Rescue the 90g + SC Aquariums SCA-302 Skimmer

[LaOtIn]

So, I had some medical concerns and I neglected my 90g for a long time :sad2:

I am trying to bring it back to it's former glory. This is what it did look like:

So, now I got a skimmer, after 7 years of the hobby this is my first one. I did a fair amount of research and settled on the SCA-302 skimmer, rated for 180g. My tank and sump is probably 105 gallons total water volume. So anyway, there wasn't that many pictures out there, reviews, etc. Here are some opening up/assembly pictures:

I set this thing up on 11/06/2015 so I still have a ways to go for the "break in" period to be completed. I will keep everyone updated on that part.

Here is my initial reaction to this skimmer:

-Excellent packaging
-Super Suck instructions on assembly, really bad :blown:
-Nice color book for other products lol
-Super quiet
-Strong pump, no vibrations, seems pretty darn solid
-Power cord could use another foot or 1.5' in length
-Collection cup is held in place by plastic rings, firmly snug fitting
-The drain line, on the bottom of the cup, but hard to figure out how to utilize it because its in the sump lol, not like you can stick it over the side and let it drain, so probably a useless feature for me, maybe not for you.
-Built in silencer, works perfectly, its super quiet.

Let me know what you guys think so far and yes I will post a picture of my now pathetic tank. Lets just say this, the only thing that survived is 2 leather coral and 2 different colored mushrooms. :headwalls:

Too many images, the rest will go on the next post :angryfire:

 

[LaOtIn]

 

[LaOtIn]

That pipe coming out of the wall is plumbed into my saltwater mixing station, gravity fed into the sump. I've had this setup for a while but I changed out the return bulk head on the tank and had to redo all the plumbing. So it still needs the ball valve and some piping to get the water into the sump for water changes.

I did put my filter sock on the return for a bit again because I bought new power heads (the cheap-0 ones for now) and the suction cup failed on me in the middle of the night, SAND STORM in the morning ugggggg! Fixed it's wagon though by gluing a heavy magnet from one of my older power heads (maxi I believe) so that won't be happening again

 

[zachfishman]

I've used both SCA 301 and 302 skimmers. Great products! I wish they built bigger models!

 

[Reef908]

I have had my SCA skimmer for over 2 years now with zero issues, and has consistently pulled great skimmate once it broke in (almost 3 weeks for me). For the relatively low amount it cost, it is a great quality skimmer in my experience.

 

[MizTanks]

Been running my 301 for almost 2yrs. Great skimmer IMO

 

[LaOtIn]

Awesome guys! Great to hear that I have made a good choice for my come back lol

Will keep ya posted on this effort

 

[zachfishman]

One thing I had to do occasionally was clean the venturi air intake. Now I have the skimmer plugged into my RKL, and set it to turn off for 10 min twice a day - keeps the salt from building up.

 

[LaOtIn]

thats cool. I don't have a controller yet. always had a "low tech" set up. So I'm moving on up in the world I guess lol