SCA 50GAL SPS BUILD

[CHUCKB973]

negative, maybe if i ever organize it where it looks nice i'll get one going lol.. my converted dog food container acting as my ATO next to the tank isn't the most aesthetically pleasing

Ahh I see.lol I just use a 5 gal jug for my ato lol but I’ll get something Better soon.

 

[mattzang]

there's a couple of my full tank shots albeit that was a few weeks ago. i had to add some more sand in that front corner after i added the icecap 1k, that thing isn't kidding around! lol

i also need to take out that huge shelf rock and break off that corner with all the ugly brown hitchhiker zoas on it, plus it should give me some more space below there to put frags

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Hey everyone I’m new to R2R and I’ve Decided to share the progress of my new build! I bought a used SCA 50 gal cube aquarium with stand and sump for $200. After cleaning it up a bit I decided to remove the black vinyl backing. I went ahead and painted the back as well as the bottom of the tank with Rustoleum enamel gloss black.

Keep us posted, thanks for sharing, comrade. Welcome

 

[CHUCKB973]

there's a couple of my full tank shots albeit that was a few weeks ago. i had to add some more sand in that front corner after i added the icecap 1k, that thing isn't kidding around! lol

i also need to take out that huge shelf rock and break off that corner with all the ugly brown hitchhiker zoas on it, plus it should give me some more space below there to put frags

Nice tank!!! How long has it been set up?

 

[CHUCKB973]

Keep us posted, thanks for sharing, comrade. Welcome

Thanks will be sharing more as I go

 

[mattzang]

Nice tank!!! How long has it been set up?

about 10 months, a year in july if i recall. just in the last couple of months have i started to have success with sps and now i can't stop buying acros lol

what's your sump plan? i was hesitant to go refugium since that middle chamber is kinda small, but i got it going and it's keeping my nitrates down. what about skimmer? u going with the stock one?

 

[CHUCKB973]

about 10 months, a year in july if i recall. just in the last couple of months have i started to have success with sps and now i can't stop buying acros lol

what's your sump plan? i was hesitant to go refugium since that middle chamber is kinda small, but i got it going and it's keeping my nitrates down. what about skimmer? u going with the stock one?

I was planing on making the middle a refugium. I will be using a reef octopus 110 skimmer and a gfo and carbon reactor. Here is a previously posted pic of what I will be using. Any chance you can post a pic of your sump set up I would like to see the refugium.

 

[mattzang]

drain goes into a filter cup which just has some filter wool type stuff, then under that i put my gfo/carbon in there along with a mess of marinepure balls. then skimmer (went with fc-80, not a massive fan) then into fuge. somewhere under that mess of chaeto is a tupperware of miracle mud (not sure how great it is, i think i'm going to remove it soon) and a small airstone and the worlds tiniest powerhead. i felt like after adding the airstone under the chaeto, my chaeto growth took off. but it also coincided with a fuge light upgrade so that was probably more the cause. and the blue thing on the left is the same ato u have! i'm a big fan of the duetto xp, it's been going hard for 6 months and hasn't done me wrong yet. and of course a fan because i live in socal and it be hot!


the light fixture is just some random thing i found at homedepot. it was the only non aluminum one. and i hung it from a shower curtain thing lol, it's super sturdy surprisingly tho so i'm rolling with it. the bulb is just some white par38 light from amazon. word to the wise though.. don't hang your light too high like i did.. and grew algae everywhere.. including in my skimmer. lol

sorry i thought i perused the thread thoroughly and missed the equipment post, you're definitely working with the best stuff!

 

[CHUCKB973]

drain goes into a filter cup which just has some filter wool type stuff, then under that i put my gfo/carbon in there along with a mess of marinepure balls. then skimmer (went with fc-80, not a massive fan) then into fuge. somewhere under that mess of chaeto is a tupperware of miracle mud (not sure how great it is, i think i'm going to remove it soon) and a small airstone and the worlds tiniest powerhead. i felt like after adding the airstone under the chaeto, my chaeto growth took off. but it also coincided with a fuge light upgrade so that was probably more the cause. and the blue thing on the left is the same ato u have! i'm a big fan of the duetto xp, it's been going hard for 6 months and hasn't done me wrong yet. and of course a fan because i live in socal and it be hot!


the light fixture is just some random thing i found at homedepot. it was the only non aluminum one. and i hung it from a shower curtain thing lol, it's super sturdy surprisingly tho so i'm rolling with it. the bulb is just some white par38 light from amazon. word to the wise though.. don't hang your light too high like i did.. and grew algae everywhere.. including in my skimmer. lol

sorry i thought i perused the thread thoroughly and missed the equipment post, you're definitely working with the best stuff!

Thanks for the details! I pretty much plan on having the same set up besides the gfo/carbon reactor. I have a question what chamber do you put your heater in? Also is that the best place for the ATO? I thought the ato goes in the last chamber since it’s the one that fluctuates the most.

