Hey all I just ordered a 42x24x24 SCAquariums tank. A 48" long would be too big and a 36" would be too short so I bit the bullet and ordered custom. The tank Cost $995 free shipping, which I thought was a great price. I needed the custom size to fit nicely between the two windows in my library. I looked at waterbox and the other common tank companies but they dont sell just the tank, you must use their stand or they wont warranty the tank. Hopefully the tank is good quality, Ill update with pictures of the actual tank when it arrives in 10 weeks.
Plans For the Build:
Build a custom stand and hood. The wife wants a hood so that the light stays in the tank and doesnt splash around the walls in the room. I like the look of the rimless but agree that the room will look nicer with a hood.
The tank is plumbed using the herbie method, holes drilled at the bottom of the tank. I will be plumbing the drains and return through the wall using 1 inch pvc and 45° elbows. Here are some pictures.
Here are some pictures of the basement sump area.
I have a spectrapure 5 stage rodi with a pump on it to increase the pressure as I have a well and it only pressurizes at 60 psi and drops to 40 psi before the well pump switches on. The system is rated for 100gpd curious to see what the actual rate is. Very happy with the rodi system I bought, it came with two float sensors, auto flush kit, two tds monitors, the high pressure pump, and emergency float stop. I have it hooked up to a 45 gallon brute, its the gray one under the the table. The directions were simple and it was very easy to figure out. The other grey 45 brute is for waste water. Right now im thinking i will use a household sump pump to drain the waste water out my basement window... maybe buy and attach it to a rainbarrel outside my house to use for watering things. The other small 35 gallon barrel is for mixing saltwater. I am thinking about an auto water change system using spectrapure pumps from their website. I will be using a tunze osmolator and will put the pump in my 45 rodi water brute can and run it up to my sump on the table above for an ATO.
Equipment that I want to run include:
Neptune apex
filter roller
algea scrubber
skimmer
Auto Feeder
UV sterilizer
when it comes time to dose things I will tackle that in the future with an autodoser.
I need the tank to be able to run on its own for a month at a time if possible. May have to come up with some kind of skimmer pump to extract the skim into the waste water brute can using a water level switch.
My head Height is approximately 10 feet, would anyone suggest a specific pump and what gph I should get I was thinking of atleast 500 gph return?
Please if any one has any suggestions or comments to add regarding what they would have done different when setting up their tank post here.
This build is going to take me atleast 8 months before stocking, shooting for a fall 2020 timeline to add fish. Next thing to order is a Sump. Any suggestions? was looking at the Trigger systems 34 sumps maybe splurge and get the platinum series with built in filter roller. Thoughts?

Plans For the Build:
Build a custom stand and hood. The wife wants a hood so that the light stays in the tank and doesnt splash around the walls in the room. I like the look of the rimless but agree that the room will look nicer with a hood.
The tank is plumbed using the herbie method, holes drilled at the bottom of the tank. I will be plumbing the drains and return through the wall using 1 inch pvc and 45° elbows. Here are some pictures.
Here are some pictures of the basement sump area.
I have a spectrapure 5 stage rodi with a pump on it to increase the pressure as I have a well and it only pressurizes at 60 psi and drops to 40 psi before the well pump switches on. The system is rated for 100gpd curious to see what the actual rate is. Very happy with the rodi system I bought, it came with two float sensors, auto flush kit, two tds monitors, the high pressure pump, and emergency float stop. I have it hooked up to a 45 gallon brute, its the gray one under the the table. The directions were simple and it was very easy to figure out. The other grey 45 brute is for waste water. Right now im thinking i will use a household sump pump to drain the waste water out my basement window... maybe buy and attach it to a rainbarrel outside my house to use for watering things. The other small 35 gallon barrel is for mixing saltwater. I am thinking about an auto water change system using spectrapure pumps from their website. I will be using a tunze osmolator and will put the pump in my 45 rodi water brute can and run it up to my sump on the table above for an ATO.
Equipment that I want to run include:
Neptune apex
filter roller
algea scrubber
skimmer
Auto Feeder
UV sterilizer
when it comes time to dose things I will tackle that in the future with an autodoser.
I need the tank to be able to run on its own for a month at a time if possible. May have to come up with some kind of skimmer pump to extract the skim into the waste water brute can using a water level switch.
My head Height is approximately 10 feet, would anyone suggest a specific pump and what gph I should get I was thinking of atleast 500 gph return?
Please if any one has any suggestions or comments to add regarding what they would have done different when setting up their tank post here.
This build is going to take me atleast 8 months before stocking, shooting for a fall 2020 timeline to add fish. Next thing to order is a Sump. Any suggestions? was looking at the Trigger systems 34 sumps maybe splurge and get the platinum series with built in filter roller. Thoughts?

