Orca Tl 550 Aquarium

[deblin]

Hi all
Just wondering the general view on the ORCA TL 550 fish tank as i am thinking of buying one. Has anyone come up with any problems? and would i need to get anythihng in addition to the tank for marine fish or corals?
Thanks

 

[Truck]

overall good tank for corals (lighting wise) obviously youll need more power heads, the skimmer is a bit crap but does the job.

overall good plug and play tank

 

[deblin]

overall good tank for corals (lighting wise) obviously youll need more power heads, the skimmer is a bit crap but does the job.

overall good plug and play tank

Thanks for your reply.
When you say power heads - do you mean wave machines? Sorry, i'm quite new to all this!
Also, do you know if the fans are ok inside of the light system as someone mentioned to me that the fans inside of the TL 450's needed replacing occasionally.

 

[Truck]

no not wave makers power heads are used to draw water and blast it in all directions of the aquarium. for the tl550 you need about 3 power heads that add up to 2400 LPH(litres per hour) look at these
http/www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/cat...dce29524d5b9e59

also the fans shouldnt need replacing just cleaning, but you may find they get noisy and at that point its a good time to replace them (with a different brand)

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I have the 450 so can comment on this exact tank but I think i terms of equipment they are pretty similar.

Lighting is ok for most soft corals and a few LPS.
As mentions you may need 1 or 2 power heads to increase the water movement (I would recommend the korillia's).
The fans on the 450 got really loud but are easy to replace.
The skimmer on the 450 was rubbish but you can use it or even run without it and replace it at a later date.

The tank itself is very nice.

Other things you will need:
Refractometer or hydrometer to check salinity
Test kits for at least ammonia, nitrite and nitrate (PH and phosphate also handy).
Food - Flake food and depending on fish Frozen mysis shrimp (almost every fish will eat this).
And most important - a camera (so you can post some pictures up on here for us as you progress )

If your not buying your salt water pre-mixed then:
RO water (Would strongly recommending buying an RO unit).
A decent brand of salt.
A bucket, spare heater and spare power head for mixing salt.

 

[Trod]

I have an orca tl550, It is my first venture into the salty side and I have found it perfect, as an introduction.
I don't run the protein skimmer and I have added a koralia 2 powerhead.
The tanks equipement is very quiet, you just get a low level hum from the cooling fans.
The only problem I have had is with the moonlights, they stopped working pretty soon after getting tank, but again this hasn't had any effect on my system.
My Tank has been running since the summer, I would recommend it

 

[seffieuk]

If you read mine and my sister's thread + Charlie's (plus a couple of others, Saphire and Dani) you will get all the info you need about the 550 - if you are a novice like my sister and i then the tank is near perfect, you will need to add a couple of powerheads or a bigger K2 as Trod and I did.

The only down side is that within six months you will be planning a bigger tank however I suspect that applies to whatever tank you get

Do lot's of planning (get yourself a note book), it's half the fun and take things slowly - ask lots of questions, make sure you start a thread so we can watch your progress and help in anyway we can

Look out for reefers breaking up a tank locally, there are some great bargains around if you are in the UK in particular for live rock but you might be lucky like Charlie was and pick up a tank for a bargain as well

Welcome to the salty side and welcome into the tff nano family

Seffie x