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Post by steelheader09 on Mar 8, 2021 1:16:56 GMT -5
Anyone on here ever owned a tank from SC Aquariums? They look nice and prices are amazing. Just looking for some local feedback.
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Post by gotareef on Mar 8, 2021 22:18:46 GMT -5
I had the 40g cube pnp system years ago and loved it... I want the 150g system 60"×24"×24"
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Post by Kevin on Mar 9, 2021 15:15:47 GMT -5
Never had one but always wanted that 150 as well. Rob, buy one so I can come see it in person!
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Post by yurgireef on Mar 11, 2021 10:34:06 GMT -5
I have the SCA 50 gallon. My wife purchased me the 50 gallon PNP system (cabinet, sump, skimmer). After research, I called SCA and changed her order to the TANK + SKIMMER.
It's a cube, 24 wide x 24 deep x 20 high
Internal overflow, rear center. The overflow is about 11" wide x 6" deep. So, this really only leaves 18" front to back of space. The back right and back left are dead spots due to the center overflow. I would say I was fairly limited when it came to space to aquascape.
The tank came pre-drilled with 3 holes. They sent me plumbing for a herbie style primary drain, T'd return and capped 3rd pipe for the 3rd hole. I ended up doing my own plumbing and am running bean style with primary drain, emergency drain, and return in the 3 pre-drilled holes.
Overall packaging for shipment was horrible. Then my delivery driver dropped the damn thing out of the back of his truck! Anyway, they just packed the pumps and skimmer inside the tank, no packing materials. The things slid all around from California to Maine. The rear black acrylic covering the internal overflow is all scratched up. I was able to get most out with elbow grease prior to setup and now my aquascape covers up the other scratches.
The tank: Glass is awesome! They did a pretty good job on the silicone. I have read different things about SC Aquariums tanks. Rave reviews and others saying the QC is horrible. I think that earlier in the company's history they had QC problems. Operations seemed to be moved from China to California, via Steve Chow (owner). Steve seems to have the QC on tank builds under control in CA but several pieces of equipment still coming from China.
My return pump and skimmer pump are both chinese and horrible. Return pump actually lives in the basement for mixing saltwater now. The originally shipped return pump arrived broken and it took me about 6 weeks to get a new one. SC Aquariums customer services is HORRIBLE!
Add ons: Sump - nothing special here and somewhat small. I ended up calling SC Aquariums and told them I didn't want the sump. They also would have upgraded my sump, selling me the sump for the 60 gallon or 90 gallon if I wanted to. Their cabinet looks horrible and from reviews/research I did people confirmed that. I ended up building my own cabinet.
ALL in ALL: You get what you pay for in this hobby. Perhaps the larger SCA tanks are fine, but all the other BS that you have to deal with I don't really think is worth.
Will I buy any product from SC Aquariums again - NO!
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Post by steelheader09 on Mar 11, 2021 20:04:16 GMT -5
You confirmed a lot of what I have been told. I am really only interested in the tank itself. I plan on doing all my own equipment, stand and plumbing. Its hard to pass up the cost of just the tank.
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Post by gotareef on Mar 11, 2021 20:50:34 GMT -5
That's strange... not my experience at all... I had the 40g pnp.. I got it from ebay when they were just starting selling tanks... I upgraded the skimmer to the 180g version (to put on my 180g) they shipped the smaller skimmer, then sent me the 180g skimmer in about a week so I got the 180g size skimmer free... All was packed well in the tank with lots of packing
Stand was nice but imo too short not much clearance for equipment
The only thing I didnt like it came on a tractor trailer truck lol
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Post by steelheader09 on Mar 11, 2021 22:27:38 GMT -5
I actually may go a different direction. I'm talking with another company right now. Thanks for all the input!
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