SCA 120 Gallon PNP Build

[CJs Aquariums]

This is my very first forum post... so Ill try to make this short and sweet. I have a fully documented build on my YouTube channel:

CJ's Aquariums :
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJk-fASKh33tB4O7kVjcmxA

The goal is to add another way to share and document my journey.. So lets get started

This SCA 120 Gallon tank is an upgrade to me previous Marineland 37 gallon cube & JBJ 45 Rimless AIO tanks.. these covered my first 3 years in the hobby.. I can share these builds in another thread or you can find them on my youtube channel ...

That should give you all an idea of what kind of tanks Ive kept in the past....

Now lets move on to the SCA 120 gallon PNP system... the goal was to upgrade to a tank that was at least 3 times bigger than my previous two and also had a minimum width of at least 24''. My options where a 150 gallon 3 x 3 x 3 cube tank or this 120 gallon 4 x 2 x 2 aquariums from sca...

Considering the SCA tank included stand,canopy,sump,skimmer,return pump and plumbing.. i could NOT pass it up.

This tank was def everything i expected and more... Before everyone gets on me about the vent.. the tank has been moved since this photo...

Now that i had the tank... First thing was to address the sump... I wanted to change the arrangement of the baffles.. and toss the soft hosing that was provided... in its current arrangement I def wouldn't get the most out of it mechanical filter wise or refugium wise...

So the mission began... this is basically how i modified this sump for around $20 bucks...

first... i decided to replace the foam sheet under the stand... and clean out all the dust and dirt

replaced it with a 1/8'' thick blue yoga mat.. trimmed to fit inside the stand

this wasn't my first choice.. I originally looked for black mats... funny how seeing a diff color changes your whole plan.. now a blue PVC / black color scheme is in the works...

Now lets get to the sump... the glass baffles were just as thick as the tank itself.. estimated 1/4''... so i decided to keep them. Cutting them out was not fun... but i used razor blade and random tools around the house to get the job done..

everything was going fine... built the entire sump again.. only to find out I used the wrong GE II silicone ( Biggest Goof of the year) ....needless to say I wasted 2 days of my life... so I tore down the whole sump AGAIN.. and picked up the right silicone

GE I ( the blue stuff)

Glued the baffles into place according to my measurements for the skimmer water requirements, access for maintenance... and allow enough water in case of power outage...

the sump was pretty much completed... but i had the idea of painting the entire sump for added effect... making my plumbing pop.. so time to whip out the painters tape and spray paint ( Rust-oleum) was the brand I used...

After letting this dry... time to put the finished product in place to make sure it all fits right..

There are 3 main reason i decided to do this change..
1. First baffle now flows over into a filter tray.. I can place floss here and throw away easier
2. Skimmer is no long right before the return area.. this will prevent micro bubble and stop the skimmer from sucking up pods..
3. the refugium area is now double in size.. flowing from bottom to top.

The refugium area will house my Santa Monica Rain2 Algae Scrubber, Pond matrix media and soon to be purchased reactor for carbon

I still have a ton of work to do on this build... hopefully this thread post correctly and i can update it as i make more progress... thanks for reading!

For a full video on this build feel free to watch it on my youtube channel:

 

[Jimbo662]

I actually watched your video this morning. Waiting to see how it comes out.

 

[mta_morrow]

This is great. I subscribe to your youtube channel and enjoy your videos a lot......good job and thanks for sharing. Its about time for me to upgrade from my 1st tank, an IM30L.. Great way to start and I would do it again. Im strongly considering the 112 gallon SCA as I like the 5 ft length and 18" width for where it will go. I will be following and watching your progress.

 

[CJs Aquariums]

still figuring out this forums stuff... making videos are so much easier hahha... thanks fellas.. Ill update this thread as i make progress

This is great. I subscribe to your youtube channel and enjoy your videos a lot......good job and thanks for sharing. Its about time for me to upgrade from my 1st tank, an IM30L.. Great way to start and I would do it again. Im strongly considering the 112 gallon SCA as I like the 5 ft length and 18" width for where it will go. I will be following and watching your progress.

thanks man... Im still figuring out how to work and navigate these forums hahah.... guess I can use these to go into a little more depth as I work out this build. Ill have to proof read my thread it appears i can even change anything after I post it

 

[CJs Aquariums]

I actually watched your video this morning. Waiting to see how it comes out.

thats great! didnt know so many people were already subscribed on this forum... appreciate it

 

[pelphrey]

Glad to see you here! Following along, you'll learn the forums pretty fast.... Because you'll be spending a lot of time here!

 

[CJs Aquariums]

Phase 2 of the build will be modifying the canopy... The clean rimless euro braced look of this tank shouldn't be covered up. But i also wanted to be able to hide my light fixtures within the canopy... So i decided to float it above the tank. Ive seen this done on other tanks and this is my first time trying it.. especially the way i plan on doing it ...

lets get to the "plan"....

