Saltysav96
Active Member
Hello guys and girls.
This is my first build thread on here but not my first tank. I am 23 and have been in the hobby for about 5 years?
A little history....
i started this expensive beloved hobby with a 72 gallon bow front. At the time i was a college student on a MAJOR budget. I bought when i could and tried getting the best deals possible.
a short period later i came across a 60gallon cube full setup on the interweb For like $500...
after chatting with the guy for a bit, he finally says, if you got a truck and someone to help load come get it we need it out the house.....
Lets just say me and my dad took off on that 4 hour road trip to go get this setup for FREE!
Anyways, i restarted that tank after getting it home and kept it up for about a year until i got the urge to upgrade.
i came across this 5x2x2 SCA150 that the guy had listed for a long time. ( he wanted t0 much) . After talking with him on and off for a while i finally got him down to a price i was willing to pay.
I sold the 60gallon and put everything in a 40b until i got the 150 and got it set up.
sept 2017 i officially set up the 150gallon tank. I slowly built that system up for the next 2years... new sump, ATI fixture, calcium reactor, etc a good running basic setup with no controller. It was a awesome tank....
Then sept 2019 things got to where i didnt have time for the maintenance on it anymore since graduating college and going to work full time. So the tank started going down hill quickly.
at that time i decided it was time for me to downsize to something more manageable with the time i have between work.
So i tore down the 150gallon and sold it. Kept the fish and what corals that lived and put those in a 60gallon frag tank.
then started the planning process of what i was getting next. I wanted something no bigger then around 75 gallons but didnt want anything bigger then 3ft and wanted to take this build slow and get nicer equipment/corals this go round without going into debt!
I tossed around the IM 50 lagoon EXT and 75 EXT. Got a few quotes from places on tanks that size.
i contacted SCA for a quote and ended up buying a 30x24x16 with stand from them with it drilled for Ext Overflow.
well after waiting 15 weeks and still no take but kept getting delays, they offered me a refund.This is not bashing SCA in anyway. They make good tanks.
i got my refund and went on the search again. Looking back at the IM Tanks,waterbox,redsea, elos, etc.
i came across the FIJI cube 81 EXT .
36x24x22.5. Tank, stand, sump, ATO, and external overflow box for $1800!! AND 18 MONTH WARRANTY!
At that point i was sold!!
Now i am currently waiting on that tank to come in. And trying to make a decision on some equipment that i need to buy.
Ill share a few pics of my previous tanks along with the one i settled with at the end!
All pics are in order from the time i started to right before i tore my 150 down
This is my first build thread on here but not my first tank. I am 23 and have been in the hobby for about 5 years?
A little history....
i started this expensive beloved hobby with a 72 gallon bow front. At the time i was a college student on a MAJOR budget. I bought when i could and tried getting the best deals possible.
a short period later i came across a 60gallon cube full setup on the interweb For like $500...
after chatting with the guy for a bit, he finally says, if you got a truck and someone to help load come get it we need it out the house.....
Lets just say me and my dad took off on that 4 hour road trip to go get this setup for FREE!
Anyways, i restarted that tank after getting it home and kept it up for about a year until i got the urge to upgrade.
i came across this 5x2x2 SCA150 that the guy had listed for a long time. ( he wanted t0 much) . After talking with him on and off for a while i finally got him down to a price i was willing to pay.
I sold the 60gallon and put everything in a 40b until i got the 150 and got it set up.
sept 2017 i officially set up the 150gallon tank. I slowly built that system up for the next 2years... new sump, ATI fixture, calcium reactor, etc a good running basic setup with no controller. It was a awesome tank....
Then sept 2019 things got to where i didnt have time for the maintenance on it anymore since graduating college and going to work full time. So the tank started going down hill quickly.
at that time i decided it was time for me to downsize to something more manageable with the time i have between work.
So i tore down the 150gallon and sold it. Kept the fish and what corals that lived and put those in a 60gallon frag tank.
then started the planning process of what i was getting next. I wanted something no bigger then around 75 gallons but didnt want anything bigger then 3ft and wanted to take this build slow and get nicer equipment/corals this go round without going into debt!
I tossed around the IM 50 lagoon EXT and 75 EXT. Got a few quotes from places on tanks that size.
i contacted SCA for a quote and ended up buying a 30x24x16 with stand from them with it drilled for Ext Overflow.
well after waiting 15 weeks and still no take but kept getting delays, they offered me a refund.This is not bashing SCA in anyway. They make good tanks.
i got my refund and went on the search again. Looking back at the IM Tanks,waterbox,redsea, elos, etc.
i came across the FIJI cube 81 EXT .
36x24x22.5. Tank, stand, sump, ATO, and external overflow box for $1800!! AND 18 MONTH WARRANTY!
At that point i was sold!!
Now i am currently waiting on that tank to come in. And trying to make a decision on some equipment that i need to buy.
Ill share a few pics of my previous tanks along with the one i settled with at the end!
All pics are in order from the time i started to right before i tore my 150 down
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