reret10
New member
Introduction:
Hi everyone! I'm really excited to do a build thread because I started my first tank a while before I found the endless and wonderful resource of Reef Central way back in the day (We're talking early 2010s). Before I divulge into the fun part, I'm just going to give a little introduction to clarify why I'm starting a new build and also some of the caveats of this build.
So first off, I started my first tank when I was 12 and had literally no idea what I was getting myself into. With the amazing support of my family who I somehow didn't drive insane, we kept the tank going through a massive series of challenges. I learned a lot of things with that tank (thats still up and running) but mostly, never ever ever cheap out on the important stuff (Which is basically everything). While over the years, everything became gradually more legitimate, I was still running a tank with a pretty sketchy over flow, improvised return and overall pretty rough system. The whole thing was prone to flood every so often out of nowhere and was a bit of a time bomb. Wavemakers were held in place by duct tape, ya know the whole thing. That being said, I loved the tank more than anything in the whole world. Now I'm at college (studying marine biology :fish1:
) and it's been running for over 6 years and somehow without catastrophic failure until recently.
Over the summer, I was away doing research and a combo of my house getting to 95 degrees inside, the lighting system going out and the person housesitting not caring really wreaked havoc on the tank. All the SPS and most of the LPS corals were long dead on my return but some of the polyps and my awesome torch coral miraculously survived along with some of the fish. When I got back I decided that as I was going to be away at college, I was ready to take everything down and maybe start again in few years when I graduate and live in some at least semipermanent area but my parents decided that they really like the tank and were really keen on keeping it. Because of that, they decided they'd be okay with funding a decent upgrade and automating the tank a little more just to make it easier.
I looked around for a goos setup and settled on the SC aquariums 24*24*20 inch 50 gallon cube. This setup was ideal because it was somewhat bare bones and allowed some modifications but still came with all the basics I'd need for a new tank. It was also nice because I'd be able to transfer over some of the more expensive equipment from my 30 gallon like my light and skimmer. Quick note though, the SCA 50 cube "PNP" system really needed some serious modifications in order to make it pass my safety and quality standards. First off, the thing doesn't come with any directions at all. Just a catalog and is terrible for anyone just starting out. Second, the plumbing that comes with Is absolutely garbage. They give you half the parts for a sort of jerry rigged Herbie setup and half the parts for a 2 drain Bean animal without a 3rd emergency drain. They have cheap vinyl tubing for drain and return and no way of regulating flow to do something like a Herbie. Plus, to fit any of the fittings in with no leaks, you'd have to use half a can of PVC cement. It's no bueno. I made a trip to Home Depot and picked up a bit more 1 inch PVC, some of the nice bendable PVC stuff you can mould with a heat gun (see photos of my drain) and a bunch of couplers and a few elbows. The return pump with this system is also insanely loud. You can feel an hear the hum though thew whole first floor. I decided to order a Jaebo DC return pump for a nice quiet return. I really only bought this kit for the really beautiful tank and stand. The sump as also fine. It works alright. I did end up cutting off one of the silicone dividers to fit my old skimmer and also because I don't use the included filter pads an such. This may seem like a bad review but honestly, it's exactly what I needed. I would tell a first time reefer to probably ask an experienced reefer to help set it up with them as it really isn't easy for a beginner (or someone who never works with PVC and such).
I also got a Neptune apex so I could monitor the temp, pH and salinity anywhere from my dorm room and my research station out in Australia.
So here's a list of some of the other basic equipment I'll be starting off with for this setup
Lighting: To light this tank I'm using a pretty new SB reef lights wifi 165 watt setup that I'm transferring over from my old tank. I like LEDS because they really cool running which is key in Riverside and also they're pretty cheap and you don't replace bulbs. That said, I don't love the color and growth rates of most hard corals under standard black boxes but in my view, they're acceptable. Though they have their limitations, they work quite well with what I'm planning on achieving with this tank. I'm also somewhat looking into getting a retrofit T5 kit to possibly augment them sometime in the future if I decide to go more SPS dominant.
