100g SCA First time reefer!

[Dmsick]

So I'm finally getting the tank wet! RODI is going in as I type this. I thought it would never happen. The plumbing took me forever. I made about 400 trips to Home Depot as well as having to reorder a few items that weren't available locally. I built a manifold and ended up not including it in the current plumbing. I don't have any reactors to add yet anyway. I know how I can add it later so I'm hanging on to it. I initially ordered Hawaiian Black sand but after further reading decided it might not be the best so i got another 40 lbs of Caribsea Aragonite instead. Once I'm sure it's not leaking I'll fire up the pump!. I picked up a used Apex which came today. I haven't had a chance to spend anytime with it. Hopefully it works!

 

[Nate77]

Looking good would sure love to see a pic of that pitcus.

 

[Dmsick]

Looking good would sure love to see a pic of that pitcus.

He's so funny. Most of the time he hangs out in a cave but if I try to take a picture he won't stop moving. I never use a flash so it's not the light. Anyway, best I can do.

 

[Nate77]

Nice look at those whiskers ,always liked those cats

 

[Benoit Martin]

Nice build, love how clean your stand looks.

What's your impression of the SCA so far? I'm looking to buy the 120 as a first time reefer but I have seen a few threads either complaining about the build quality or saying that their low-iron glass is not much clearer than regular glass.
Since you have another tank, I am assuming that you can do side-by-side comparison on clarity.

 

[Dmsick]

Nice build, love how clean your stand looks.

What's your impression of the SCA so far? I'm looking to buy the 120 as a first time reefer but I have seen a few threads either complaining about the build quality or saying that their low-iron glass is not much clearer than regular glass.
Since you have another tank, I am assuming that you can do side-by-side comparison on clarity.

I'll have to get back to you in a day or so. It'll be full tomorrow so I can compare the clarity. Otherwise, I'm pretty impressed. The tank looks well built. The silicone looks perfect. It shipped quickly and came very well packed. There is a facebook group for SCA with tons of posts detailing excellent customer service. That made me feel pretty comfortable that any problem that might develop would be taken care of. The price is hard to beat.

 

[Dmsick]

It's wet! Everything works with no leaks, woohoo! Salinity and temp are good. Now I'm starting to work on the scape. Since I've never done this before I'm a little unsure of height . I don't think this is too tall but would love to have some feedback please. I have the other side roughed out in the garage and will put it in the tank this afternoon if I don't need to make changes. I picked up one piece of live rock from a LFS yesterday to help kickstart the cycle.

 

[Dmsick]

Progress is slow. Rocks and sand are in. I'm mostly happy with the rockscape. I need a little more sand. I put in 40lbs but there are still some bare areas in the back so I had to order another bag. I have an Apex controller coming so I'll be able to get the wires cleaned up inside the stand. I'm heading to Ace hardware this am to pick up some ammonia so I can kick off the cycle. Then I'll be able to hurry up and wait!

 

[Dmsick]

Nice build, love how clean your stand looks.

What's your impression of the SCA so far? I'm looking to buy the 120 as a first time reefer but I have seen a few threads either complaining about the build quality or saying that their low-iron glass is not much clearer than regular glass.
Since you have another tank, I am assuming that you can do side-by-side comparison on clarity.

I took this pic of the tank today. The one I posted earlier was still a little cloudy after adding the rock and sand. It's much clearer today and I can say that the glass is much clearer than my other tank which is not Starfire or low iron glass.

 

[Benoit Martin]

I took this pic of the tank today. The one I posted earlier was still a little cloudy after adding the rock and sand. It's much clearer today and I can say that the glass is much clearer than my other tank which is not Starfire or low iron glass.

Thank you for following up. The tank does look great and this makes me feel better about SCA.

I can't wait to start my journey. I still need to save up more so I can start purchasing everything I need to get started.

I'll keep following your build thread and looking forward to your first fish

 

[Dmsick]

Update! She's making nitrites! Ok I know it's just a little but at least I know things are starting to cycle. Now I just have to hurry up and wait some more haha.

