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not another 120??


Sofreef

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I have been a member for a while mostly for research, to get ideas on tank builds and see what’s for sale from community. Figured it time to post some stuff since I am currently in the process of my new 120 mix reef tank build out. I did a concurrent post in the Welcome/Introductions area with equipment/stock information on my current 55 cube tank; take a peek there if you have time.

 

I bought a house about 2 years ago and since then, I've had that itch for a bigger tank. My current 55, which was huge in my 1 bedroom apartment, suddenly looked like a desk toy.

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I'm going with SCA 120 Eurobraced Starfire glass tank. I chose the 120 for a couple of reasons. 120 is the largest standard size I could fit in the nook next to the dining room where the 55 was. 120 is also the largest size I'm willing to go considering it will be sitting on the second floor of the house. The tank will be up in the corner against 2 load bearing walls perpendicular to the floor joist. In addition, the space directly underneath is a small bathroom. While the walls of the bathroom is not load bearing, I'm hoping it will act as a failsafe to prevent excessive sagging should it be a problem. From what I can gather 120 seems to be the largest capacity most people would agree shouldn’t be a problem without additional supports. If I am wrong and the thing crashes through the floor I'll let you guys know :)

 

Old Stuff: I will be reusing the 2 VorTech MP40s, BRS Reactors, ATO, and Kessil lights from my old tank.

 

New Stuff:

Tank: 120 SCA rimless eurobraced reef ready with star fire glass on front and sides.

 

Stand: Instead of a standard wood frame stand, I wanted something that looks more custom with a "built into the house" quality about it. I went with a custom aluminum fame built out of quarter inch gauge 2x2inch square tubing. When planning this tank, I always knew I wanted a metal stand and chose aluminum due it its lightweight and corrosive resistant properties. The stand is 36 inches tall (standard counter height) to allow plenty of room underneath for equipment upgrades, expansion, maintenance, etc. (Shout-out to JB Custom Welding in South Riding who did a heck of a job building the tank stand). :rollface:

 

Tank is sitting on a standard laminate counter top cut to length to fit the space and matches closely to the real granite counter tops in the rest of the kitchen. The counter top edges sits about 1/2 from the walls on the sides so my plan is to bridge the gap with caulk, then build doors to cover the entire frame. The goal is to make it look like the countertop the stand is on was built into the house.

 

Sump: I went with the Trigger Systems Triton 44. I knew I definitely want a large refugium, mainly for pod production since eventually I want to keep a mandarin goby (was is the fish that got me into SW). Triton is fuge centric and has the largest fuge volume of any sump of its size. I won't be adhering to the full Triton method.

 

Lights: I will be reusing the Kessil A160's. I plan on adding a 360 to the mix.

 

Return Pump: Reef Octopus VarioS-8

Tank Controller: Neptune Apex with Wifi

Skimmer: Reef Octopus eSsence S-130

Fuge light: TBD

 

Staging the area the tank will go in:

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Eventually I will be putting up doors on the stand to hide the sump. I planning on mounting the doors on wooden frame, then connecting the frame to the stand either via some rare earth magnets or some sort of removable latch. The idea is to have them easily removable for maintenance. 

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I’m using 1” plumbing for everything with fittings and red pvc pipe. The SCA comes bottom drilled for 3 inch bulkheads. going to do herbie style overflow. Plumbing plans sketch:

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Parts. Forgot to take a pic of the red pvc pipes :wacko: (but you'll see it in the dry fitting pics)

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Dry fitting:

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I'm moving kinda fast now since I found out the heaters in my old tank just bit the dust so sorry for the sparse photos but trying to get the tank up and running ASAP.

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First big deviation from the original plan. I decided to ditch my initial idea of keeping my two kessil 160's and adding a 360 in a [A B A] configuration.The combination of sufficient light output for SPS and difficulty finding a good mounting option has made me decide to save for some Radions. In the meantime I got a black box dual channel light for now until the Radions get here.

