50G SCA Aquariums SW - tank new to me

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Autumnsky

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Sold my big SW tank IM Nuvo SR-80, which was 4 feet long.

Have my 3 foot "temporary" tank which has been going for about 2 years and a move to a different house left me with only a slim spot for a new aquarium.

Found this really neat tank for sale on CL for $260.

It came with the tank, net top, stand, piping and tubing, and a sump/ refugium.

It is really pretty. Good condition. Used for 3 years.

50 GALLON STARFIRE PNP SYSTEM

I did buy a return pump as the one I did have was too low flow.

It's a Sicce Syncra Silent 2.0 Pump (568 GPH) 5year warranty. I didn't open it yet, also haven't got the tank together yet.

Still very concerned about a sump, (never had one and keep thinking it will leak everywhere), and am learning about what to do with it.

The SW lfs guys said I will love it... :popcorn: So we'll see.

Bought some snails, Chaeto ball, filter sock and a tube of reef stick to putty together wet rock which will come from my other tank. And a small arch rock. Ordered some CaribSea Pink Fiji Live Sand. And sadly, I know it isn't really pink.

Got to run by a couple fun SW stores in South Denver and Denver.

The one in Denver has Rock Flower Anemones. I may have to wait to purchase any as the cost for new water and all the other stuff is draining my available tank build funds, lol, a small budget.

Am excited to get a nice SW tank running. I feel pretty lucky to get it. I was the first person to respond. Guy put up the ad before work Thursday, and answered me when he got off work, and then wasn't available until 10am Saturday, today. I had already decided to just buy a new low iron glass 32G 8mm tank for 189. because I couldn't find what I was looking for. And HAVE to get the SW tank inhabitants. rock moved this week.

SCA tank is 24"x24" cube 20" tall on the stand 53". There are 3 possible locations to put it and the location of my 4' FW tank hasn't been decided yet, so maybe can finish hashing that out tomorrow.

Will do pics asap.
 
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Oh boy, this is always the exciting part. The move and set up of a new system was a lot of fun for me when I was moving into my new house. Can't wait to see what all comes out of it.
 
Sca looks great, when I get a larger system I’ll probably go with one of their pnp systems. Plans for the tank? Lps? Sps? Softies? Mixed? Rock flowers only lol? Cubes are great, looking forward to it!
 
Rock Flowers for sure. One of my favorites. It is not yet clear what will happen in there.
Prensently just a Mandarin Dragonette, an ancient, appx. 7 year old yellow Clown Goby. A Gold Nugget x Lightning Maroon Clown, which digs sand piles like there is no tomorrow. And a Coral Banded shrimp. A couple Coral frags. There may be some one interested in taking the Clownfish to try and mate (theirs).

So pretty much wide open.

Thank you for the good wishes of hope and encouragement. I'm not expecting a spectacular display, but one I can enjoy. I'm more in it for the little critters living together. The corals do not exactly have little behaviors/ personalities. Costs prohibit jumping in big.

Wednesday will be moving some rock and adding the water. The sand might not arrive until Thursday.
 
I’m definitely a coral junkie! But I do still appreciate all the workings and sophistication that Is a reef ecosystem! I’m sure it’ll end up looking great
 
Miracle Mud has pretty much been proven to be nothing but the same mud from most people's backyard if I remember correctly. Now if that mud is bringing in any essential elements that we don't test for and is beneficial or anything... It isn't something that I use.
 
The majority of bottles of additives for keeping the reef, have an enormous amount of minerals and things specifically for growing corals and keeping a healthy reef / tank environment, and so it seems that would be adequate.

There are so many choices of brands. 30 years ago there weren't options available like now.

Help me out here too... please.
https://www.aquariumadvice.com/foru...ucts-and-special-tips-376777.html#post3561752

Any favorites?
 
Yep until you see a serious drop in alk and calcium daily you will be just fine with water changes with a quality salt. It doesn’t sound like you’ll be running an sps dominated system anyway.
 
That is true.

Today I have spent looking through all sorts of options for the tank. Lights, NSA / negative space aquarium rock builds, types of rock options, sand, sumps, stocking a refugium, whew, and still not firm answers.

It would be lovely to have a fancy light, and grow magnificent coral. I think it would be for now, a simple compilation, with economy in mind for the start.
 
Just do the KIS effect. Reef keeping is really easy. Long as it is pure water in from your ro/di, water changes can manage things easily.
A protein skimmer and algae turf scrubber can pretty much manage a tank's parameters.
 
Moved a bunch of rock from the old tank to the new house. Bought 6 lb of flat bottom base rocks for stacking, they had only Life Rock so will be a bit odd with not exactly purple stone from my tank with the purplish ones.

My 20# bag of Pink Fiji arrived, and yup still not pink. Boo!!!

The tubing is now in the tank, and added the sand. (Was moving FW fish today.)

*********************

:confused: Big question...
The sump has 3 compartments, close to equal sizes but A is larger/wider by about an inch or so.

A) 2 compartments look like the same size in their compartment
*clue is the holder for the filter sock is in one of the squares from section A :angel:

B) Then a baffle
center section holds a baffle for each side section

(the baffle)
C) long open section the same width as the center

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Which section is for what!?

And which one holds the inflow and which one holds the pump for the return to the tank, if using a skimmer which would hold that, and then which is the refugium????

Painful to have to ask :rolleyes: , but the lfs is closed. Hahaha

What I think is, the Center section B with baffles is to help get rid of the bubbles for the return pump, and C section with open space is the refugium???

Plus

How often do we need to clean the filter sock (is it easier to have 2 socks?)
with very light amount of fish ? fish being A Clownfish, Clown Goby and a Mandarin Dragonet, plus a Medium-Large Coral Banded Shrimp.

No special Corals to feed.

I'm a noob!
 
It's easy, intake, middle, and return. Return pump in the smaller end to ensure you don't overflow the tank in you loose siphon. Middle is your refugium or all the equipment. Socks in front.
I clean my socks whenever they start overflowing. Which is a couple times a week for mine, but they are pretty fine. My old filter floss style ones were once a week during water changes.
For the skimmer, Mr X used to recommend putting it in the intake section with the socks if able. The theory is that it will strip the organics out of the water there, dump it into the 'refugium' section with whatever other equipment you have to remove gunk further from the water column, and then the freshest possible water ends up in the return and into the tank. But I keep mine in the middle section as it is where most of us have the most room.
 
Added some pieces of rock from my old tank to the new tank just to make sure they stayed wet, the others are in a tub with an air bubbler in the house. Fish are in a 12G waiting it out. I have been jammed up with things going on and too tired at the end of the day to focus on designing a rock scape.

Will probably just do something to get the fish into the tank, added all the snails in, day before yesterday and the water is clear and nice just as a jumble, lol.

After being told the only available fittings which might work to add a shut off valve were copper, I was able to skip the not helpful guy at the big box store, and find the irrigation section and get the fittings I needed, all by myself. To make the ball valves fit on the 1/2 inch and 1" tubing.

The not helpful guy saw me again and apologized for not thinking of the pieces I needed in the other section, so that was nice of him.

I rather have saved the hour it took me wandering all around trying to figure it out.

So I will add the valves to the tubes to the sump, asap. Got the FW fish main project almost complete, maybe tonight. Then the SW tank will be next. Just so many things needing attention.

WAY off my planned schedule, but very soon!
 
Been keeping the SW inhabitants in a temporary tank.

Got the rock set up and will probably will put the little guys into the new tank tomorrow. Started the shut off valve additions for the sump, but didn't finish it, was interrupted.
 
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