Brian Mountain
Active Member
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2015
- Messages
- 310
- Reaction score
- 262
Need feedback on SCA aquarium
- Thread starter Brian Mountain
- Start date
- Tagged users None
jeepsehawk
New Member
Have a 24g up now, 1.5 months and no problems. Still early but happy, was out of saltwater for 22 years and this seemed like a good entry tank.
TheEngineer
Formerly icecool2
I have that exact setup. I'm very happy with it.
$100 cheaper from Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HY...+aquarium&dpPl=1&dpID=313qj3RjFkL&ref=plSrch#
$100 cheaper from Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HY...+aquarium&dpPl=1&dpID=313qj3RjFkL&ref=plSrch#
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
jent
Active Member
I have the 66gal. You can see my build here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/jents-66gal-cubish.193341/
My thoughts in general:
* Tank itself is good, well built, silicone is clean. Back has some small airbubbles, but they don't bother me that much, and eventually I may remove the vinyl and paint it as an alternative, easy change.
* When I got mine the holes were drilled in metric, causing issues. There was also only two holes, so in order to do herbie I ran a pipe over the back. In general I think it's pretty clean, and I was able to expand the holes to get them to work for my needs. That said, I hear they very recently have improved this in the absolute latest models...but I don't know if they just have three holes, or if they are still metric, or what. Either way, I think the plumbing it came with would never satisfy me. The return pump as an example was SUPER loud, so loud I was not able to last even a couple weeks without replacing it.
* MDF stand is crap. You can see I tried to do lots to get mine to last. So far so good, but I would not feel confident without the modifications I made.
* Not super happy with how the sump was laid out. I changed it, but still not fully happy. I likely will end up doing something to improve this here again in the future.
* Skimmer it comes with is just okay. It lasted me probably about 9 months before I decided to upgrade. It worked better at the start, but over time it seemed to be really hard to tune. I replaced it with a vertex 130 omega, and am taken back by how intensely better it is
Despite having to expand the holes, use my own plumbing, modify the stand, replace the return pump, replace the skimmer...I have no regrets. The reality is that it allowed me to help spread out those costs. Allowing me to wait to get a skimmer I really want. The only thing I felt I had to buy at the start was the plumbing and a new return pump (it really was THAT LOUD). I had gotten out of the hobby for a couple years at the time, so I was starting completely from scratch.
If I were to do it _now_, I would get just the tank.
My thoughts in general:
* Tank itself is good, well built, silicone is clean. Back has some small airbubbles, but they don't bother me that much, and eventually I may remove the vinyl and paint it as an alternative, easy change.
* When I got mine the holes were drilled in metric, causing issues. There was also only two holes, so in order to do herbie I ran a pipe over the back. In general I think it's pretty clean, and I was able to expand the holes to get them to work for my needs. That said, I hear they very recently have improved this in the absolute latest models...but I don't know if they just have three holes, or if they are still metric, or what. Either way, I think the plumbing it came with would never satisfy me. The return pump as an example was SUPER loud, so loud I was not able to last even a couple weeks without replacing it.
* MDF stand is crap. You can see I tried to do lots to get mine to last. So far so good, but I would not feel confident without the modifications I made.
* Not super happy with how the sump was laid out. I changed it, but still not fully happy. I likely will end up doing something to improve this here again in the future.
* Skimmer it comes with is just okay. It lasted me probably about 9 months before I decided to upgrade. It worked better at the start, but over time it seemed to be really hard to tune. I replaced it with a vertex 130 omega, and am taken back by how intensely better it is
Despite having to expand the holes, use my own plumbing, modify the stand, replace the return pump, replace the skimmer...I have no regrets. The reality is that it allowed me to help spread out those costs. Allowing me to wait to get a skimmer I really want. The only thing I felt I had to buy at the start was the plumbing and a new return pump (it really was THAT LOUD). I had gotten out of the hobby for a couple years at the time, so I was starting completely from scratch.
If I were to do it _now_, I would get just the tank.
