Boyu Tl 550

Trod said:

Sorry charlie2005 to hi jack your thread
Cage how on earth do I turn UV off
My skimmer is exactly the same as charlie's but don't know anything about little black thing!!!!! I do have a small little box thingy which goes to something could that be UV plug


View attachment 54097

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Yes Trod, just unplug the little box thingy (technical term) shown in your pic

Thanks Cage

Hello again,

Hers an update for you all, I paid a visit to my local fish shop which i must say were very helpful spent about 45 minutes talking and getting prices for all equipment that i would need.
I spoke in depth about the filter arrangement and even had a look at a new Boyu tl550 filter to see what was different (quite a bit infact).
Heres what they advised to do:
From left to right.
1st chamber:Leave stock pump and uv as it is
2nd chamber:Heater
3rd chamber: remove bio balls etc and replace with Chaetomopora Chaeto ( algae ) and put a light above 24/7
4th chamber: skimmer and leave foam in

8-10 kg of live rock and reckons thats more than enough to filter system
AGREE? let me know.

One point do you think i should leave the stock skimmer or try to fit V2 120 nano skimmer if not i will just sell it on ebay or if anyone wants to buy it?

charlie2005 said:

Hello again,

Hers an update for you all, I paid a visit to my local fish shop which i must say were very helpful spent about 45 minutes talking and getting prices for all equipment that i would need.
I spoke in depth about the filter arrangement and even had a look at a new Boyu tl550 filter to see what was different (quite a bit infact).
Heres what they advised to do:
From left to right.
1st chamber:Leave stock pump and uv as it is
2nd chamber:Heater
3rd chamber: remove bio balls etc and replace with Chaetomopora Chaeto ( algae ) and put a light above 24/7
4th chamber: skimmer and leave foam in

8-10 kg of live rock and reckons thats more than enough to filter system
AGREE? let me know.

One point do you think i should leave the stock skimmer or try to fit V2 120 nano skimmer if not i will just sell it on ebay or if anyone wants to buy it?

Click to expand...

1st Chamber: Sort of agree. It depends on what you have planned for boosting your water turnover in the display.
2nd Chamber: no problem.
3rd Chamber: Agree with the bio balls but only bother with the Chaeto if you can get a decent light in there. A single led won't cut it... I've tried. You need a good multiple led light as a minimum. The more power the better and of course it depends on how much space you have to fit it.
4th Chamber: Agree but make sure you wash the foam out on a regular basis if you decide to leave it in otherwise it could start to cause you problems with nitrates. I wash mine in tap water to kill off any bacteria (the bacteria in the live rock will filter your water).

8-10k of rock should be fine but 8k is a little on the low side. However, often when you buy coral it will come attached to live rock so stocking lightly with live rock can actually help in this case.

Re: the skimmer. Most people have problems with the stock skimmer and either remove it entirely or change it. It's not a great skimmer even if you do get it to work without filling the tank with microbubbles so If it were me I would replace it before filling the tank (I replaced mine). You could always try selling the stock skimmer on ebay, just don't expect to get lots for it.

Nice to see an lfs willing to spend some time with you.

Is it possible to fit a v2 120 skimmer in a tl550 has anyone done it if so any help would be great, as for the chamber with the Chaetomopora Chaeto Arcadia do a Arc pod light for £23.00 which looks like it will do the trick should fit and waterproof.

I don't know about fitting in the V2 but if the lfs could give you the dimensions of the chamber then maybe you could do a mock up in cardboard and try it first of all.

Just googled the light and it appears to be a clip on one only. I haven't seen anything to say it can be submerged. If this is the case and I'm not being a prat then I don't think you will be able to mount it without serious modification of the lid.

You may (just may) be able to clip it onto one of the dividing walls of the chambers but this may need to be cut down as there is not a lot of room between these walls and the lid. I really don't think this will work.

If you do go for it though and it's successful then let me know as this could be useful to me.

Hi,
I have the same tank as you and I have put chaeto in the 3rd chamber and copied many people on here by pulling the plastic of the back of the tank and clipping a light on behind.
The nitrates in my tank went from 20 to near zero after doing this so its working great for me.

Come to think of it that's a great idea and one that Steelhealr advocates as he also did this to his tank. If you have the courage to cut the backing sheet from your tank it is the ideal solution.
I can't really do it with mine as the back sheet is solid plastic.

Good call Dani

Hi all,

If anyone is interested you can modify the 450 lid (and so I assume the 550 also) to run in a seperate supply to the moonlights. It took me about an hour to modify my 450.
firstly, remove the lid by undoing the vertical clamping plates either side of both hinges ( cover the tank to catch the small screws that you drop and get someone else to hold the lid for you).
With the lid on a table, remove the plastic splash guard over the lights, remove the lights and unscrew the metal reflector plate.
Lift the reflector plate away from the lid as far as it will go and trace the power lead to two terminal crimps (live and neutral).
Trace the live and neutral wires from the crimps to the moonlight switch and cut them in half, insulating the ends from the original mains lead crimp.
Drill a hole in the rear of the lid next to the hole for the original mains lead (use a small drill bit first to make a pilot hole since the plastic is very hard).
Run in a new mains lead and connect its live and neutral to the cut ends at the moonlight switch (in the UK connect the earth to the others you will see), insulate and put it all back together.
It sounds long winded but if you have some basic electrical knowledge then it will only take about an hour from start to finish. If you are happy to fit a plug on a device at home and understand the terms live, neutral, earth and crimp then it's a doddle. If you don't then DO NOT try the above.

Cheers

Hello again,
Well I eventually have some progress to report, my better half has had me decorating for Christmas
Well after reading Big C's post I decided to copy his idea and cover the back wall of the tank with Biorb media siliconed onto egg crate.After many cuts on my digits I managed to get a nice perfect fit,


The finished product





Nice fit




Well that's all for now i'll get on with putting the media on the egg crate and I'll post more pics later.I need to figure out how to attached the egg crate to the back wall any ideas?

Get stickin you Thief LOL
Regards
BigC

Very interested to see how this progresses.
Nice work charlie

Just an update for you all, What a job this is Big C I don't know how you managed all of your tank I've only done a tiny bit and i'm beginning to wonder what I am letting myself in for
It's so hard to stick them in place and I just praying that they stick and I don't have to re-do them?
Here's a few pictures of my progress.







Well I start again tommorrow night probably have it done by the weekend fingers crossed and I have the feeling I'm going to need more than two packs of media!

Will be well worth it in the end

Really interesting, keep the pictures coming

Big C, wondered why you decided to use the biorb media and not live rock?

Seffie x