Just another SCA 50 build thread.....

[Kinettik]

Hopefully I can do some justice to this build and keep pace with some of the other builds going on in here, this being my first real build.

Little back story......

I have been in the hobby for quite a few years, but on the other side of the spectrum (freshwater). I was running multiple tanks and a koi pond until just last week. A few months back, I jumped in head first into the salt water/reef keeping scene with a 24g nano (bought used locally). Very basic, typical nano, just wanted some better looking fish than I was keeping in the freshwater aspect.

Well, the bug hit hard after my initial set-up. Bought some corals from the Reefers Direct sale and decided I needed more. So, after getting the okay from the wife as long as I eliminated another tank, I decided to purchase an SCA 50.

So far, aside from my Kessil A360WE (thank you @BoomCorals), I only have the tank on hand. I have a huge order in with BRS for my plumbing, ATO, sand, meters, etc, I expect those things to be trickling in between now and December 1, and then this thread will take of with lots of updates. I have a local hobbyist couple (TNTSaltwater) where I will be getting my fish, some of the live rock (some will be from my existing tank) and my water until I can set up my RO/DI reserve and mixing station.

I am excited to be building this and sharing with the group and looking forward to any tips, advice and criticisms I receive along the way!!

 

[BoomCorals]

Look forward to this!

 

[Dsnakes]

I want an SCA for my future display, so I enjoy seeing builds with their tanks. Did you get the PNP or just the tank and stand?

 

[Kinettik]

I want an SCA for my future display, so I enjoy seeing builds with their tanks. Did you get the PNP or just the tank and stand?

Full PNP.

Oh, I also have a lid on order from @ArtFully Acrylic .

 

[Dsnakes]

Awesome! They have great prices on those setups. I just ordered the SCA 65g skimmer for a small clownfish breeding setup. It might be the same that came with your package.

 

[Dickeybrazil]

What stand did you go with?

 

[Kinettik]

What stand did you go with?

The MDF stand they sell in the package (black). Undecided if I spray the inside of it yet or not.

 

[Kinettik]

Got a lot of parts coming in this weekend, should get a great start on the tank next week as well as the RO/DI and Salt mixing station. Plan on water going in by the weekend if all things go as planned.

In the interim, I have purchased quite a decent stock of corals that being housed in my nano until this build is ready for them, tell me what you think!!

 

[Kinettik]

Been a busy couple weeks and I am now ready to start laying out some plumbing. Got all of my parts and supplies from @Bulk Reef Supply.

Hope to get this done this weekend and start on my mixing station next week, just waiting on my 45 gallon barrels.

 

[Kinettik]

It's a start!

 

[Kinettik]

Plumbing finalized. Now on to a leak test!

 

[Kinettik]

Sand, rock, water all in, let's start this cycle!

All the rock and water came from my LFS. The cycle should only take me 5 days before introducing livestock.

 

[Kinettik]

So yesterday I got the RO/DI filters installed and plumbed. Still waiting on my barrels for my mixing station, but I can produce my own water now to keep the tank topped off.

Speaking of top-off, I installed my Tunze ATO with a 5 gallon clear Trigger System container. Still have some wire clean up to do but my wire raceway did show up this week, so that will get done soon.

With it being Christmas, I figured what better gift than to move my Black Ice and Black Ocellaris' into their new home.

I have added my CUC, moved over my Feather Duster and plan on moving my coral stock in at the end of the week. My goal is for the tank to be completed by the weekend with only the addition of a few more fish (Flame Angel and Kole Tang), the Mandarin needs moved over but I want to breed some copepods first in this tank), and finding an Anenome.

Merry Christmas to all!

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Everything is looking good!

 

[Kinettik]

Well...... let's see what this does shall we?

Also on the way is a Gyre, the IceCap module for the apex and a battery backup.

Still waiting on some new fish to arrive and then I will get pic heavy with shots of the actual corals and their placement as well as of all the fish I have stocked.

 

[Thegoodson]

I'm about to get the jr....I'm jealous

 

[Kinettik]

Got my Apex installed. Added my Gyre and the IceCap battery backup as well and did some wire management (not finished).

Overall I am more than happy with this build ao far. Now just waiting for my fish to show up..........

 

[6Bolt]

Got my Apex installed. Added my Gyre and the IceCap battery backup as well and did some wire management (not finished).

Overall I am more than happy with this build ao far. Now just waiting for my fish to show up..........

What are your first impressions of the Apex System? I have the 120 gallon version of your tank and I'm trying to make up my mind on purchasing it.

 

[Kinettik]

So far, I like it. I think it is a bit overpriced, but on the other hand the redundancy value is priceless. Easy to program, but I am a software developer so...... lol.

 

[Kinettik]

Haven't updated in a while, I apologize.

Had quite a few things happen over the past 10 months, not many good unfortunately.

Most of my corals died, and I take all the responsibility for it. My time has been too spread out for proper husbandry of the tank. I spent a lot of time out of town, which led to me getting some bad algae outbreaks, most notably a large bubble algae infestation. I did not have a proper CUC for this tank, so this also didn't help. I believe I have a handle on it after starting to dose Vibrant. The dosing has left me with diatoms, but that IMO is an easy fix. New CUC being ordered as we speak, hopefully they help where I have failed.

Now, on to the good.......

My softies have faired well, though very limited in actual growth. My Duncan has gone from 3 heads when I bought it to 8 heads currently, which I am thrilled about. My BTA seems to be doing well, though not as much growth there as I would have thought, yet.

My fish are doing great, I believe. Very active, great appetites, no aggression at all. I wish my Clowns would host in the BTA vs my Duncan, but it is what it is......

Aside from the clowns I have a Six Line, a Flame Angel, and a Kole Tang, all about 1 year old now in this system.

Just recently added a 24" T5HO hybrid fixture to compliment my A360, and I am very pleased with the color I am getting from the true blue actinic bulbs. I modified my Kessil arm to support the fixture versus hanging it from the ceiling, which I like much better. There have been a few concerns over this method on the forums, but I will monitor it and adjust if needed. I think it is capable of this task.

Other than that, I plan on diving back in to adding some new corals, keeping this thread updated, and hopefully seeing some good, positive transformations of this system in the near future!!