SCA 50 Cube Build Thread

DiscGolfRob · Sep 23, 2019

Jefdav84 said:
Got the plumbing finished up and glued down. Waited 2 full days before i put any water through it. The water test seemed to go well for the most part. It seems like there may be some water leaking from the bulkhead on the emergency drain when i tested it. I tried to tighten them all up again, and it seemed OK, but still concerning.

Anyone have any issues with bulkheads in the past?

Seem to be having an issue as well where some water splashed on outside of tank when filling it up and it seemed to run down, and get under the bottom. Had to drain and lift the tank a little to get a paper town under to dry it up. Is there supposed to be some sort of mat that goes in between the bottom of the tank and stand? If so I never received one, but at this point I may just go buy one if I do need one.

Going to do some more testing tonight to make sure there are no leaks, and everything functions correctly.

My only leak on my wet test was at one of the bulkheads. I had only hand-tightened, previously, but gave the leaking one not even a quarter turn with a wrench, and had no more issues.

The tank should have come with a very thin foam mat. Some people use other materials, but I believe use of the mat is required for warranty claims, as it evenly distributes pressure. You may want to reach out to Steve at SCA, if you didn’t get one. It was basically “finished” to match my stand.

Jefdav84 · Sep 23, 2019

DiscGolfRob said:
My only leak on my wet test was at one of the bulkheads. I had only hand-tightened, previously, but gave the leaking one not even a quarter turn with a wrench, and had no more issues.

The tank should have come with a very thin foam mat. Some people use other materials, but I believe use of the mat is required for warranty claims, as it evenly distributes pressure. You may want to reach out to Steve at SCA, if you didn’t get one. It was basically “finished” to match my stand.

Do you by chance have a picture of what the mat looks like?

DiscGolfRob · Sep 23, 2019

Jefdav84 said:
Do you by chance have a picture of what the mat looks like?

I don’t have a picture of the mat without the tank on it. You can get an idea, here. Also came with a smaller one, for the sump. It’s basically just foamboard, like what you would use for a science fair exhibit. I’m not sure the material is exact, though

DiscGolfRob · Sep 23, 2019

actually, check out this video, around 5:15

Jefdav84 · Nov 14, 2019

Been a while since I have posted, but finally getting kick started again and hope to have everything up and running by sometime next week. Things that I have done since the last update.

Bought 40LBS of Caribsea Fiji Pink live sand

40LBS of Nature's Ocean Rock - I may use a piece of live rock from my current tank, but mainly just wanted to start fresh

Using my existing Philzon black box for lighting. I will post a picture of the mount later.

Bought a Jebao DCT 4000 return pump

Bought an RO Buddie system with the DI canister. Have made about 35 gallons of RODI water the past 2 days. Currently waiting on a water testing kit to arrive so hopefully the water that I have made already will be good enough. Now just have to figure out the best way to mix the salt.

Anyone out there have any tips on mixing in 5 gallon buckets?

There was one other question i had. I have been looking at jebao wave makers and wanted some input on what would be best. I have looked at the OW and SOW models. Would it be better to have one of the bigger models like the OW-25 or SOW-8? Or two of the lower models OW-10 or SOW-4?

I will be posting more updates in the coming days, so everyone stay tuned!

DQM5 · Nov 14, 2019

Nice! I also have a sca 50 gallon cube! Awesome tank

DiscGolfRob · Nov 15, 2019

Jefdav84 said:
Been a while since I have posted, but finally getting kick started again and hope to have everything up and running by sometime next week. Things that I have done since the last update.

Bought 40LBS of Caribsea Fiji Pink live sand

40LBS of Nature's Ocean Rock - I may use a piece of live rock from my current tank, but mainly just wanted to start fresh

Using my existing Philzon black box for lighting. I will post a picture of the mount later.

Bought a Jebao DCT 4000 return pump

Bought an RO Buddie system with the DI canister. Have made about 35 gallons of RODI water the past 2 days. Currently waiting on a water testing kit to arrive so hopefully the water that I have made already will be good enough. Now just have to figure out the best way to mix the salt.

Anyone out there have any tips on mixing in 5 gallon buckets?

There was one other question i had. I have been looking at jebao wave makers and wanted some input on what would be best. I have looked at the OW and SOW models. Would it be better to have one of the bigger models like the OW-25 or SOW-8? Or two of the lower models OW-10 or SOW-4?

I will be posting more updates in the coming days, so everyone stay tuned!

Good to see you back on, and making progress on the tank! Flow is one of the things that I am least comfortable with. I have two of the OW-25s. They work great, but I currently have them on the lowest setting. I wanted the flexibility of the bigger ones, and there will be less wear on them, not running at max. As I move into tougher coral, I'm sure I'll want to up the flow. The single toadstool I have loves the flow, as it currently stands. Your sand grain size is larger than mine, which will be nice.

