Boyu Tl-550 Set Up Help

Welsh_Reef said:

HI All

to the salty side of life and TFF

Purchased the Tl-550 from a local stockist 10 days ago. Was told it was a good tank but crap instructions, which I fully agree with.

Yes, a good tank

I took it all out & washed the tank & parts in cold water, put everything back where it was found originally & then set the pipes etc in. Filled the tank adding the stress coat which we were given by the shop, & then added the salt. Switched the whole thing on & the water cleared.

Well, would have been a good idea to get the water up to temp. first, but never mind, not the end of the world you don't need stress coat - what is your SG, after the water has reached temp. ?

The only trouble I have got is the skimmer, the cup at the top of the skimmer is empty but the section inside of it is half full of water because I have turned the air valve but when I open the vale which has the white stuff coming up it bubbles all over- is this normal? If not how can I rectify the problem. If I turn the valve down then the bubbles go away & all I am left with is the water as before. Im worried that I havent set this up right so would be so grateful for any help.

Ok, you don't need the skimmer yet as you have nothing in there to skim! However, don't panic - just needs a little playing with until you get the right result. yes if you have the valve fully open that will happen, just turn it down a wee bit

Finally should the sponge filter be put under the skimmer (where it was in the box) or shoudl it go under the bioballs?

Ditch all sponges and bio balls and noodles - replace with, Live rock rubble and rowophos

Many Thanks

Have you read the many 550 set up threads and journels on here? Mine and my sisters is 'our journey to the salty side'

Welsh Reef

Click to expand...

TigerIssey said:

If you are wanting a reef you really need to get that tap water out, it will not just be copper, there will be nitrates and phosphates in the water that will affect the tank considerably.

For LR you want some nice sized pieces in the tank as this will be your filtration and you will attach corals to it. You will also want some rubble, very small pieces in the back of the tank to replace biobalss and noodles, these can be nitrate traps. You ideally want a nitrate and phosphate reading as close to 0 as possible.

In the back compartment you will also want a carbon and phosphate remover, Rowaphos is the best. I can thoroughly recommend reading Seffie and Trods Journal as it really is a wealth of information on starting up a reef, and as it is the same tank, will help you considerably.

Also, if you could answer the question on what you are hoping to achieve, types of coral, fish, inverts etc, we will be able to help you more.

Click to expand...

TigerIssey said:

Yes, I would empty out and start entirely with RO, you will have less problems further down the line. You will need to get this back up to temp and then add salt again. I would take out the water and place what LR you have in there whilst you are swapping out the water. As you want shrimp and snails, unless you do this, they would die on you.

In a tank that small you will not be able to keep a yellow tang, they need at least 75 gallons.

Flasher should be ok, I have a filamented, beautiful fish.

Pictures are always good

Lastly, the LFS gave you wrong advice, you won't need the stress coat at all.

Click to expand...

seffieuk said:

Ok, for the moment i am not going to discuss your fish list

So your plans are a reef with fish and corals

How much lr have you put in already - you will need approx 17 - 20k

As Tiger says, to avoid any problems, change all your water to RO water

Can see that you are already getting diatoms, so your cycle is under way

Have you started testing for:
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
?

Do you have a powerhead in the main display?
Is your spray bar pointing to the surface?

Seffie x

Click to expand...

Weve had the water tested & they said to get triple buffer into the tank which we are doing.

Click to expand...

TigerIssey said:

When you add the water back, get it up to temp then add salt, when it is completely dissolved and to the correct SG, then add the LR back. Oh indeed yes, dissolve the salt and test the SG before putting the live rock back

Weve had the water tested & they said to get triple buffer into the tank which we are doing.

Click to expand...

Stop using it for the moment, you pH and Alk will not be particularly stable whilst cycling anyway. If you add any supplements, you need to test for them. On to testing, you really need to get the test kits yourself and test yourself. I would say to begin with pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, API are OK, Salifert are much better.

Yes, buy your own and get to know a bit about water chemistry

Agree with Tina - STOP using it now - lfs are just trying to sell you stuff by the sounds of it

You will probably need a suplemental powerhead for flow around the tank, Seffie will confirm this as she has that tank.

You MUST have a powerhead in the main display - most go for a korallia 2 - fleabay best price usually

For rubble, you just need however much seffie says (not sure how much will fit) of LR rubble, its the bits that fall off the main stuff, usually LFS will have some sitting in the bottom of their LR tank.

Yep, get enough to fill approx. a third

As seffie says, how much do you have in the main tank now?? Yes, very important?

Click to expand...

Welsh_Reef said:

Quick update, we have added some hermit crabs, along with turbo snails (not called turbo for nothing it seems) & on the weekend we added 2 clownfish. They seem happy in the tank & are feeding well, but hell the food stinks. I will post some pictures when I get home tonight.

Also have 2 corals in there, forgotten the name of them but one of them is like a load of mushrooms, and the other is purpley with green end bits....LOL I know Im not good at describing

What other fish would people suggest goes well with Nemo & Marlin?

Click to expand...