SamMule's SCA 150. Upgrade!

[SamMule]

Intro:

My name is Sam and I have been reefing up here in NW Montana for about 5 years now. Born and raised in this great state, I have always been fascinated by aquatic life. I kept freshwater aquariums for many years growing up, but never got too crazy with it.
Around 5 years ago, my fiance' suggested we get a saltwater tank. My response was "nah... they're too much work". After a little convincing, I went out and bought a little biocube 16. What a great little tank!
it didn't take long to get bit by the bug.

After a few months, I was stuffing all kinds of coral into that little cube. It didn't take long to get it full. Here it is at its peak.

Shortly after getting the biocube set up, i bought a used Redsea MaxC 250 from a friend. After a quick restoration, I had it up and running in no time. (Build thread for that tank here)

Now, after a few years of this, i decided that I'd like to go down to 1 tank. So, I out together a 75g aqueon, dropped a tenecor AIO kit into it, built a stand and hood, and got it going.
Heres a condensed version of that build...
Tank and stand assembly.

AIO kit installed:

Aquascaped:

Lights and hood:

Before teardown:

It didn't take me long to realize this wasnt going to be big enough...

However, I just couldn't find the right setup... at least, not within a price range that would keep me out of hot water with the boss!
After a year or more of looking, it came down to either a custom from Glasscages or an SCA. Glasscages is well known for their superb quality and excellent customer service. Prices arent bad either! But, in the end, SCA's black friday deal was just too good to pass up!

Steve at SCA was excellent to work with. He answered all of my questions adequately and was a pleasure to talk with when getting the final details hammered out.

 

[SamMule]

The build:

After ordering, It was time to look at floor reinforcement. Even with the 75g tank in place, the floor was a little too springy for my liking.
House was built with 2x10 floor joists spanning just shy of 15'. Tank will run parallel to the floor joists.

I found some old 6x8's from an old project that would work perfectly for floor reinforcement. Installed 2 of them under the tank area spanning past the walkway and just under the living room. Spaced about 4 feet apart and supported by 4 jack posts on top of cement bases. Should be more than enough to support the weight of the heavy tank!

Floor is rock solid now!


Tank, stand, and hood arrived from SCA in good condition.

The plan is to light it with a pair of orphek Atlantik Icons, so the hood will need to be raised. Current height is only about 5.5" from the water level from the bottom of the lights. Shown here with the 4 12" t-tracks that the lights will be attached to.

Fun part... building an extension for the hood.

Target light height was 16". Looks like it will come in right at 15.5. Should be just fine.

With all of the extra weight, added a 4' piano hinge to the center.
All painted up!

Now, for the plumbing.
Tank arrived with 3 bulkheads sized for 1"pvc. 3 pieces already precut for a "herbie" overflow. I've never had a sump before, so this is all new to me.
Sump is a trigger obsidian 34. Comes with a manual filter roller! Another black friday deal I just couldn't pass up from BRS!

Sump fit into stand with lots of room to spare!

All plumbed in.
Stuck with the 1" stuff the whole way through. Not bad for a first timer! Best of all. No leaks!

75g taken down and as much livestock packed into the Redsea as possible. Rest goes into a bin.

With the help of a friend, we got it all moved into place. This thing is HUGE!

Filled with water and stuff from bin transferred over.

Aquascape will take a little fine-tuning, but here's the initial layout. I'm going to try something new. Sort of a half-sand, half BB approach.
Not sure if I'm gonna use the rock from the redsea or not.

Also, added a strip of black tape to hide the dead space above the waterline near the rum. HUGE difference in aesthetics! The glare from the lights reflecting off of the water was really annoying. This solved that issue.

 

[SamMule]

Git everything moved over from the other tank. Really packed in there! Going to have to figure out something as far as aquascape goes. I'll probably add a little more sand to the right side as well. Wrasse is having a hard time finding a spot deep enough.

Also. Got the doser plumbed in and added a light under the sump so I can see what I'm doing. Still have a lot of cleaning up to do as far as wire routing and whatnot. However, I'm going to wait to do that until the rest of my pumps show up.