BirdGuy21
Active Member
My JBJ 45 had been running well for what will be three years come November. It’s been a great first saltwater tank but I had the urge to upgrade fairly soon after setting it up. I started seriously researching tank manufacturers and equipment around this time last year and sat down to create a list of things I wanted in a new tank. I thought about what I liked about my current set up and what I didn’t like. I knew I wanted to get away from cube tanks. For me- hard to aquascape and provide depth, limited fish selection, and overall just not as pleasing personally to my eye. Two feet front to back was a must to help create depth- I had a freshwater tank that was too narrow and was very hard to scape. The tank would have to be in the basement down a flight of very narrow stairs and travel through the kitchen with a sharp turn to the stairwell. While I wanted a six foot tank it just wasnt feasible. Four foot was too short though, so five feet would have to be the maximum. I seriously considered the well known tank manufacturers- Waterbox, RedSea, and CADE. But I knew myself- while I’d have loved to have an easier time plumbing the tank and not have to worry about planning that kind of detail I would eventually have been dissatisfied. I like to do things myself and have options to select what I want and didn’t want to feel limited in what I could accomplish in my plumbing or sump selection. I wanted a solid wood stand with plenty of space underneath for an oversized sump to accommodate any future filtration needs. I didn’t want to be constrained by space like I am with the 45 AIO.
I contacted several local manufacturers in my area and got quotes and strongly considered building myself. With lumber prices through the roof at the time though I calculated I wouldn’t be saving that much money in the long run and my time was stretched thin as it was with other obligations. Plus, pricing locally was more expensive than originally thought.
Which led me to SCA. There’s a few build threads going on right now that I’ve been following intently. Tank quality seemed good and the price was reasonable. I emailed SCA for a few quotes on different packages as I didn’t want their PNP system. I wanted a herbie setup and Steve was very accommodating with all my questions about tank build specifications. So I placed my order in January of this year for 150 gallon tank and stand. I opted out of their sump for while it looked spacious I wasn’t keen on the design. I thought about redoing the layout but I can get hung up on the details so knew I wouldn’t be completely happy if I went that route. I really wanted to have space for a refugium down the road for nutrient export as well as sustaining a pod population. The sump had to have an adequately sized refugium chamber that was easily accessible and viewable. I landed on a Trigger CR44 as it checked all the boxes of what I wanted.
The tank arrived by March and what an adventure it was to get it in the house and down to its final location. The tank weighed approximately 300lbs empty and we didn’t have a lot of room to work with. In order to get it around the turn in the kitchen into the basement stairwell we had to remove the basement door, kitchen side door, and railing. It was a tight fit but we made. My house is over 100 years old so the stairwell is narrow and you have to duck at the bottom. We opted to gently slide the tank down the stairs at an angle braced against my back as I “scooted” down the stairs one at a time. One guy stood in front and provided support and the other stayed on the other side of the tank to make sure it stayed straight. Thankfully this worked out very well. Unfortunately we didn’t have suction cups so lifting it into the stand (36” tall) was a good workout.
To be continued…
I contacted several local manufacturers in my area and got quotes and strongly considered building myself. With lumber prices through the roof at the time though I calculated I wouldn’t be saving that much money in the long run and my time was stretched thin as it was with other obligations. Plus, pricing locally was more expensive than originally thought.
Which led me to SCA. There’s a few build threads going on right now that I’ve been following intently. Tank quality seemed good and the price was reasonable. I emailed SCA for a few quotes on different packages as I didn’t want their PNP system. I wanted a herbie setup and Steve was very accommodating with all my questions about tank build specifications. So I placed my order in January of this year for 150 gallon tank and stand. I opted out of their sump for while it looked spacious I wasn’t keen on the design. I thought about redoing the layout but I can get hung up on the details so knew I wouldn’t be completely happy if I went that route. I really wanted to have space for a refugium down the road for nutrient export as well as sustaining a pod population. The sump had to have an adequately sized refugium chamber that was easily accessible and viewable. I landed on a Trigger CR44 as it checked all the boxes of what I wanted.
The tank arrived by March and what an adventure it was to get it in the house and down to its final location. The tank weighed approximately 300lbs empty and we didn’t have a lot of room to work with. In order to get it around the turn in the kitchen into the basement stairwell we had to remove the basement door, kitchen side door, and railing. It was a tight fit but we made. My house is over 100 years old so the stairwell is narrow and you have to duck at the bottom. We opted to gently slide the tank down the stairs at an angle braced against my back as I “scooted” down the stairs one at a time. One guy stood in front and provided support and the other stayed on the other side of the tank to make sure it stayed straight. Thankfully this worked out very well. Unfortunately we didn’t have suction cups so lifting it into the stand (36” tall) was a good workout.
To be continued…
