SC Aquariums 50 gallon PNP

[Why-Me]

When I bought my used apex from the guy (seasoned reefer) he told me nothing good happens fast in this hobby as well as enjoy watching your tank grow out while you can, don't be in a hurry, once it's full there's nothing left but maintenance and fragging. Especially in a tank our size, doesn't take long to fill out and then you looking to replace or upgrade bigger or get another tank.
And lastly I'm currently disabled so my monthly income is likely your weekly take home...Things don't happen quickly around here.
These things I believe are going to help me as a reefer because I have pretty darn good patience mixed with tempered expectations.
Everything has trade offs...I may be another month behind setting this tank up because the local ISP just dropped fiber in the ground but it's going to cost me $500 to get the line buried to my house and hooked up.
As much as I want my tank set up, I'd rather get rid of this 6Mbps DSL on an exhausted line for 1oodown/50up and then get everything set up.
Also taking the extra month may help me gather some extra things I've overlooked in the initial setup of this tank.
I'll shut up now. LOL

 

[Why-Me]

I love your tank it looks great and inspires me to keep going, can't wait to see what all these 50 cubes look like after a year or 6 months. It will be interesting and cool.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

When I bought my used apex from the guy (seasoned reefer) he told me nothing good happens fast in this hobby as well as enjoy watching your tank grow out while you can, don't be in a hurry, once it's full there's nothing left but maintenance and fragging. Especially in a tank our size, doesn't take long to fill out and then you looking to replace or upgrade bigger or get another tank.
And lastly I'm currently disabled so my monthly income is likely your weekly take home...Things don't happen quickly around here.
These things I believe are going to help me as a reefer because I have pretty darn good patience mixed with tempered expectations.
Everything has trade offs...I may be another month behind setting this tank up because the local ISP just dropped fiber in the ground but it's going to cost me $500 to get the line buried to my house and hooked up.
As much as I want my tank set up, I'd rather get rid of this 6Mbps DSL on an exhausted line for 1oodown/50up and then get everything set up.
Also taking the extra month may help me gather some extra things I've overlooked in the initial setup of this tank.
I'll shut up now. LOL

Hey man you don't ever have to shut up. This is MY build thread. You post as much as you want! Without your comments my build thread would be just me and the crickets for the most part. With @Hemmdog and @Sod Buster and maybe a couple of others stopping by once and a while.

Man I guess I take certain things for granted. We have 200mbps down here as the lowest package internet. Uses DOCSIS3.1 I believe, so we are able to get these speeds over coaxial. I lived in the country for the first 25 years of my life or so. When mobile broadband became a thing I was truly impressed we could get "high" speed internet that was faster than the 14.4kbps that our 56k modem would get over dial-up. When Line of Sight high speed internet became available I happily signed my mom up to pay $120 for 20mbps down. Was great, the company eventually started charging more for less speed though.

I've thought about what I am going to do once I get the next shipment of coral. Think I will let things grow out for a while. Eventually when it starts getting full I may start changing out some of the lower end frags for these crazy looking ones. Not sure it's worth it as lots of these are $200+, some much higher.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I love your tank it looks great and inspires me to keep going, can't wait to see what all these 50 cubes look like after a year or 6 months. It will be interesting and cool.

Thank you. Maybe one day once I start fragging I can send you a box of frags on me. Let's hope I get to that point with my reef.

This little guy looks like it's enjoying it's new home. Moved it off the sand earlier this week after the goby almost buried it in the sand.



My Sunny D and vivid rainbow paly each have like 3 polyps open. Pretty excited about that. I wonder how sellers get one big polyp. Is this just fragged off a colony this big?

Also my Sunny D and Vivd rainbow look exactly the same to me. I honestly think I got 2 of the same paly/zoa. I still like them though.

 

[Why-Me]

Use this 50 as learning curve to be able to keep those beautiful high end corals you want in your next tank. Another great reason to plan out and visualize your next tank's aquascape, fish and corals.

 

[Why-Me]

Everything definitely looks happy.
That would be cool.
I had a few vendors offer me couple free frags at the frag swap last year for helping out.
I'll give em a shout out if I can find the business card. They were great vendor with beautiful corals and nems.

 

[mattzang]

I'm impressed with how much self control most of you guys and gals on R2R have. Especially @Why-Me. I mean I contemplated cutting a water hose since I didn't have any flexible return tubing and I had to wait for home depot or lowes to open the next morning haha. My setup was wet within hours of it arriving.