 

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Adding some rocks, sand and filling tank for the first time:

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I love the sump. I got it when BRS was having a sale and had it sitting in the garage for the longest time. The only thing I don't like about is it does not take filter socks (which some don't use anyways). LITERALLY the week after i got it triggers systems came out with v2 of the sump and the only difference that I can see is it has mounts for filter socks :dry:.  

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Testing for leaks in plumbing. Found the middle bulkhead leaking a bit and no way of tightening it without having to tear everything apart so I emptied and dried the overflow section and silicon the leaky spot.

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Then the next day I find the left bulkhead leaky which drove me crazy....decided to just seal all the bulkheads from the inside of the overflow. I figure when its time to break the tank down i'll just have to cut it out (deal with that when it happens lol)

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Moving over the live rocks from the old tank, with the new dry rock. I am also filling the tank 50% with the water from the old tank. I am hoping this will quickly cycle the new tank. 

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Cabling the neptune apex and mounting on the wall.

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Don't love the fact that you siliconed instead of finding the issue. The bulkheads shouldn't leak if they are put on right and tightened properly. You'll probably be fine, but instead of nipping the problem in the bud, it might cause trouble for you down the road when it will be MUCH harder to fix! 

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I always silicone my bulkheads. It just works and it’s easy to remove. Although... I don’t goop it on. I put a thin layer on the inside. It will squeeze into the drilled hole when the bulkhead is screwed down. I don’t put any intentionally on the threads. If you do that, it is too late. You need to stop the water on the inside.

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When the bulkheads went in, I tightened it as much as possible by hand but unfortunately don't have the tools to grip it and tighten any further. I had a feeling it would leak when I was cementing the pVC pipes to the bulkheads because they started to spin freely when seating the pipes, by then it was pretty much too late without tearing the whole thing apart :sad:.

I was also rushing a but at this point to get it up and running, was leaving town for a week in 2 days and my old tank was limping along.

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  • 2 weeks later...
(edited)

Since I used 100% of the rocks and 50% of the water from my old tank, cycling was super fast, only took about 2 weeks to complete. A quick diatom bloom, then ammonia, nitrite, and even nitrate went to undetectable levels on my API test kit.

 

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(I know the ammonia color looks greenish, but I double checked. My phone camera colors are off)

 

Little tour of the sump. Really simple return that is bifurcated to the return jets and a manifold. Manifold currently only has 2 outlets.

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First outlet runs a single canister BRS Reactor with biopellets that is sitting in the skimmer section. The effluent is discharge right next to the skimmer intake.

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Second outlet runs a dual reactor running a fluidized bed of Purigen in one, and AC in the other with discharge back in the refug section.

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Eventually will be adding 2 part doser when the CA demanding livestock goes in, but right now just maintaining levels using  kalk and water changes.

 

Edited by Sofreef
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Hmm, some photos aren't loading for me. Was the rock live when you used it? I'm surprised you even got ammonia if it was. 

 

Really digging that middle rock, is it attached to the arch on the left?

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May need to keep refreshing. Had the same issue viewing on my phone. The second and third rock is connected via arch. Thinking about creating a second arch over the first to fill the empty space above it.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

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22 minutes ago, Sofreef said:

May need to keep refreshing. Had the same issue viewing on my phone. The second and third rock is connected via arch. Thinking about creating a second arch over the first to fill the empty space above it.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
 

Some images don't pull up consistently and, when the link is copied into a new browser window, still comes up with a "Do Not Enter" symbol. The specific images not displaying for me are:

  • Jan 3 post, first picture.
  • Jan 14, 3:03PM: Pictures #1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 (i.e. all pictures)
  • Jan 14, 3:19PM: Pictures #1 & 7

 

 

 

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  • 5 months later...

Is there any update on this tank? I’ve been eyeing the SCA 120, but the one drilled for a ghost overflow so this build thread is almost exactly my vision. It looks amazing and might have just sold me. How is the tank treating you? Is it worth it? 

 

I was even going to get the Triton sump, but the 34 model just because I could use the extra space under the stand. 

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