Brucepanther Orca 550 Journey First Timer!

[brucepanther]

Hi there guys i am waiting on the arrival of my orca 550 and have been reading like an absolute maniac about these tanks, what to do with them, what to put in them ect...
A bit about me im 26 year old and have always had a love of exotic animals and pets you know the one, the one thing i have always wanted to get was a marine tank but with everyone telling you how hard they are mainly my dad who kept marines back in the 80s so i have decided to do what i want and after seeing some amazing videos on you tube of this tank i could not resist.
Also i have been inspired by members on this site who's journeys i have read and studied closely "Seffieuk" and"trod" has been two such journeys which has helped me make a decision that this tank can be done really well so ill be picking their brains a lot and asking for advice.

Im going to be getting 15 kg of live indonisian rock from smt in kent as i live in folkestone its not too far, i already been ordering all sorts off ebay water test kit, led blue light kit, bits and bobs....
Like many ill be starting out with my little family of inverts- shrimp, crabs but was looking at conch and they look quite useful just trying to find a source that sells them.
also im thinking of using cheato as someone told me its very good in your chambers so i bought some little submersible light to hopefully aid that too.

To start with i could really do with a detailed description of what media i want in what compartment ect..

Thanks for reading guys and i hope you can all help me build a great tank and join me along my journey as ill be adding pics at least weekly when things get on the way.

thanks
bruce

 

[seffieuk]

Bruce both to TFF and the salty side

You will love the orca 550, both my sister and I did - we really miss the tanks now they have gone on to owners new

The only media you want in the back is live rock rubble, phosphate remover and nitrate remover, hang them on hooks so they get plenty of flow

Really looking forward to watching your journey, take lots of photos please

Seffie x

 

[brucepanther]

Bruce both to TFF and the salty side

You will love the orca 550, both my sister and I did - we really miss the tanks now they have gone on to owners new

The only media you want in the back is live rock rubble, phosphate remover and nitrate remover, hang them on hooks so they get plenty of flow

Really looking forward to watching your journey, take lots of photos please

Seffie x

thanks for the reply seffie loved your thread by the way read it all through the night then woke up and read all the way to london on train, lol.
so when you say on hooks what does that mean and how would i do that ? as i really have no idea how to go about doing that please give me details, lol.
thanks
bruce

 

[seffieuk]

I love the idea of you sitting on the train reading the journel - so cool, hope it made you laugh in parts too

I just bought plastic hooks from B&Q and siliconed them on the back, then bought media bags which i could tie a knot in the top to hang over the hook - high tech

Seffie x

 

[DigitalStorm]

Bruce, Seffie is a great guru. She helped me no end when I was setting up my orca.

 

[seffieuk]

Bruce, Seffie is a great guru. She helped me no end when I was setting up my orca.

Thank you DS, I really appreciate your kind comments, but it is easy when you are supporting someone like yourself

Seffie x

 

[brucepanther]

Bruce, Seffie is a great guru. She helped me no end when I was setting up my orca.

Thank you DS, I really appreciate your kind comments, but it is easy when you are supporting someone like yourself

Seffie x

well here we go i have just received my tank in the post and got all my bits and peices just gotta give tank a clean not sure how to go about this probably just rinse through with water as its brand new,
cant wait to go and get my ro water just waiting on some 25l jerry cans to arrive in the mail, funny to think thats the only thing stopping me at the moment, lol
cheers

 

[DigitalStorm]

LFS usually sell jerry cans.

 

[seffieuk]

Woo hoo and he's off...................


Seffie x

ps just give the inside a wipe over with vinager

 

[brucepanther]

Woo hoo and he's off...................


Seffie x

ps just give the inside a wipe over with vinager

wipe vinegar then rinse with water?
thanks
and my lfs has ran out of jerry cans plus they want £10 each for them so i ordered them of flea bay for 3.50 a peice, bought 3, so will be doing two trips to my lfs.

 

[seffieuk]

I just gave it a wipe out with vinager on kitchen paper and then wiped off with kitchen paper

Seffie x

ps dont forget to take out all those nasty noodles and sponges

 

[brucepanther]

went on a little trip down to eastborne today was more than worth it, i went to buy my live rock and the guy was sellling it for £5 a kilo and it turned out it was SMT ultra grade fiji rock wasnt covered in life but #41#### its super sexy looking rock and he was keeping it heated and had power heads in the tank so its just not had any light on it for a while.
Then on the way back i popped into swallows in tenterden which is i must say one of the nicer of marine shops that i have seen thus far, and i picked up a few kilos of live rock rubble for my chambers, in fact i took about 18.5kilos off the guy with the ultra grade which was quite a lot so i had to turn some into rubble with my hammer which i admit felt a bit like sacrilege smashing ultra grade live rock with a hammer but waste not want not, lol!
grabbed a few nice little bits from swallows too as it had some little tube worms on the rock so i thought be nice to have a bit of life if it survives the cycle.

So then began my first attempt at aquascaping it got a bit murky in the tank so i just stuck it all in to at least get it in the tank then waited for it to clear a bit and then done my scaping, and i can actually say i love it its just how i wanted it got loads of coves, ledges a little bridge at the bottom front and it all feels pretty stable so im well happy and as im looking at the tank now it looks nice and clear too!
I also stuck in chamber 2 a big bag of live rock rubble, a bag of rowaphos, a bit more floss and then some carbon hten another bit of floss and in chamber 3 i just filled with filter floss to catch any debris or sand/rock particles.

 

[DigitalStorm]

looking good fella, nice scaping and nice rock!

 

[simonas]

cool a new reefer!!

the scaping looks good there, now this is the hard bit reigning yourself in from going out and buying everything too quickly!!

 

[brucepanther]

cool a new reefer!!

the scaping looks good there, now this is the hard bit reigning yourself in from going out and buying everything too quickly!!

yep its gonna take a lot of self control resisting from buying bits for the tank too early but ill resist the temptation. cant wait to get some cuc in though, lol.
cheers