JB’s SCA 120 In wall.

[Johnboy3886]

Hello everyone,
I’m final getting my tank going after a long time planning. I spent the last 2 years finishing my basement and my reward is I finally get the tank I’ve been dreaming off. I made a deal with the wife that I wouldn’t start the tank build until the basement was finished. That day has finally come..I’m just getting started on the build but thought it would be cool to track my progression along the way. Maybe some of you guys will enjoy it as well. He are some pics of how far I’ve gotten. I have been in the hobby for a while so I have learned how to be patient. Because of that this build might take me a while

 

[Chrisfish]

Welcome to R2R, congratulations!! Tank looks great and really like the rock scape!!

 

[Johnboy3886]

Finally getting back to setting up the new tank after the holidays. Got it plumbed and filled it up to get it cycling. Currently the sump is not online. I made the sump out of a 40B. I went with AF-1 fleece roller, a octo regal 150 skimmer and 2 jabo return pumps. 2 BRS titanium heater with there controller. Also have 2 max spect gyre 250 for flow in the tank. On its way is a Hydros 4 with the ATO. This will be my first time using a controller so I’m pretty excited for that. I choose hydros because I liked how simple the interface is. I know they don’t offer all the same gadgets but I love the idea of have multiple brains and the WiFi plugs. I decided to clad the stand and the wall with waterproof paneling, for protection and easy clean up. Still a a bit to finish but like how it turned out. For the things I plan to add are a QT setup, a mixing station, and possibly a wash tub if I can fit it in the room.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hello Johnboy, looks like you have a great start on the inwall tank. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Zach B]

Nice setup!

 

[Johnboy3886]

An overdue update. I got my coral and fish QT tanks set up. Also got my water station set up, which is a game changer from the 5 gal buckets. I still need to set up the auto water change, but I’m hoping coralvue comes out with a plug and play for my hydros 4. A month ago I installed 2 A360Xs and I’ve slowly been add fish. about 2 weeks ago I added a bunch of coral. Everything is doing great very. Im pretty surprised how well the tank is going. I feel like im due for a challenge. Currently there is 2 clowns, blue tang, carpenters fairy wrasse, 2 mollies 2 urchins, a handful of snails and a cleaner shrimp. I also have a melinaris wrasse and a diamond goby in QT that are doing well. My next plan is to get a battery back up set up. I have a portable generator but I would like to get a battery back up for when I’m not home. Overall this has been probably the best start to reef tank For me. Im sure it will humble me soon.

 

[Johnboy3886]

Happy birthday!!! As of last week my tank surpassed the one year mark. All in all things are pretty steady. Corals are growing at decent rate. Not crazy, but I feel like thing are really starting to take off. Coralline algae if finally starting to grow. Since the last update I have added a air line for my skimmer, a battery back up, and a doser for kalk. I added the air line to the skimmer to boost PH, which it did. I went from 7.8-8.0 to 7.95-8.15. I would like it higher but I’m hoping once I add more corals, and increase dosing it will go up. I DIYed my own battery back up so I can run any DC pump or wave maker. There is video out there but if some wants more info just message me. It’s not to difficult and very versatile. At some point I will have the intire system backed up, once I invest in bigger batteries. Right now it runs 2 gyres for 12 hr. I also have a generator, so this is really only for when I’m not home. The last thing is I started dosing Kalk. I have it set up on a Jecod doser with my hydros monitoring it for redundancy. As of right now I’m at 900MLs a day, and it’s keeping my alk and calcium stable at 9.0 DKH and 450ppm.
Goals for the next 6 months include, more coral and fish, Automatic water changes(still manually changing 25 gal per week),and better flow management (hydros wave engine).