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In what has to be the longest wait for a tank setup in hobby history (or so it seems), I have criminally under-documented the preparation and setup of this 150 gallon sps tank. I have a tendency to get way too wordy, so I’ll attempt to keep my thoughts brief as to not make this single post one that requires 28 scrolls of the thumb or mouse wheel.
Some of you may know/remember me from my previous build thread seen here
www.reef2reef.com
I'll put in an edit on the original post. I oddly seemed to have missed an inventory of equipment on this build. What an odd oversight considering this is such a gear centric hobby. It isn't for me much, as I tend to obsess over whats inside the tank, not around it. But...nonetheless here is the infrastructure inventory:
Tank: SCA 150 gallon standard model 60" x 24" x 24"
Stand: Homemade out of 2x6's and tongue and groove pine boards
Sump: Aqueon 40 breeder standard with fiji cube baffle kit
Flow: 2 Maxspect Gyre XF250's with 3d printed flow director/light shields like the Gen 3 models have
Return: Skimz Leopard L110 Askoll motor AC
Skimmer: Tunze 9430
Lighting: 3 - Kessil A360x
2 - Reef Breeders Photon V2 50
Misc: Tunze ATO, Trigger systems slim line ATO containers 2 - 5 gallon, Apex, Avast K1 Kalk stirrer, Neptune DOS
Nutrient control: Skimmer and Tropic Marin NP Bacto Balance/Elimi NP (depending on what is necessary)
Food: New Life Spectrum Thera+ pellets in the Apex auto feeder 2x per day, Formula 2 pellets fed manually 2x per day, PE miss flakes on occasion in addition to 4x daily regular feedings.
My family has had the goal to get into a bigger home. We have been interviewing builders and viewing homes in the area for 3-4 years now. My intention was always to upgrade tanks whenever the move took place as to avoid the complication of moving a running tank. We were fortunate enough to be in a situation where we did not have to be out immediately when we moved, so I could keep my tank running while setting up the new one. I acquired an SCA 150 gallon PNP system from a friend who was getting out of the hobby. I am a disaster of a person and broke the sump within a month of storing it (slipped off a moving dolly)
So, in an attempt to make the move goes smoothly as possible I started doing all of my prep work years before the actual move occurred. I wanted to take it extra slow and do things as correctly as I possibly could. For rock work I have always been kind of sloppy but this time I wanted to create a lot of well secured lateral space and avoid excessive height. I also wanted to have significant amounts of opens in bed and plenty of hiding spaces. It took me a while and a lot of cement but I finally simple something I was happy with.
Once the rock work was assembled I began the curing process. Knowing the challenges of a fresh tank, especially with sps, I wanted as much maturity as possible. All the rock work was crammed in a 40b and filled with saltwater, prodibio, mb7, a Turbo’s Aquatics L4 turf scrubber, and a bunch of media. There it has sat for around 2 years. Being ghost fed fish food with a heavy hand. Scrubber harvested every few weeks.
And so the tank sat in my garage acting as a storage box of junk for years while waiting to figure out our move. I didn’t want to set up a tank this size only to have to move it when it starts getting happy
I rebuilt the stand for the tank to be more robust, and to have externally separated media panels to keep controllers and power bars away from water and humidity. Looking back, I’d have made it taller as its real right now under the stand. Stand coated with 4 coats of oil based kilz primer and 3 coats of white krylon fusion
Panels were made from tongue and groove pine. Most of the ends were capped off to look somewhat finished. I king of winged the whole process. The interior surfaces of the canopy and stand panels were coated with several coats of rustoleum white appliance epoxy. Goal is to have the stand and panels as water resistant as possible. Initial stain was dark walnut....but I hate it and want a gray wash looking sort of weathered finish. Eventually the panels will be sanded back down and refinished. When I have time.
Fast forward a few years, and we finally get the house built and I’m ready to get the tank moved over. I cleaned up and leak tested it. Good to go
Moved the stand over to the new house. At my wife’s request it was placed half on this rug. I shimmed the back of it to make it level. I realize how bad of an idea it was so it was quickly scrapped and the room rearranged to get the stand flat on the tile.