Filtration: I've got a pretty sweet Reef Octopus skimmer thats quite the workhorse that I'm going to swap over to this tank when I transfer the livestock. It's all already worn in but still in decent shape. The skimmer that comes with the SCA 50 cube is honestly just okay. I don't plan on pushing it too hard but I would like to have a fairly decent bioload and I don't believe the SCA skimmer would really handle that as well as I'd like. I did have to make some alterations to the included sumo to accommodate for my skimmer. Other then the Reef Octopus skimmer, I'm going good old fashioned live rock and live sand. Eventually I will add a refugium in the center of the sump but for now, it's still cycling. The kit came with all of these filter pads and bio balls and such but honestly, I think they often create dead space and spots for detritus and filter pads just leak out nitrates when you get lazy and don't change them. I kept them in case I need to filter some silt out when I aquascape and such but otherwise, they're not totally any style.
Dosing: I'm going pretty simple with this tank and just using kalkwasser in the RODI topoff. It suits my needs well and keeps most things in check. In addition, I have a Neptune Apex that I'll us to control for pH and I'll use BRS two part if calc and alk ever get out of line. I also have magnesium supplements but to be honest, I've never had much of a problem and I test mag maybe once a month and add a little to bring it up every so often. I usually don't have too much trouble.
So as for where I am now, the tank and stand are all assembled in their final spot and its full of water and cycling. A decent amount of the system I'll be transferring from my 30 so its pretty bare bones. Currently, I've jut got about 35 lbs of live sand and maybe 8 pounds of live rock in the tank running with a heater and a powerhead. I also have about 15 lbs of "dead" live rock that was sitting in my friends backyard for the past couple of years thats seeding and curing in a home depot bucket with a pump and a heater as we speak. I'd like it to fully cure in a few weeks but honestly, I'm mostly hoping its just good by Christmas when my family comes to stay. Only time (And nitrate and ammonia levels) will tell.
Anyways, I hope you guys like the setup and please please, comment and let me know anything I should change or any suggestions at all. It's much much easier to adjust things now as opposed to months down the line when its half full of livestock and I cant syphon down water and such. (Also, sorry for the atrocious iPhone pics. I promise they wont all be this bad I just took them in haste out of excitement)
Hi everyone! I'm really excited to do a build thread because I started my first tank a while before I found the endless and wonderful resource of Reef Central way back in the day (We're talking early 2010s). Before I divulge into the fun part, I'm just going to give a little introduction to clarify why I'm starting a new build and also some of the caveats of this build.
So first off, I started my first tank when I was 12 and had literally no idea what I was getting myself into. With the amazing support of my family who I somehow didn't drive insane, we kept the tank going through a massive series of challenges. I learned a lot of things with that tank (thats still up and running) but mostly, never ever ever cheap out on the important stuff (Which is basically everything). While over the years, everything became gradually more legitimate, I was still running a tank with a pretty sketchy over flow, improvised return and overall pretty rough system. The whole thing was prone to flood every so often out of nowhere and was a bit of a time bomb. Wavemakers were held in place by duct tape, ya know the whole thing. That being said, I loved the tank more than anything in the whole world. Now I'm at college (studying marine biology :fish1:
) and it's been running for over 6 years and somehow without catastrophic failure until recently. Over the summer, I was away doing research and a combo of my house getting to 95 degrees inside, the lighting system going out and the person housesitting not caring really wreaked havoc on the tank. All the SPS and most of the LPS corals were long dead on my return but some of the polyps and my awesome torch coral miraculously survived along with some of the fish. When I got back I decided that as I was going to be away at college, I was ready to take everything down and maybe start again in few years when I graduate and live in some at least semipermanent area but my parents decided that they really like the tank and were really keen on keeping it. Because of that, they decided they'd be okay with funding a decent upgrade and automating the tank a little more just to make it easier.
