SCA 50 gallon cube build *PIC HEAVY*
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SoFlo...
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Hello, I just ordered this tank and should have it next week. I have read from the beginning and learned a ton! Do you like how the rock scaping turned out? Would you do anything differently and why?
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mr70ss
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Congrats on the purchase.. yes im very happy with how it turned out. Like all smaller tanks they fill up fast. If i did it again i might look at placing all of the rock at/up the back wall. I've recently been playing with flow rates on the pp4's and every one of my corals (zoa, pal, and some lps) prefer the pp4's off and the main pump up on max. Ill snap some pics tomorrow as i have added some more rock to the center of the tank, and post them tomorrow.
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mr70ss
Community Member
Thanks and I'm glad to hear that it helped you out..
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mr70ss
Community Member
Well It's been forever since I've posted any updates so here it goes.. So a couple of months ago things were great and I added a new fish to the tank (yea I know I should have a quarantine tank.... can you guess where this is going???) So after a couple of days I noticed some small white spots on a few fish. Long story short I had an ich outbreak, and well I was able to save only one fire goby and lost all others (eight total). Needless to say I was super bummed! Lesson learned and now I have a QT up and running. So on to my second issue.. In an attempt to rid ich from my tank I did many water changes over a short time frame and had a dinoflagellate outbreak. After researching how to deal with and beat the dinos I opted to go with the out compete method. I went this Cruz Arias's method of dr tims wate away, and then vodka dosing/micro bubble scrubbing, and it worked! Here is a link to a good video on youtube about it..
One thing I noticed in my research is that many people also used a UV to help rid their tank of dinos. So I got to thinking about the ich and dino outbreak I just went through and thought to myself it's time to invest in a UV sterilizer. So with all the black Friday deals recently I ended up picking up a AQUA UV Advantage 2000+ 15 watt sterilizer. I also picked up a couple of the somatic reactors that BRS had on sale (too good of price to pass up) So now I was thinking about how to pump water the UV and two reactors. I looked into adding another pump, but the SCA stock sump is a little tight (but do-able) I ended up deciding to upgrade my return pump and build a new manifold. I looked into another Sicce silent AC pump (my Sicce 3.0 has been flawless for 2+ years) but I really wanted to try a DC pump. After looking at the options for DC pumps I was torn between two pumps, a Reef Octopus Varios 4, or a Jebao DCP 6500. Now some may not like my decision but I ended up going with the Jebao mainly due to cost. I was able to purchase 2 Jebao's and still save $100.00 over the Varios 4. I like the idea of having a spare on hand, but i hope to never need it, time will tell. I know some people would never use a Jebao for a return but i have been running Jebao pp-4's since day one and they have been running 2+ years with no issues. Here are some pics to show what i have been up to.
Dinos before I started the treatment...
7 days into treatment (all dino's gone)
Here is a pic of my current return line, excuse the messy sump area (work in progress)
Here is a pic of the new manifold I've been building
I hope to get the new pump and manifold installed over the next couple of weeks. I'll try and report on how it goes.
One thing I noticed in my research is that many people also used a UV to help rid their tank of dinos. So I got to thinking about the ich and dino outbreak I just went through and thought to myself it's time to invest in a UV sterilizer. So with all the black Friday deals recently I ended up picking up a AQUA UV Advantage 2000+ 15 watt sterilizer. I also picked up a couple of the somatic reactors that BRS had on sale (too good of price to pass up) So now I was thinking about how to pump water the UV and two reactors. I looked into adding another pump, but the SCA stock sump is a little tight (but do-able) I ended up deciding to upgrade my return pump and build a new manifold. I looked into another Sicce silent AC pump (my Sicce 3.0 has been flawless for 2+ years) but I really wanted to try a DC pump. After looking at the options for DC pumps I was torn between two pumps, a Reef Octopus Varios 4, or a Jebao DCP 6500. Now some may not like my decision but I ended up going with the Jebao mainly due to cost. I was able to purchase 2 Jebao's and still save $100.00 over the Varios 4. I like the idea of having a spare on hand, but i hope to never need it, time will tell. I know some people would never use a Jebao for a return but i have been running Jebao pp-4's since day one and they have been running 2+ years with no issues. Here are some pics to show what i have been up to.
Dinos before I started the treatment...
7 days into treatment (all dino's gone)
Here is a pic of my current return line, excuse the messy sump area (work in progress)
Here is a pic of the new manifold I've been building
I hope to get the new pump and manifold installed over the next couple of weeks. I'll try and report on how it goes.
TheEngineer
Formerly icecool2
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Oh man... that is not the update I was hoping to see 
It’s a hard lesson to learn about QT. I cringe whenever I hear about people plopping fish and corals right into their tanks.
It’s a hard lesson to learn about QT. I cringe whenever I hear about people plopping fish and corals right into their tanks.
Awesome tank and great build thread. I bought a couple setups from a guy and this same tank was one of them. Now you are making me think I wanna set it up
I do have a couple questions...Did you put any foam/yoga pad/etc under the tank? I have seen a lot of rimless tanks with some sort of buffer in between tank and stand. My tank didnt come with one so I was wondering. What are your impressions of the Jebao Wavemakers? I was thinking of running the same two pumps on the back wall.
Thanks
I do have a couple questions...Did you put any foam/yoga pad/etc under the tank? I have seen a lot of rimless tanks with some sort of buffer in between tank and stand. My tank didnt come with one so I was wondering. What are your impressions of the Jebao Wavemakers? I was thinking of running the same two pumps on the back wall.
Thanks
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mr70ss
Community Member
Hi Quinn, Yes did put a yoga mat between the tank and stand. The pp-4's have been great.. I clean them 2-3 times a year and have not had a failure with either of them yet (2+ years).
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mr70ss
Community Member
Thanks Engineer, yea it was a bummer but lesson learned.. I did get the new Jebao 6500 pump's delivered yesterday. I tested both and wow they are almost dead silent, more so than my current Sicce silent 3.0. I hope to get the rest of my pvc fittings delivered Friday and if that happens then I should be able to get the new pump, manifold, UV, and reactors installed this weekend. More to come...
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mr70ss
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Well a week later than I had hoped, but I got the new manifold built and installed. I also got my two reactors, and UV up and running. I gotta say I'm very happy with the new jebao DCP 6500, and I have more flow than needed. I'm running it at 77% with both reactors, and UV running. Here are some pics.