The canopy proved is solid wood and heavier than I feel comfortable with hanging from my ceiling... So i decided to mount it to the wall. Knowing that later this may effect access to the tank.. for mass changes. I decided to add heavy duty door hinges as the connection point from the canopy to the wall... with 2 chains to support it connected to the wall above. the plan is to be able to lift the canopy flat against the wall if ever needed...

this is a rough sketch .. but should give an idea of my plan...

this is some of the equipment and parts ill be using... including Drawer sliders for mounting the lights... i wanted to be able to easily remove them or adjust them within the canopy. finding the perfect spread is hard to predict without water and rocks in the tank.. so this will be helpful down the road.. without me having to disassemble the entire setup..

so now let the fun begin... this project is one I'm learning as I go... if all goes as planned it should look pretty nice!

 

[CJs Aquariums]

first this is getting these lights mounted into the canopy... to my surprise the Ocean Revive Lights made this super easy. The existing screws lined up PERFECTLY with the drawer sliders.. I couldn't have gotten any luckier. So this install is pretty straight forward.. remove a screw.. add a screw.. then screw in the other slider to the wood runners that will be inside the canopy. The reef gods are smiling upon me haha... For those that do this for a living excuse my elementary verbiage when describing what I'm doing.. i not versed in this at all..

so far this is looking like it will work out... now i just have to find the correct bracket for mounting the rails inside the canopy.. my original idea was just to drill and screw it in from the side.. unfortunately there is a 1/8'' gap .. so plan B will be using some type of bracket instead... off to home depot/ Lowes I go...

consider this To be continued...

 

[Jimbo662]

wow...that's a great idea for being able to adjust the lights.

 

[CJs Aquariums]

wow...that's a great idea for being able to adjust the lights.

Makes them fully removable too.. hate the idea of permanent in this hobby... we know that never ends well lol... should give me 8-10" of adjustable space.. doubt I'll need that much

 

[CJs Aquariums]

Got my hands on some cheap L brackets... so now we can continue.. I've mounted the rails for the draw sliders.. also had to add a center brace to secure everything a little more. That will be painted black when I'm done..

The next prob I ran into was not having enough room to slide both lights into there respective rails.. so I had to move both sliders to the far ends of the canopy.. also was off by 1/4" on the width of the rail so also had to fix those. It was a PITA but had to be done

So the lights have officially been mounted and slide just as I planned. The center brace serves as a stopper as well. It's a shame because I can't remove the lights without removing the brace but it also makes sure they don't just slide out into my tank...

Part one is compete... now the real fun begins.. I will have to locate the studs and mount the 1x3 backboard.. paint it then somehow get everything lined up for the right pilot holes... measuring just didn't get it done on the rails so I'll just trace it out and measure for the wall...

To be continued.. can't drill while the kids are sleep haha

 

[pelphrey]

Coming along nicely!!

 

[mta_morrow]

Looking good CJ

 

[mdlc805]

Looking good man I also really like your youtube videos. My next upgrade will be a 120 as well. following this build

 

[HughJazz]

Got my hands on some cheap L brackets... so now we can continue.. I've mounted the rails for the draw sliders.. also had to add a center brace to secure everything a little more. That will be painted black when I'm done..

The next prob I ran into was not having enough room to slide both lights into there respective rails.. so I had to move both sliders to the far ends of the canopy.. also was off by 1/4" on the width of the rail so also had to fix those. It was a PITA but had to be done

So the lights have officially been mounted and slide just as I planned. The center brace serves as a stopper as well. It's a shame because I can't remove the lights without removing the brace but it also makes sure they don't just slide out into my tank...

Part one is compete... now the real fun begins.. I will have to locate the studs and mount the 1x3 backboard.. paint it then somehow get everything lined up for the right pilot holes... measuring just didn't get it done on the rails so I'll just trace it out and measure for the wall...

To be continued.. can't drill while the kids are sleep haha

Very cool idea to mount lights. I might steal this

 

[CJs Aquariums]

Judgment day has arrived...

I was finally able to get the 1x3 measured.. and pilot holes drilled to match my studs in the wall and also the hinges on the canopy..

After a couple quick coats of black paint to help it blend in. On the wall both base boards went...

Took a little work getting the right size and depth for the pilot holes but eventually it all worked... my cheap drill didn't make it easy pushing 3" screws all the way into the studs haha

Most of the load will be on the chains connected to the top board...

I gave them one heck of a pull with most of my weight and they didn't budge... makes me feel better now that it's finally time to put this canopy on the wall....

... next update will ether be a celebration or funeral from it failing haha... to be continued...

 

[CJs Aquariums]

Very cool idea to mount lights. I might steal this

Sure there are better ways to do it feel free to make it work for you

 

[CJs Aquariums]

after another trip to Home Depot for extra screws back to the build...

First thing was to attach the canopy to the chains for support. This also make this a easier job...

To my delight the chains were able to suppor the full weight of the canopy without any issues.. consider them the 3rd man helping to lift the canopy for the tough part... attaching the hinges.. predrilling the holes made it a lot easier

Adjusted the chain length to make the canopy parallel to the floor and tank..unfortunately I miss predicted the amount needed so have a extra foot of chain that needs to be trimmed

At this point everything is mounted and ready to go...

So now let's slide the tank under and see how it turned out!

I'll def consider this a major victory with my first floating canopy... lights are 16" off the water and I still have plenty of access to the tank. If needed I can still raise the lights due to the hinges I installed... works perfect. So now we can move on to plumbing the tank....

The build continues ...

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

Wow great build. Il be following.

 

[CJs Aquariums]

Wow great build. Il be following.

Thanks! So much more work to do haha