SC Aquariums in Rancho Cucamonga
- Thread starter davocean
- Start date
Centralreefs
New member
Seen their tanks in person, the quality looks great especially for the price.
davocean
New member
From my research it seems the 50g and up tanks are built here, and I guess it looks like they are a split off from cadlights, if I have read comments properly and those comments are true.
I see you went w/ a cadlight.
My concern is cadlight has had a number of negative comments on here recently.
DRC69
Oh Well
Well just from my own dealings with Cadlight there customer service is "not" very good and I don't think I would buy from them again. They where at the last show at the OC Fair grounds and still did not have much luck with them in person. JMO
I have bought some pumps from SC Aquariums and I have not had any problems with there service or products. It has been good for me.
davocean
New member
This is very much in line w/ what I'm reading, seems like a rough split and little fueding/mudslinging going on.
SCA seems to be getting some positive comments more, they look like they make a decent starfire cube which is what I'm looking for.
OC CJ
Crushed coral > sand
I bought my sca over a year ago. After speaking with the guy there, he stated they used to build tanks for cadlights but had a falling out over unpaid invoices/delayed payment.
My personal experience with Cadlights has been horrible. Bought a kit that came with a 30w multichip led light. Failed after 2 months. Spoke to Eddie who said he would ship me a replacement. 3 months later and several voicemails and emails unanswered, I got a hold of Eddie who asked that i drive down. When i got there, he determined it was the ballast. Instead of giving me a new one, he pulled one from a pile of used parts that was missing the bottom plate. Took about 30 minutes of him hacking up the old bottom plate to install on the used ballast. I was left with a mangled ballast with visible wires and all he said was it was the best he could do.
I strongly recommend against cadlights. I've had no problems with my SCA and the build quality was surprisingly good. No bubbles in the silicone, all looked great and the plumbing they give you fit absolutely perfect. Just because its cheap and not a name brand doesn't mean you can't find a good product.
My personal experience with Cadlights has been horrible. Bought a kit that came with a 30w multichip led light. Failed after 2 months. Spoke to Eddie who said he would ship me a replacement. 3 months later and several voicemails and emails unanswered, I got a hold of Eddie who asked that i drive down. When i got there, he determined it was the ballast. Instead of giving me a new one, he pulled one from a pile of used parts that was missing the bottom plate. Took about 30 minutes of him hacking up the old bottom plate to install on the used ballast. I was left with a mangled ballast with visible wires and all he said was it was the best he could do.
I strongly recommend against cadlights. I've had no problems with my SCA and the build quality was surprisingly good. No bubbles in the silicone, all looked great and the plumbing they give you fit absolutely perfect. Just because its cheap and not a name brand doesn't mean you can't find a good product.
I have a cadlights 70 gallon and a SCA 40 gallon. Both are nice tanks and good enough stands. The sca stand is more thought out with a shelf and holes for plumbing. My cadlights stand is just boards. I've dealt with both customer service from both companies. Cadlights very bad, SCA was good. And don't let the made in America bs cad will give u. All these tanks come from china
gcarroll
Active member
SC Aquariums in Rancho Cucamonga
I heard that BS too! Unlike you, I went to see for myself. I was not in China when I witnessed these Artisan 50g tanks being built. Although the Artisan 50g and larger are built here in the US, the smaller tanks were built overseas
The skimmers are also made here in the USA.
I heard that BS too! Unlike you, I went to see for myself. I was not in China when I witnessed these Artisan 50g tanks being built. Although the Artisan 50g and larger are built here in the US, the smaller tanks were built overseas
The skimmers are also made here in the USA.
reefish123
New member
I owned a SC 50 gal cube awsome set up bought mine for 500 new, only issue was plumbing I had to re-design.
I'm not gonna pretend to be an expert about it but that's not true.
Anyways back to the OP. SCA tanks are great for the price and nothing to be scared of. If u want a comparison between cad and SCA, I have both and they are pretty much the same. I do like cad over flow better. Cad has a new stand that seems to be a big improvement over their old stands. I just can't get over their CS and lack of support keeps me from future purchases. At MAX SCA offered me tanks for stupid cheap before they show. Full package 65 rimless for $500. 50 gallon cube full package for $300. And I got my 40 rimless with stand for $200. They offered me something like a 150 gallon full package for $650. This is 1 hour before show ends so they dump them fast.
Anyways back to the OP. SCA tanks are great for the price and nothing to be scared of. If u want a comparison between cad and SCA, I have both and they are pretty much the same. I do like cad over flow better. Cad has a new stand that seems to be a big improvement over their old stands. I just can't get over their CS and lack of support keeps me from future purchases. At MAX SCA offered me tanks for stupid cheap before they show. Full package 65 rimless for $500. 50 gallon cube full package for $300. And I got my 40 rimless with stand for $200. They offered me something like a 150 gallon full package for $650. This is 1 hour before show ends so they dump them fast.
I initially bought a CAD 50II, after looking closer at the build quality I though I'd look into a custom built tank from SCA... they did in fact claim that it'd be at least June before they had enough product to fill a container and ship said tank from China.
In hindsight, I'd have not bought the CAD, and gone with one of the more established brands.
davocean
New member
Thanks for the info guys, and just have to say not my intention to compare CAD to SCA so much or fuel the fire on their own business issues, just mainly want to hear what people think of SCA.
I had already seen enough comments on CAD before even looking, I just did not realize the connection between the two before researching SCA.
As far as made or assembled here or China, I do tend to trust quality control more here, and lean towards American made when I can, but hey, like many others I have bought Chinese stuff in the past.
I talked to SCA today, so far so good, pretty certain I'm going to give them a go.
Thanks for all the feedback.
I had already seen enough comments on CAD before even looking, I just did not realize the connection between the two before researching SCA.
As far as made or assembled here or China, I do tend to trust quality control more here, and lean towards American made when I can, but hey, like many others I have bought Chinese stuff in the past.
I talked to SCA today, so far so good, pretty certain I'm going to give them a go.
Thanks for all the feedback.
Centralreefs
New member
As someone else mentioned, the plumbing is the only problem I ran into as well. It seems they use a different bulkhead size that doesn't fit the standard US PVC pipes, that may have changed though but I would ask them about it.
ericta000
New member
Let's just say I REALLY liked and was extremely attracted to SCA's presentation at the Max show.
I agree with you sir!!!!!!