The day came to move the tank over and disaster hit. We managed to chip the corner of the tank loading it in the truck. So back to the garage floor it went. I was dejected. Wasn’t prepared to buy a new tank but I hopped on the computer and ordered a new sca150 since I had the stand to fit it already. I actually feel better having something brand new rather than something that sat in a dry garage for 3 years
New tank arrived and has been placed on the stand. I’ve been spending the last week working on plumbing and rinsing sand. Turns out it only took two bags to get the depth I wanted. It’s been actively filling for 3 days now. I’m about 80% as of today. I’ll start mixing salt this evening and get the rocks moved over this week. I’ll likely elaborate more in coming posts
Some of you may know/remember me from my previous build thread seen here
Build Thread - BPB's Humble SPS Dominant 90 Gallon
Intro: Hey folks. I've been on here for some years now. I stay pretty active and opinionated. Never afraid to share my thoughts on this subject and that. Maybe a bit much on occasion, but I try to stick to what I know based on experience, and ask questions when in doubt. I've never had a...
www.reef2reef.com
I'll put in an edit on the original post. I oddly seemed to have missed an inventory of equipment on this build. What an odd oversight considering this is such a gear centric hobby. It isn't for me much, as I tend to obsess over whats inside the tank, not around it. But...nonetheless here is the infrastructure inventory:
Tank: SCA 150 gallon standard model 60" x 24" x 24"
Stand: Homemade out of 2x6's and tongue and groove pine boards
Sump: Aqueon 40 breeder standard with fiji cube baffle kit
Flow: 2 Maxspect Gyre XF250's with 3d printed flow director/light shields like the Gen 3 models have
Return: Skimz Leopard L110 Askoll motor AC
Skimmer: Tunze 9430
Lighting: 3 - Kessil A360x
2 - Reef Breeders Photon V2 50
Misc: Tunze ATO, Trigger systems slim line ATO containers 2 - 5 gallon, Apex, Avast K1 Kalk stirrer, Neptune DOS
Nutrient control: Skimmer and Tropic Marin NP Bacto Balance/Elimi NP (depending on what is necessary)
Food: New Life Spectrum Thera+ pellets in the Apex auto feeder 2x per day, Formula 2 pellets fed manually 2x per day, PE miss flakes on occasion in addition to 4x daily regular feedings.
My family has had the goal to get into a bigger home. We have been interviewing builders and viewing homes in the area for 3-4 years now. My intention was always to upgrade tanks whenever the move took place as to avoid the complication of moving a running tank. We were fortunate enough to be in a situation where we did not have to be out immediately when we moved, so I could keep my tank running while setting up the new one. I acquired an SCA 150 gallon PNP system from a friend who was getting out of the hobby. I am a disaster of a person and broke the sump within a month of storing it (slipped off a moving dolly)
So, in an attempt to make the move goes smoothly as possible I started doing all of my prep work years before the actual move occurred. I wanted to take it extra slow and do things as correctly as I possibly could. For rock work I have always been kind of sloppy but this time I wanted to create a lot of well secured lateral space and avoid excessive height. I also wanted to have significant amounts of opens in bed and plenty of hiding spaces. It took me a while and a lot of cement but I finally simple something I was happy with.
Once the rock work was assembled I began the curing process. Knowing the challenges of a fresh tank, especially with sps, I wanted as much maturity as possible. All the rock work was crammed in a 40b and filled with saltwater, prodibio, mb7, a Turbo’s Aquatics L4 turf scrubber, and a bunch of media. There it has sat for around 2 years. Being ghost fed fish food with a heavy hand. Scrubber harvested every few weeks.
And so the tank sat in my garage acting as a storage box of junk for years while waiting to figure out our move. I didn’t want to set up a tank this size only to have to move it when it starts getting happy
I rebuilt the stand for the tank to be more robust, and to have externally separated media panels to keep controllers and power bars away from water and humidity. Looking back, I’d have made it taller as its real right now under the stand. Stand coated with 4 coats of oil based kilz primer and 3 coats of white krylon fusion
Panels were made from tongue and groove pine. Most of the ends were capped off to look somewhat finished. I king of winged the whole process. The interior surfaces of the canopy and stand panels were coated with several coats of rustoleum white appliance epoxy. Goal is to have the stand and panels as water resistant as possible. Initial stain was dark walnut....but I hate it and want a gray wash looking sort of weathered finish. Eventually the panels will be sanded back down and refinished. When I have time.
Fast forward a few years, and we finally get the house built and I’m ready to get the tank moved over. I cleaned up and leak tested it. Good to go
Moved the stand over to the new house. At my wife’s request it was placed half on this rug. I shimmed the back of it to make it level. I realize how bad of an idea it was so it was quickly scrapped and the room rearranged to get the stand flat on the tile.
The day came to move the tank over and disaster hit. We managed to chip the corner of the tank loading it in the truck. So back to the garage floor it went. I was dejected. Wasn’t prepared to buy a new tank but I hopped on the computer and ordered a new sca150 since I had the stand to fit it already. I actually feel better having something brand new rather than something that sat in a dry garage for 3 years
New tank arrived and has been placed on the stand. I’ve been spending the last week working on plumbing and rinsing sand. Turns out it only took two bags to get the depth I wanted. It’s been actively filling for 3 days now. I’m about 80% as of today. I’ll start mixing salt this evening and get the rocks moved over this week. I’ll likely elaborate more in coming posts
Last edited:
) and curious on the even distribution.
