Are SCA tanks reliable?

[eschaton]

Hey all,

As I've said in another thread recently, I'm in the "negotiation" process with my wife regarding setting up a new major reef tank. For various reasons, the only place it can go is in one corner of the dining room. It's not really worth getting into why here, but it's not 100% due to her being finicky - there's also heating vents placed in awkward locations along some of the usable walls, lots of windows and fireplaces, and other things which really restrict usable wall space near an external wall on our first floor.

Originally, she indicated to me that even though the space has a width of about 34 inches before hitting the opening of the bay window, she'd let me get a 36 inch wide tank there, which was great, because I could get the Waterbox I wanted. Now she's gone back on that again after I put down the rough size in tape, saying she's concerned about when we have guests over and expand the dining room table the extra few inches will make it hard to get past. I find it odd to design something around a twice a year issue when we have company, but whatever.

The only off-the-shelf aquarium I could find which fit the space pretty well is this 80 gallon aquarium by SCA. At 32 inches it's almost the perfect width for the space. It seems like going with a Waterbox is straight out, unless I went down to a 24, which is actually smaller than my old build at our old house. So I'm tempted to do the SCA tank. I know people will jump in with a custom tank idea, to which I'll say I'm not mechanically inclined or handy, I don't like that side of the hobby at all, and I'm trying to save my mental space for the ecosystem management stuff I love instead.

I've read...mixed reviews of SCA tanks. Mostly good stuff, but it seems a distinct minority have issues with the tanks, up to and including leaks. This could be a dealbreaker for my wife, because she really, really disliked how my old custom-built setup was prone to leaks, and wants as close to a near-foolproof setup as possible (while also being cheap as hell of course).

Anyway, I'm all ears when it comes to suggestions.

 

[leepink23]

I have a SCA 120 for a year now. I like the build of it, no issues. I chose their real wood with reinforced steel stand.

 

[savoyard]

I just got this same tank from a friend. He had a successful SPS tank with it running two radions. One could be enough. So this tank is setup and I'm doing a leak test now with fresh water until I make my big move. So far it's running smoothly.
Overall this is a really nice cube tank!

This tank is really low to the ground depending on what you like. I'm 5'9, but my friend hated getting on the ground to get in the sump. He also said the sump wasn't great, but I didn't get the sump.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Hey all,

As I've said in another thread recently, I'm in the "negotiation" process with my wife regarding setting up a new major reef tank. For various reasons, the only place it can go is in one corner of the dining room. It's not really worth getting into why here, but it's not 100% due to her being finicky - there's also heating vents placed in awkward locations along some of the usable walls, lots of windows and fireplaces, and other things which really restrict usable wall space near an external wall on our first floor.

Originally, she indicated to me that even though the space has a width of about 34 inches before hitting the opening of the bay window, she'd let me get a 36 inch wide tank there, which was great, because I could get the Waterbox I wanted. Now she's gone back on that again after I put down the rough size in tape, saying she's concerned about when we have guests over and expand the dining room table the extra few inches will make it hard to get past. I find it odd to design something around a twice a year issue when we have company, but whatever.

The only off-the-shelf aquarium I could find which fit the space pretty well is this 80 gallon aquarium by SCA. At 32 inches it's almost the perfect width for the space. It seems like going with a Waterbox is straight out, unless I went down to a 24, which is actually smaller than my old build at our old house. So I'm tempted to do the SCA tank. I know people will jump in with a custom tank idea, to which I'll say I'm not mechanically inclined or handy, I don't like that side of the hobby at all, and I'm trying to save my mental space for the ecosystem management stuff I love instead.

I've read...mixed reviews of SCA tanks. Mostly good stuff, but it seems a distinct minority have issues with the tanks, up to and including leaks. This could be a dealbreaker for my wife, because she really, really disliked how my old custom-built setup was prone to leaks, and wants as close to a near-foolproof setup as possible (while also being cheap as hell of course).

Anyway, I'm all ears when it comes to suggestions.

Keep in mind SCA does custom dimensions. My tank is a good example of this, and it didn’t cost more believe it or not.l, just a much longer wait.

I’m very happy with my SCA aquariums 18 months in

 

[eschaton]

Keep in mind SCA does custom dimensions. My tank is a good example of this, and it didn’t cost more believe it or not.l, just a much longer wait.

I don't have much more space available in the corner. I am wondering about the sump layout and how it fits into the cabinet though. I'd strongly prefer to have room in cabinet for a vessel for ATO, and would like to set up one of the chambers as a fuge.

Also, how does delivery typically work? I don't have...erm...many friends in the area. I am worried about getting it dropped at my front door and literally not being able to get it off the sidewalk. I live in an urban area, have no driveway/garage, and my house is two small flights of steps up from the street. If I can't like slip the delivery truck drivers a $40 tip to at least get it up to my front porch, I'm going to have to hire movers and pay them several hundred bucks to get it in my front door.