 

[Why-Me]

Nice build
Welcome to Reef2Reef
I have the same tank yet to be set up, just need to finish getting the plumbing pieces and it'll be going. My plan is bare bottom sps with mine.
I've had a 20 gallon going for couple weeks and a brute can with rocks cycling for 3 months now so I can throw livestock in right away.
Going with a piece of textured seafoam colored starboard for the bottom (looks just like sand)
here's a link
https://www.boatoutfitters.com/seafoam-king-starboard-anti-skid-plastic-sheet

 

[CHUCKB973]

Nice build
Welcome to Reef2Reef
I have the same tank yet to be set up, just need to finish getting the plumbing pieces and it'll be going. My plan is bare bottom sps with mine.
I've had a 20 gallon going for couple weeks and a brute can with rocks cycling for 3 months now so I can throw livestock in right away.
Going with a piece of textured seafoam colored starboard for the bottom (looks just like sand)
here's a link
https://www.boatoutfitters.com/seafoam-king-starboard-anti-skid-plastic-sheet

Thanks happy to be here! I got all my plumbing at homedepot besides the ball valves(LFS) . I was debating going bare bottom for a long time but ultimately decided to go with special grade sand. What made you go bare bottom?

 

[Why-Me]

I went bare bottom from reading about the long term stability of the reef. They say it takes about a year to have a really stable tank but there after it's easier to maintain and keep stable.
I have a 40 breeder for my daughter that isn't setup yet that will have sand, so I'll have both bases covered.

 

[CHUCKB973]

I went bare bottom from reading about the long term stability of the reef. They say it takes about a year to have a really stable tank but there after it's easier to maintain and keep stable.
I have a 40 breeder for my daughter that isn't setup yet that will have sand, so I'll have both bases covered.

Yeah I read the same thing I’m just scared of dropping the rock scape and breaking my tank with a bare bottom.

 

[Why-Me]

That's why I'm getting the starboard. It doesn't bend or deflect after long time use in the aquarium and covers the bottom in case of rocks falling or something happening.

 

[CHUCKB973]

That's why I'm getting the starboard. It doesn't bend or deflect after long time use in the aquarium and covers the bottom in case of rocks falling or something happening.

Good Idea just make sure it’s reef safe. I’ll have to see what my rock scape looks like before I decide to pour in the sand.

 

[Why-Me]

Starboard is reef safe. A bunch of people here are using it.
When you do get ready for the sand make sure you have the rocks on the glass bottom before pouring the sand. Fish can dig holes and shift the rock work or worse they'll get crushed under them from the space between the rocks sand and glass.

 

[CHUCKB973]

Starboard is reef safe. A bunch of people here are using it.
When you do get ready for the sand make sure you have the rocks on the glass bottom before pouring the sand. Fish can dig holes and shift the rock work or worse they'll get crushed under them from the space between the rocks sand and glass.

Thanks I’ll be sure to place all my rock work on bare bottom before placing the sand. Now you got me thinking about starboard.

 

[Why-Me]

LOL
I hear ya, I changed my build 2-3 times before finally staying the course and going with bare bottom and starboard.
I'm basically doing the WWC/BRS hybrid method from the BRS video series.

 

[mattzang]

Thanks for the details! I pretty much plan on having the same set up besides the gfo/carbon reactor. I have a question what chamber do you put your heater in? Also is that the best place for the ATO? I thought the ato goes in the last chamber since it’s the one that fluctuates the most.

I have the heater in the last chamber with the return pump. I went with an eheim heater and they're super long so with my tupperware of miracle mud in the fuge, that was the only spot for it really.

hmm idk, I think the XP Aqua ATO says something about not putting it in a section with the return pump? It seems like it's fine there, but I've been debating adding kalkwasser to my ATO and I'm not sure I'd want it dumping that water into my fuge with limited flow in there. I'm pondering the idea of removing the mud, moving heater to the fuge and just laying it on the bottom, then having the ATO in the return pump area along with dosing tubes which I'm apparently going to need soon now that I've got a few SPS corals going hard. I don't really see why the ATO couldn't be in the return pump area.

If you're going barebottom this isn't really an option, but I went with eggcrate on the bottom of my tank and then covered it with sand, iirc I read it makes the rockwork a little more stable and less likely to topple over. I wanted some wrasses so barebottom just wasn't an option. That said, if you want SPS, I totally get why people with those tanks go that route. I don't think I have super high flow in my tank, but the sand (fiji pink) does get blown around a bit and I'm rolling with: 1 tunze powehead ~450 gph, 1 sicce powerhead ~500 gph, icecap 1k at max of 40% so I guess ~400 gph, and then a simplicity return pump which is 1300 gph I think, but I run it at around half so ~650 gph. The bummer I've found is anything over that 500 gph area seems to blow sand around or feel like too much flow for the LPS.

 

[Why-Me]

24x24 eggcrate from BRS is pretty cheap $16
I still have mine, going to use it for something else DIY