 

[Bentonb]

Did you add any bacteria to help speed up your cycle? or are you going the tried and true old fashioned way?

 

[Dmsick]

Did you add any bacteria to help speed up your cycle? or are you going the tried and true old fashioned way?

I have one piece of live rock and added live sand (if it's actually live). I didn't add any bottled bacteria.

 

[Bentonb]

I have one piece of live rock and added live sand (if it's actually live). I didn't add any bottled bacteria.

Very cool, I plan on starting a tank up within the next month or so, my current plan is live sand, dry rock, and bottled bacteria, I hate waiting for the cycle too.

 

[Dmsick]

Things have been moving slowly. The tank is cycling. Last ammonia dose was wiped out in 8 hours or so. Nitrites are still high though so waiting for that to come down so I can add some snails. My light arrived so I was able to get it installed. My Apex came last week so it is up and running. The most fun thing is the arrival of a pair of saddleback clowns! They're in QT but so far look very happy and healthy. Pics are hard to get since they don't stop moving much!

 

[Barrett]

Everything is looking good, love the clowns.

 

[Dmsick]

Everything is looking good, love the clowns.

Thanks!

 

[Dmsick]

I thought this day would never come (how's that for an inpatient reefer haha?). Now I have to decide about some livestock. I have 2 clowns in QT. I've had them almost 2 weeks and they seem to be doing fine. They got their second dose of Prazipro yesterday. They eat really well and seem to be fine. I'm nervous about treating with copper. I've seen no signs of illness but they came from Petco so I feel certain they've been exposed to something nasty. In another couple days, I'll do a water change and start copper. I'm not sure where to go from there with my fish list. I'd like to add ( in no particular order) kole, tomini or powder brown tang, maybe some chromis, foxface, and maybe a small angel or a bigger angel if there is one that would be ok in my 100g tank. Any thoughts?

 

[Dmsick]

So I’ve got what I think are diatoms. They were starting to get pretty heavy so I turned off the lights for the last two days. I added some snails last week. I got 4 Nassarius, 4 Nerites, a handful of dwarf Ceriths and 3 Florida ceriths. Unfortunately the Floridas were all DOA. The Neritea are diatom eating machines. I need a few more. The Nassarius are pretty cool too. I’ve been feeding them a shrimp pellet every couple days since I don’t have any fish in with them yet.
My clowns are in week 2 of quarantine. I finished prazipro did a water change and started cupramine today. I just gave them their evening feeding and they ate like pigs so I don’t see any evidence of appetite suppression.
One of my clowns sometimes does this thing where he turns flips against the side or the bottom of the tank. I’m not sure if he is just being crazy or if he is itching. I have not seen any signs of anything on his flesh. He does not do it all the time. In fact I haven’t seen him do it for several days. I was able to get video of him doing it once but he stopped after that. He probably did it five or six times before I did the video however.

 

[Dmsick]

Here is my tank as it stands today. My snails are working away at the diatoms. The one piece of live rock I started with has a bunch of hair algae on it as well. There is one big turbo snail who basically stays on that rock and seems to be cleaning up the algae on it. My nitrates have still been running pretty high. They were 40ppm yesterday. I did a large water change which brought them down to 20. I cut back on the lights for a couple days as well to help with the diatoms and hair algae. I have some chaeto in my refugium which might be growing. I don't think it's dying. I'm going to see how the nitrates do for the next couple days. If they don't drop then I'll do another large water change.

My skimmer is running and has some brown gunk in the neck but only tea colored water in the collection cup. I'm guessing it doesn't have a lot to pull out yet since there aren't that many critters and not much food. I'm really not sure how to fine tune it at this point. It's a SCA 302 that came with my tank. I feel like I might want to upgrade it but not sure if I really need to. I'm afraid cleaning it is going to be a huge pain because the collection cup seems like it doesn't detach for cleaning.
My clowns have a week and a half until they finish cupramine.

I feel like I'm about ready to add some corals. I really like zoas and scans. Anyone have any suggestions?

Am I missing anything?