I guess I'm kind of impressed with my self control also. Both vendors more or less told me it was up to me but they advised against shipping out my corals. I was completely OK with it. I have plenty of corals already to keep me busy lol. For now I will just synthesize my own happiness. Google synthesize happiness TED talk. Good video by the way.

idk if it's self control so much... lol but i just hate to spend $30 on shipping something that's ony $9, so in my mind i have to make it right and add more, then suddenly i'm spending a lot of money

plus like why-me mentioned, once the tank starts filling up, it gets easier to say no. i have a bunch of corals that i'm like ehhh if that died i wouldn't mind. gotta clear up space!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Oh yeah see a little bit of Alk consumption now. @NY_Caveman. I can't even imagine a 2dKH drop per day. How much are you dosing?

I dose 54 ml over 12 doses per day into 35 actual gallons. I have to raise the dosing amount every week just to hold 7 dKH.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I dose 54 ml over 12 doses per day into 35 actual gallons. I have to raise the dosing amount every week just to hold 7 dKH.

Crazy, any thought on adding a calcium reactor at this point?

 

[mattzang]

I dose 54 ml over 12 doses per day into 35 actual gallons. I have to raise the dosing amount every week just to hold 7 dKH.

evil coralline!

 

[Sod Buster]

The guys cut those big ones out of the middle like a surgeon. Actually use a scalpel. Then iodine dip, glue it to a plug and watch it a for a week, then $25 in pocket. Looking good. My girlfriend got all wet wondering where that tulip farm you visited was? That will be so much cheaper than a Dutch vacation. Just I won't get a tour of a 400 year old windmill in Texas.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

The guys cut those big ones out of the middle like a surgeon. Actually use a scalpel. Then iodine dip, glue it to a plug and watch it a for a week, then $25 in pocket. Looking good. My girlfriend got all wet wondering where that tulip farm you visited was? That will be so much cheaper than a Dutch vacation. Just I won't get a tour of a 400 year old windmill in Texas.

Here is thier website. https://texas-tulips.com. It's a little north of Dallas, like 45 minutes to an hour. There is a tulip season so make sure to go when they are blooming or whatever. We got lucky and just so happened to go at the right time I guess. Lol.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

So I was thinking I know what likely caused my nitrate to go up and my red slime algea to grow more. I think I am skimming too dry!

This was after a week. No bueno.


No biggie though, I'll just bump up the water level a bit.

 

[Sod Buster]

Thanks man. That skimmer cup looks like a good start to Texas tea in a few era if you dump it in the yard. That is a little dry. Don't just bump the level up, think about what you changed to make it lose head foam. Fed a new food, less food, looked at it wrong? Bottomed out nutrients and now coming up? The air conditioning running constantly? That skimmer just might need the neck cleaned so the foam has a smooth transition to the cup is a reason also.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Thanks man. That skimmer cup looks like a good start to Texas tea in a few era if you dump it in the yard. That is a little dry. Don't just bump the level up, think about what you changed to make it lose head foam. Fed a new food, less food, looked at it wrong? Bottomed out nutrients and now coming up? The air conditioning running constantly? That skimmer just might need the neck cleaned so the foam has a smooth transition to the cup is a reason also.

Ok, cleaning the neck is on the list for tomorrow. It is just a tad dirty lol. AC is also running constantly now that it has warmed up as well as the sump fans have been added and starting to kick on a little more. Can't wait until they make smart skimmers. I just want to press a button and it know what it needs to do as far as nutrient export lol.

 

[Hemmdog]

Ok, cleaning the neck is on the list for tomorrow. It is just a tad dirty lol. AC is also running constantly now that it has warmed up as well as the sump fans have been added and starting to kick on a little more. Can't wait until they make smart skimmers. I just want to press a button and it know what it needs to do as far as nutrient export lol.

I cleaned both my skimmers today. It helps a lot. I find I have to do that more often with a dry skim. Less maintenance overall vs dumping wet skim cups a few times a day like I was doing. My reef octo came out pretty good after an acid bath

 

[Philipgonzales3]

@Why-Me

I saw a new (2016?) On Facebook last night for sale. It was $600, Don't know what it came with but was tempted but I don't think I have enough space for it lol.

 

[mattzang]

I cleaned both my skimmers today. It helps a lot. I find I have to do that more often with a dry skim. Less maintenance overall vs dumping wet skim cups a few times a day like I was doing. My reef octo came out pretty good after an acid bath

what acid? thinking i should give mine a good soak soon, i've had it going for a few months now and just done basic maintenance on it

 

[Hemmdog]

what acid? thinking i should give mine a good soak soon, i've had it going for a few months now and just done basic maintenance on it

Citric

 

[Sod Buster]

Yea. That resistance from the dirty neck will hold the bubbles down and pop them. The Cadillac skimmers have a swabbie built in for the big tanks. Twist a knob on the lid twice a day for a smooth transition to the cup. For mine, about a 1/4 turn on the air screw down raises the water bubble height enough in the skimmer to get it back in the cup, smaller bubbles and more wet, but purchases some time before a teardown to clean it.