I looked around for a goos setup and settled on the SC aquariums 24*24*20 inch 50 gallon cube. This setup was ideal because it was somewhat bare bones and allowed some modifications but still came with all the basics I'd need for a new tank. It was also nice because I'd be able to transfer over some of the more expensive equipment from my 30 gallon like my light and skimmer. Quick note though, the SCA 50 cube "PNP" system really needed some serious modifications in order to make it pass my safety and quality standards. First off, the thing doesn't come with any directions at all. Just a catalog and is terrible for anyone just starting out. Second, the plumbing that comes with Is absolutely garbage. They give you half the parts for a sort of jerry rigged Herbie setup and half the parts for a 2 drain Bean animal without a 3rd emergency drain. They have cheap vinyl tubing for drain and return and no way of regulating flow to do something like a Herbie. Plus, to fit any of the fittings in with no leaks, you'd have to use half a can of PVC cement. It's no bueno. I made a trip to Home Depot and picked up a bit more 1 inch PVC, some of the nice bendable PVC stuff you can mould with a heat gun (see photos of my drain) and a bunch of couplers and a few elbows. The return pump with this system is also insanely loud. You can feel an hear the hum though thew whole first floor. I decided to order a Jaebo DC return pump for a nice quiet return. I really only bought this kit for the really beautiful tank and stand. The sump as also fine. It works alright. I did end up cutting off one of the silicone dividers to fit my old skimmer and also because I don't use the included filter pads an such. This may seem like a bad review but honestly, it's exactly what I needed. I would tell a first time reefer to probably ask an experienced reefer to help set it up with them as it really isn't easy for a beginner (or someone who never works with PVC and such).
I also got a Neptune apex so I could monitor the temp, pH and salinity anywhere from my dorm room and my research station out in Australia.
So here's a list of some of the other basic equipment I'll be starting off with for this setup
Lighting: To light this tank I'm using a pretty new SB reef lights wifi 165 watt setup that I'm transferring over from my old tank. I like LEDS because they really cool running which is key in Riverside and also they're pretty cheap and you don't replace bulbs. That said, I don't love the color and growth rates of most hard corals under standard black boxes but in my view, they're acceptable. Though they have their limitations, they work quite well with what I'm planning on achieving with this tank. I'm also somewhat looking into getting a retrofit T5 kit to possibly augment them sometime in the future if I decide to go more SPS dominant.
Filtration: I've got a pretty sweet Reef Octopus skimmer thats quite the workhorse that I'm going to swap over to this tank when I transfer the livestock. It's all already worn in but still in decent shape. The skimmer that comes with the SCA 50 cube is honestly just okay. I don't plan on pushing it too hard but I would like to have a fairly decent bioload and I don't believe the SCA skimmer would really handle that as well as I'd like. I did have to make some alterations to the included sumo to accommodate for my skimmer. Other then the Reef Octopus skimmer, I'm going good old fashioned live rock and live sand. Eventually I will add a refugium in the center of the sump but for now, it's still cycling. The kit came with all of these filter pads and bio balls and such but honestly, I think they often create dead space and spots for detritus and filter pads just leak out nitrates when you get lazy and don't change them. I kept them in case I need to filter some silt out when I aquascape and such but otherwise, they're not totally any style.
Dosing: I'm going pretty simple with this tank and just using kalkwasser in the RODI topoff. It suits my needs well and keeps most things in check. In addition, I have a Neptune Apex that I'll us to control for pH and I'll use BRS two part if calc and alk ever get out of line. I also have magnesium supplements but to be honest, I've never had much of a problem and I test mag maybe once a month and add a little to bring it up every so often. I usually don't have too much trouble.
So as for where I am now, the tank and stand are all assembled in their final spot and its full of water and cycling. A decent amount of the system I'll be transferring from my 30 so its pretty bare bones. Currently, I've jut got about 35 lbs of live sand and maybe 8 pounds of live rock in the tank running with a heater and a powerhead. I also have about 15 lbs of "dead" live rock that was sitting in my friends backyard for the past couple of years thats seeding and curing in a home depot bucket with a pump and a heater as we speak. I'd like it to fully cure in a few weeks but honestly, I'm mostly hoping its just good by Christmas when my family comes to stay. Only time (And nitrate and ammonia levels) will tell.
Anyways, I hope you guys like the setup and please please, comment and let me know anything I should change or any suggestions at all. It's much much easier to adjust things now as opposed to months down the line when its half full of livestock and I cant syphon down water and such. (Also, sorry for the atrocious iPhone pics. I promise they wont all be this bad I just took them in haste out of excitement)