Jefdav84 · Dec 4, 2019

Well finally after months of waiting and being busy I have finally got the SCA 50 up and running. I still have work to do with some cable management but for the most part the tank is up and running.

Thanks to everyone who assisted with my millions of questions, especially @DiscGolfRob who was a major help answering all of my DM's on equipment recommendations all the way down to plumbing assistance.

For those who hadn't followed my threads before the build. I started the hobby about 7 months ago and ended up with a 60 gallon marineland tank from PetSmart. At the time I had no clue what I was doing and ended up throwing money away on a setup I didn't like. I started doing most of my heavy research after I had the tank cycling. After about 3 months I was already wanting somewhat of a real saltwater set up, and that's where I spent tons of time researching. After going back and forth between the SCA50, RS170, and the RS250 I ended up with th SCA50.

With this somewhat of a tank transfer process I did the following.

- Two fresh bags of Caribsea Fiji pink sand

- 40lbs of the Nature's ocean coral base rock. I did use one piece of live rock from my existing tank which had Kenya tree attached. I had major issues with the live rock in my old tank. When it was all said and done I ended up with tons of aiptasia, bristle worms and the size of pythons, and who knows what else. The rock I did transfer I made sure to clean a little to get all of the pests off.

- For water I ended up getting the RO Buddie with the DI attachment. I made about 35 gallons of saltwater and then the rest of the water I pulled from my established tank.

- Transferred my Ocellaris Clown, Green Torch (dipped), small zoa colony (dipped), a couple turbo snails, two hermits, and a Nassarius snail.

- Used existing Philzon black box for lighting. Still trying to find the best way to conceal the power cord hanging as much as possible.

- Using a Jebao SOW8 for flow. Right now i am still trying to figure out the best spot, and settings. I was worried that this may not be enough for flow but currently have the speed setting at 2. Anything higher and my tank looks like a desert sand storm.

- Jebao DCT4000 return pump to replace the one that came with the tank

Outside of that stuff everything else is still stock. I will maybe look into an ATO but right now I have no idea where I would even put the reservoir. For now I am just keeping an eye on water level and adding RODI water as needed. I will be getting some better pictures today hopefully but for now this is what I have.

Please excuse the messy cabling, and no cabinet lighting. I will have some updated pictures later this evening.

DiscGolfRob · Dec 6, 2019

Looking good! Glad to see you've got it up and running.

JC50g · Dec 10, 2019

Looks great, my SCA 50g cube should be coming in tomorrow. I like how you ended up doing your plumbing, I am going to try to mimic it in a way.

Barrett · Dec 11, 2019

Looking good, I’m still in love with my SCA 50

Jefdav84 · Dec 12, 2019

Finally got a few more pics. Had to use the night mode feature on my phone to capture the white light. Still trying to figure a few things out to get everything dialed in, but so far everything has been running smooth for about 3 weeks. I will say this tank seems to be evaporating a lot more water than my old tank. Must be the open top.

I ended up using a yoga mat in between the tank and the stand. I wasn't really expecting the color to pop out as much as it does. Makes me wish I had gotten Black, White, or Gray.

Jefdav84 · Dec 12, 2019

JC50g said:
Looks great, my SCA 50g cube should be coming in tomorrow. I like how you ended up doing your plumbing, I am going to try to mimic it in a way.

Thanks. I kind of just looked at a bunch of different setups, and then just added a few of my own ideas. Lots of trips back and forth to Lowe's haha. @DiscGolfRob and @Barrett helped me a lot with questions that I had. I am sure if you are needing anything we would all be glad to help. Good luck, and look forward to seeing your set up.

GabeM · Dec 12, 2019

Looks good! I have an SCA 50 and I had to replace that skimmer as it is not reliable.

Jefdav84 · Dec 12, 2019

GabeM said:
Looks good! I have an SCA 50 and I had to replace that skimmer as it is not reliable.

I may eventually as well. What skimmer did you end up going with?

GabeM · Dec 12, 2019

I went with the reef octopus essence 130 but I would probably go with the 110 sss if I would do it again and it wasnt in a common area with roomates. The essence is dead silent.

Barrett · Dec 13, 2019

I have the Reef Octopus 150 sss and will be switching to the essence 130 after Christmas

Jefdav84 · Dec 27, 2019

I had started a different thread in the lighting forum for some recommendations. I ended up pulling the trigger tonight and ended up getting an AI Hydra 32 HD. Hopefully I made a good decision. I will not have a mount until Monday at the earliest, so once I have that all set up I will get some updated pictures of the tank!