Return to Reefing- 112 gallon SCA Build.

[lgibbs28]

Hi everyone-
I just joined the site a few weeks ago after buying a new house and finally having the space to get back into keeping a tank. I had 10-18 gallon tanks off and on while I was in college (3-4 different IM and Biocubes) and have been out of it for many years because of renting and moving. So, I’ve finally got the chance to step it up and go much bigger than I could before! My SCA 112 just came in this week and I’m so excited! I’m still really early in the build: having some friends come over to help us move the tank to the basement laundry room (drain in floor) where I’ll fill it up for a leak test before moving it to its final spot. Because I always had AIO nano tanks, I have no experience with plumbing for sumps. I had a lot of success with my nanos with simple filter media and a retrofitted chaeto refugium compartment. Doing regular water changes and closely monitoring parameters, I was able to keep 3 or so fish, some nems, etc and had lots of growth and happy inhabitants. Therefore, protein skimmers, reactors, controllers, etc are really a new realm for me.
I have a plan on taking this easy and slow if needed; I don’t have limitless funds to expunge at one time so I’ll buy equipment as I can. I appreciate any help/suggestions as any one follows along and hope to build a great tank!
I will be picking up a Trigger 34 Sapphire sump from a fellow member next week, and I’m closely watching for other gently used items I can use in my build. I’d really like to splurge on my lights- looking at the Kessil Ap9x (will run 2, tank dimensions are 60x18x24) and that will give me lots of wiggle room on what I can keep. I had kessils on my nano and loved them... the shimmer was fantastic. I’m posting photos of the tank (this is not the final placement). Thanks for reading if you’ve followed along to this point!
-Landon

 

[lgibbs28]

Updating with small steps!
Got the tank moved down to the basement (with a lot of anxiety and careful adjustments). This is where it will stay- the background will obviously be cleaned up. It sits between our family room and a kitchenette type area as a room divider. I purchased three Reefi Uno LEDs with the pre-order special... so excited to get those and get them put up. Daniel from Reefi is making a custom mount because the tank is Eurobraced.... so I’ll have some aluminum rail to mount the lights on across the length of the tank, about 2 inches below the ceiling and 9 inches above the water. That will effectively fill the space and make it feel like it has a canopy I think. I picked up the trigger 34 sapphire sump today. Got 90 pounds of rock In the mail this week along with my return and circulation pumps (Current USA 1900 and 2x 1050 circulation pumps). Reinforced the counter/stand today for the tank. Slowly but surely getting things assembled and rounded up.

 

[Monte26]

So jealous of this tank!

 

[Alexdiaz]

Looks like it's coming along nicely! Nice tank

 

[lgibbs28]

Update #3
Got my protein skimmer today- grabbed one for 20% off at BRS, Octo 250 Classic. Also got my Python water change/sand cleaner hose so I’m finally able to fill her up for the leak test. I got 60 pounds of Fiji Pink, my testing kits, my heaters, and my mortar and super glue to finish my aquascape. This week I’ll be working on getting my aquascape done and then I will have to drain the tank again and get the plumbing all done. Have been dragging my feet on the plumbing... trying to research how I should do it and figure out what fittings and valves I will need. But, hopefully I can have it done by the end of the month.

 

[lgibbs28]

I haven’t updated my build thread in a while... and I skipped quite a few updates haha. I finished getting most everything setup today. Not running skimmer yet, but everything is running smoothly for now *knock on wood*. The plumbing was very stressful, being my first time doing anything like this, and getting my return pump turned up all the way today definitely gave me some intense anxiety. But, I was able to get it going and fine tune everything with the gate valve, and the system is almost silent. Can’t imagine not having that gate valve on my main drain... even the slightest adjustment and my overflow level changes by a few inches.
So the cycle begins... and my next step is organizing electrical and controllers and getting my ATO setup. My lights should be coming from Reefi soon hopefully.

 

[kiet_kat]

Looks so good! Deciding between this or the 120. You seem to be the only person with this tank and dimension

 

[lgibbs28]

Looks so good! Deciding between this or the 120. You seem to be the only person with this tank and dimension

Thanks! I really like this dimension. The pre-built counter in our basement was only 22” so I needed something smaller. Everyone has said under 24” is so tight but the 18” depth doesn’t bother me. I did my aquascape with the dimensions taped out and it works really well.

 

[kiet_kat]

I'm told the same about the depth. Any side view shots?

 

[lgibbs28]

I'm told the same about the depth. Any side view shots?

 

[MiloSyko]

Wow! I love the aquascape. What rock are you using?

 

[kiet_kat]

I think you just sold me on the 112. Thanks!

 

[jgalvin]

Thanks for posting! You are like the only one with a 112g build. I'm looking at the 112 as don't want the tank sticking out so far in the living room (like the 150g), also less weight and don't want to have to reinforce the floor/etc. Please keep the updates coming.

 

[lgibbs28]

Hi everyone that’s somewhat followed along! I know I haven’t updated in a while yet again- I’m always open to feedback on things but I’ve had some poor experiences on forums before so I’m always a bit hesitant to post. I need to get some lenses so I can take better photos of the tank but things are coming along nicely. Going through a bit of an ugly phase- have lots of diatoms on the sand bed, but my cleanup crew has really done a nice job of cleaning up the rock work. I started the tank with Marco Dry Base rock, so it looked pretty ugly there for a bit.
I used the Fiji pink live sand, and the Brightwell dry rock cycle kit. It worked really well... the directions said not to use a live sand bed but I had already purchased the sand, although it didn’t seem to hinder anything. After the first week I also purchased a seeded bio-brick from a local fish store to put in my refugium.
So, my tank has been cycled for about a month. I’m still waiting on my lights from Reefi- they finally arrived in Seattle and I’m waiting for them to be shipped to me. I purchased one Radion XR15 pro and very crudely hung it temporarily so I could get some corals started and hopefully get some coralline growing. I seeded the tank with some of the Coralline from algae barn about 2.5 weeks ago. So far, I have 6 Zoa frags, 2 acans, a flower ‘nem, a couple ricordea, a blue sympodium frag, a purple ribbon gorgonian, and a rainbow BTA. For fish I have a gladiator clown and a pair of lightning maroons. Excuse the poor photos, it’s hard to get good ones with just my phone. Everything is doing really well so far, so I’m going to let the tank rest until I can get my new lights setup and get out of this diatom bloom.