Dived Straight In With The Orca Tl550

[bollands]

this is my first marine tank so bear with me

I just bought the orca tl550 with live rock and fish to collect on sun eve. And i do not want these to die.

Do i put live rock in water for trip?
what are the fish best in bag or box?
All inverts need to go in bag or box dont they?

The journey is aprox 40=50 mins away

Charlie

 

[bagu]

i havent done marine, but heres my 2p

put in saltwater, but refractometer, make the salinity 1.023

then put the live rock in, let it cycle

dont know about fish lol, but i expect them all to go in a bag in a box

 

[Truck]

this is my first marine tank so bear with me

I just bought the orca tl550 with live rock and fish to collect on sun eve. And i do not want these to die.

Do i put live rock in water for trip?
what are the fish best in bag or box?
All inverts need to go in bag or box dont they?

The journey is aprox 40=50 mins away


Charlie

keep the live rock and sand in water (salt water!)
fish in bags
inverts in bags but bag each item separately.

but get it set up before you move the stuff to your place.
fill the tank with RO water get it up to 25oC, get the specific gravity up to 1.025 using REEF salt (only if you have corals) and measure using a calibrated refractometer.
and acclimatize everything in buckets VERY slowly (3-4 hours using a piece of airline providing one drop of water a second. (tie a knot in it if necassary )
and buy some decent test kits for the following (buy saliferts)
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
PH
phosphate

and keep the parameters in check to avoid die off. make sure you have these frozen food supplements ready in your freezer

buy gamma blister packs of:
mysis
krill
brineshrimp
cyclopeez
rotifiers
blood worms


HTH

 

[ben1987]

Yeah, you need to keep that rock as wet as possible on your way home. If you get any die off on the rock then you could cause a cycle in the tank, ammonia would then spike and the fish probably wouldt make it.

Have more than enough water heated and mixed at your house. Then collect everything in bags and tubs get the tank filled and put everything in. Then test the water daily for a week or so and save the extra water just incase and readings jump a little so you can do some emergancy water changes.

 

[bollands]

I'm gonna take all the water with me in drums as it is mature and right parameters

Ive jet washed 6 chlorine hydroxide drums for the water u think this will be ok?

thanks
charlie

Smells clean lol

 

[ben1987]

i would still have a fair bit of water ready at your house.

as for the drums i wouldnt like to say

 

[Trod]

To the salty side and the 550 club

Don't forget to take lots of pictures of your journey, we love seeing things from the start (Well I do anyway )

 

[rabbut]

Is Chlorine Hydroxide some form of bleach? If not, what is it used for usualy?

 

[bollands]

umm its used for swimming pools its a form of chlorine.
i also got empty sodium hydrochloride drums which i think should be ok as salt is mostly sodium and chloride and ill give them a good wash

OMG i'm getting it tommorow
scared i dont want to screw up killing these fish as i immediatly re-set up the tank when i get home.
Shall i put the fish straight in with the salt water in the car for 50mins in the tank when i get home and let it heat up with them in it over night coz i see no other way
so scared!!!!

REPLIES ASAP plz so i can sleep tonight!

 

[Truck]

i wouldnt use those barrels, use some water carriers.

 

[seffieuk]

Come on, come on, where is the update and photos

Seffie x

 

[rabbut]

The buckets will be fine if you apply Dechlorinator I whould have thought I would not want to add fish directly to a set-up that's been in transit for 50mins, there is a good chance of a mini-cycle. I'd contact a few LFS's and see if they will look after the fish and corals while the system beds down again

All the best
Rabbut

 

[bollands]

sorry guys and girls,

got tank home and now all set up (i think)
I ended up hiring water drums from the shop (just to be careful)
And on the description on ebay she said she had a dragon wrasse fish (rock mover) i was upset that id probably have to give him away when he got to 12inch long!!!!
turns out she got the wrong name and it is actually a mandarin!!!!!! my favorite yay! anyway i got 20kg+ of live rock for her to munch on but she looks quite small for how old she is so is she getting enough food?

OMG found loads of feather dusters on the live rock (looking good) and coraline algae.

Its fantastic much more interesting that freshwater!

I heard you should take the bio balls in the back out should i do this as she (person i bought it from ) didnt.
also my protein skimmer doesnt produce many bubbles where is the air adjuster?

photos will be allong shortly.


Charlie

 

[BigC]

Sounds like your hooked there Charlie
Take care with the Mandarin as they can be quite picky eaters you may find that you will have to supplement its diet with live copeapods sometimes available from your local LFS. If not the get a starter culture and culture your own.
http/www.reefworks.co.uk/default.asp?sec...mp;subpage=4342
Awaiting pics.
Regards
BigC

 

[bollands]

ill check my LFS today

goodness everything is sooo expensive!

any one know how to adjust the protein skimmer?
and where is the uv steriliser?
carbon? rowaphos?