SC Aquariums 50 gallon PNP

Philipgonzales3 · Feb 28, 2019

More pics. Rocks look a little more colorful in person to me. Everything is maturing nicely from what I can tell. Macro algea frag fell in the sand. May need to glue it.

Why-Me · Feb 28, 2019

MAN DOWN!!
Looks great tank is definitely maturing.
Yes super glue that frag down, you can use super glue gel works great

Philipgonzales3 · Feb 28, 2019

@Why-Me

Yeah I'm procrastinating until after the move. I feel like it will be more likely to result in being damaged glued to a rock during transport. It's a short trip but still.

More pics that show the rocks better.

Philipgonzales3 · Mar 1, 2019

My Hanna checkers came in.

Tested my PH right away and got 8.5. Last tested value was 8.3 so going to calibrate both meters and retest. Both are close enough for my taste but want to make sure they havent drifted too much.

Tested my ULR phosphorus. 0ppb. I would have thought I would have had some phosphates. Will retest again another time.

Now to the main test I care about!

Man this is going to be so great! Going to know what my calcium is at, I'm so stoked!

But wait...

Upon further inspection I find this...

The liquid reagent was closed but guess it wasn't fully sealed. I didn't notice until I started to try to do the test. I started looking up the instructions (I wanted to watch a video on this one since it seemed like a few steps at least) and I noticed the powder reagents were soaked. Then I grabbed the liquid reagent bottle and noticed it was empty.

Bummer. No worries though. I'll just have to buy some calcium reagents.

Philipgonzales3 · Mar 4, 2019

Moved tank to new rental house on 03/03/19.

Pics are already in another post but will also post them here so I can look back later in one spot.

03/03/19

03/04/19

Why-Me · Mar 4, 2019

I love the rustic grey cabinets , That's what I got too. Cool looking but neutral enough to throw into any room.

Philipgonzales3 · Mar 4, 2019

Why-Me said:
I love the rustic grey cabinets , That's what I got too. Cool looking but neutral enough to throw into any room.

Mine is actually American grey. If you compare both of our cabinets I believe they are slightly different looking. That reminds me I need to order my grey cabinet for my ATO! I'll order it now.

Philipgonzales3 · Mar 4, 2019

Bummer...just my luck!

Why-Me · Mar 4, 2019

You're right I noticed that they are different but both grey and quite similar upon first glance anyway.
I noticed mine has push/pull knob on the door.

Why-Me · Mar 4, 2019

Since Steve at SCA is so close to the production of the items he sells he may know the paint for your cabinet, you'd be able to paint a white one to match exactly.
He has a company build these cabinets for him, I'm sure that color information is available to him if he asks.
Send him an email.

Philipgonzales3 · Mar 4, 2019

Why-Me said:
Since Steve at SCA is so close to the production of the items he sells he may know the paint for your cabinet, you'd be able to paint a white one to match exactly.
He has a company build these cabinets for him, I'm sure that color information is available to him if he asks.
Send him an email.

True, I actually emailed him asking if I would be able to get paint for little touch ups and for when my daughter inevitably draws on it. He confirmed he can get the paint. I did not ask on price yet. Waiting until I need it. I think I'm going to try to wait for the grey one. I'll keep looking for other alternatives in the meantime. If I have to I will paint something but if I don't have to even better!

Philipgonzales3 · Mar 5, 2019

Why-Me said:
Since Steve at SCA is so close to the production of the items he sells he may know the paint for your cabinet, you'd be able to paint a white one to match exactly.
He has a company build these cabinets for him, I'm sure that color information is available to him if he asks.
Send him an email.

You know I was reading about ATO's today and honestly I'm not too familiar with any of them. I was reading about a spectrepure one and someone said the pump can be far away from the tank. I mean I guess I knew that before but it seems it may make sense to add an ATO directly to my brute. The person mentioned doing the same thing and that the pump is near the controller.

My living room has a shared wall with the utility room that the dryer is in. Just need to drill 1 hole and route the tubing. That may be the way to go. No need for an extra cabinet now right?

Why-Me · Mar 5, 2019

A shared wall like you mentioned will be perfect.

Philipgonzales3 · Mar 5, 2019

Why-Me said:
A shared wall like you mentioned will be perfect.

I guess the only concern would be having too much water in the brute. Space is pretty limited or else I would put a separate smaller reservoir in the utlitlitu room. I'll have to think about it for a bit but I think I just have to get a good ATO and be cognizant to the fact that it contains the potential to replace a large volume of the tank with RODI water.

Why-Me · Mar 5, 2019

I wouldn't go directly from the brute either. Get a smaller container 5gal or less. That way worst case scenario you accidently flood your sump by a gallon or two. It'll at least be a manageable mess. LOL

Philipgonzales3 · Mar 5, 2019

Why-Me said:
I wouldn't go directly from the brute either. Get a smaller container 5gal or less. That way worst case scenario you accidently flood your sump by a gallon or two. It'll at least be a manageable mess. LOL

True. I'll see what size I can fit next to the brute. May be able to get a good size container there just will have to reach over it to open up the valve for the RODI filter. I'll check it out tomorrow to double check the space.

Why-Me · Mar 5, 2019

5gal bucket with lid. You can even put float valve on it to set the amount of water you want.

Philipgonzales3 · Mar 5, 2019

Why-Me said:
5gal bucket with lid. You can even put float valve on it to set the amount of water you want.

True a 5 gallon bucket will easily fit there. May start with that and see how quickly it gets used. I had to go put something in the dryer and I think the area is at least 1'x3' . I do have a lot of 5 gallon buckets and lids (around 15 I think). So might as well use that.

Philipgonzales3 · Mar 6, 2019

Tank is moving along. Will be testing some params tomorrow.

Philipgonzales3 · Mar 7, 2019

You know what @Why-Me. I'm thinking about getting the cabinet anyway and using the bottom to move over as much of the electrical stuff as possible.

My other half could use the top to put whatever junk she wants lol. I got an alert that it was back in stock, but haven't checked the site yet.