 

[ihavecrabs]

I don't have much more space available in the corner. I am wondering about the sump layout and how it fits into the cabinet though. I'd strongly prefer to have room in cabinet for a vessel for ATO, and would like to set up one of the chambers as a fuge.

Also, how does delivery typically work? I don't have...erm...many friends in the area. I am worried about getting it dropped at my front door and literally not being able to get it off the sidewalk. I live in an urban area, have no driveway/garage, and my house is two small flights of steps up from the street. If I can't like slip the delivery truck drivers a $40 tip to at least get it up to my front porch, I'm going to have to hire movers and pay them several hundred bucks to get it in my front door.

I tipped the delivery guy to roll it into my driveway on the pallet it was delivered on. You might be able to talk them into carrying it in. All depends on the driver.

 

[eschaton]

Thanks everyone, I ordered my SCA tank late last night! Excited to get this going.

I decided I'll hire three or so people for an hour of work via taskrabbit to help on the day the tank arrives. That said, I'm a little nervous because although I got an email notification that it shipped this morning via "seven day free shipping" there is no tracking number, and the link just goes to my order. Maybe another email will come, but right now I can't really be sure it's going to show up on November 12, and don't have a window for it, which makes me leery of hiring someone.

 

[Jimbo662]

I've had 4 of their tanks with one also being custom. Never had any issues with them. You'll get a call from the driver to let you know what day they'll deliver. I want to say it'll be about a two day notice from what I remember.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Thanks everyone, I ordered my SCA tank late last night! Excited to get this going.

I decided I'll hire three or so people for an hour of work via taskrabbit to help on the day the tank arrives. That said, I'm a little nervous because although I got an email notification that it shipped this morning via "seven day free shipping" there is no tracking number, and the link just goes to my order. Maybe another email will come, but right now I can't really be sure it's going to show up on November 12, and don't have a window for it, which makes me leery of hiring someone.

Yep, delivery driver will call to schedule for you. Good luck!

 

[Awesome Dennis]

I love my sca 180 so far no major complaints

 

[eschaton]

Tomorrow will be seven days out from getting the shipped notification, and it's supposed to be seven-day shipping. I have heard nothing from the driver, so I'm presuming if I don't hear back soon I'll have to delay (and maybe cancel) the taskrabbit guy helping me (I could only find one...hopefully he, myself, a hand dolly, and the driver can deal with it).

 

[Jimbo662]

it's all stacked on a pallet and they'll roll it into the garage for you.

 

[eschaton]

it's all stacked on a pallet and they'll roll it into the garage for you.

I don't have a garage. Or a driveway.

There's a link upthread to a Google Street View of my house.

 

[eschaton]

I'm getting real nervous. Nine days from my order (and eight days from the shipping notice) with no word.

Sent their customer support an email two days ago - no response. Also called them an hour ago and went straight to voicemail.

 

[eschaton]

I finally heard back from SCA at 4 in the morning today. Apparently the hold-up was that the cabinet I chose when I made my order was out of stock, and they offered to upgrade me to a new maple cabinet style for free. I agreed, but I'm a little miffed that I was sent an email saying my order was shipped over a week ago when the order was never shipped at all.

They should be mailing the order for real tomorrow, along with sending along a tracking number so I actually know when the tank will arrive.

 

[Vested]

Hey sorry to revive an older thread hopefully this is alright, @eschaton I just placed an order with Steve at SCA for a 90 gal and going through the same thoughts as you where. How did everything work out with shipping? Love SCA already but they really don't explain much on the website about shipping lol.

 

[eschaton]

Hey sorry to revive an older thread hopefully this is alright, @eschaton I just placed an order with Steve at SCA for a 90 gal and going through the same thoughts as you where. How did everything work out with shipping? Love SCA already but they really don't explain much on the website about shipping lol.

Shipping worked out fine. Everything was dropped in front of my house wrapped up in a huge package. Getting it into the house was a pain. I hired people on taskrabbit, but everyone flaked out, leaving me more or less by myself. getting the stand and sump in was easy, but ultimately I needed to call a friend and a rando from across the street needed to run over to help get it up the flight of stairs and into my house.

My biggest regret with the build - only regret really - is SCA builds its sumps so they take up essentially the entire cabinet floorspace. There was seemingly no space at all for an ATO reservoir. Ultimately I did find an ultra-thin one which I can cram in front of the sump, and it just works, but it means I have no real visibility of two of the sump chambers, and the volume is so low I need to fill it every other day.

 

[homer1475]

Love my SCA 80G cube. Have not had an issue other then the crappy MDF stand(Real wood was not an option when I bought mine) for about 5 years now.

My delivery driver brought it down my driveway, and into my garage on his pallet jack. The wife and I carried it into the house.