the IM Nuvo series from reading on nano-reef and they are also quite popular.  I like that they have add on options you can put into them (like InTank media baskets) but don't like that they don't actually come with lights.  Allot of reefers that use them either use the AI Nano lights (2x-3x the cost of the tank) or they use something like an AI Sol, or Radion fixture which is even more expensive.

I'm running the stock CADLights reef lights with 2 additional Ecoxotic EcoPico 453nm strips added to it and my corals are flourishing.  All I had to add to the tank was a heater (>$20).  The lights I added were optional to give a little more pop to things and to create a staged lighting effect where the strips come on at 6am, then main lights come on at 2pm and go off at 10pm and the strips go off at midnight.  All in I think the two strips, adapter and splitter were less than $100.

I find the CADLights has more bang for the buck and you could get a decent used controller and some other goodies for the price you'd have to pay to add lights to the IM.

The only thing I didn't touch on before, and I'm saying this from experience, is that you can't keep clowns long term in a tank under 10g, and you can't keep two of them, long term, in anything under the 18G.  I have two Picasso Clowns in my 8g that are growing out and they are trying to sort out which will morph into the female.  And they fight.  Like crazy.  And one of them doesn't really have anywhere to go to get away from it.

I think there are a few places in town that stock the CADLights tanks, but I've never seen the IM Nuvo's in stock here.

One thing I'll point out is that you're timing on setting up Saltwater is great, Albert Thiel has a great book on setting up nano tanks, which we have in the library, and he's actually our resident saltwater expert on the site.  If you go to the form dedicated to asking him questions he'll answer you pretty quickly and guide you along the way.

[Stussi613]

Hey Stu

Thanks for shinning some light on the topic

...
Now having heard that - i couldnt mind spending some time with Google and his search buddies  . Turns out many people had reported tank leakage or tank cracking ... now i am sure only those who rants or complains takes the time to post these - no one talks about the tank running great with "no cracks" but since the tank will be on the 2nd floor with carpet as the base - i am worried if down the link the tank gives up. These things are luck of the draw and i understand.

Innovative Marine tanks are awesome - the skimmer and other equipments they sell are very good - however same drill - many reported tank failing after 6 months [nano-reef / reef builders]. Cause of the issue - shipping - when not delievered on frieght - shippers like UPS or FEDEx really goes out all the way to make sure the package shakes enough. IM has been kinds enough with exchanged tanks but so far only in the USA. I have any US address in Ogdensberg but scared about buying tanks there - deals on some these at marinedepot are amazing. The 24 G version is a piece of art !

In terms of CADLights, the breakage problems were usually shipping related and the issues with sealing were on the early models and have been addressed.  I have a build thread on OVAS about my 8g and I'm pretty sure I posted in there that I had a problem with my tank and the distributor for Canada is local to Ottawa/Gatineau and replaced the tank, no questions asked, a few months after I purchased it.  I also know that he gets shipments directly and checks all the tanks for damage when they come in.  I couldn't be any happier with the quality of mine, and it's been running since May without issue. 

As I said, I've seen lots of info on the IM Nuvo's but I don't know anyone that actually has one in Canada and I would be really nervous about having to go to Ogdensberg to replace one if it broke in shipping, then having to go back again if there were further problems.

[jamilism]

I was not aware of CADlight having local distributer in Ottawa/Gat area

Did you end up getting all the addon from the same company for your tank ? I have to research you build. Who did you end up getting the tank from ?

On the IM - yeah i would not fancy driving to ogdenburg to get a replaced tank either !

In terms of CADLights, the breakage problems were usually shipping related and the issues with sealing were on the early models and have been addressed.  I have a build thread on OVAS about my 8g and I'm pretty sure I posted in there that I had a problem with my tank and the distributor for Canada is local to Ottawa/Gatineau and replaced the tank, no questions asked, a few months after I purchased it.  I also know that he gets shipments directly and checks all the tanks for damage when they come in.  I couldn't be any happier with the quality of mine, and it's been running since May without issue. 

As I said, I've seen lots of info on the IM Nuvo's but I don't know anyone that actually has one in Canada and I would be really nervous about having to go to Ogdensberg to replace one if it broke in shipping, then having to go back again if there were further problems.

[Greatwhite]

I've seen a lot of success with CAD Lights, and some sponsors carry them - and/or can order them in easily.

Fluval... You'd probably have a better chance of finding them at a big chain store of some sort, overpriced...  I've drooled over many Fluval brand nanos at Petsmart...  If I was going fresh, I'd start up a Fluval Chi system - very cool.