Thinking Of Setting Up The Orca 550 - Take A Look Here

[seffieuk]

There are several of you on here now that have and or/are setting up an Orca 550. I'm sure you have gained lots of experience and some tips you would like to share?

So:

Best way to set out the chambers at the back?
How much live rock
How much aragonite
tips on the stock skimmer
tips on the stock pump
tips on adding stock such as powerheads and better skimmer
tips on the spraybar

general start-up tips
what to look for if buying second hand
Good places to source your Orca 550
how to avoid set-up problems

Seffie x

 

[CoMan]

Hi all

I'm by no means an expert on the orca 550 setup but here is what I've experienced so far.

My orca is second hand and in good Nik. I paid £138 including stand. My heater failed after a few months so my advise would be a good idea to have a spare ready. I replaced with a fluval 200 watt jobbie with digital display it's in the main tank rather than in chamber 3 as it covered in a protective guard and acts as a thermometer also find the stock pump is not really doing much in the flow department. I have the spray bar pointed at 45deg up towards the surface. I'm planning to replace the pump with a Eheim compact 1000. I'll update how I get on with it. I have a koralia 2 which does what it says on the tin(nice and quiet). I plan to add a koralia nano to the bottom pointing at the rear of the live rock as it looks a little dead around there for flow.

I have now 10kgs of live rock but it does look lost in there and am keen to up it as I add corals later.

The skimmer seems ok but I'm still messing around with it now trying to get it working better. It's a fine line adjusting the air inlet. I either get loads of bubbles and within a day I have a cup of dirty water or I get nothing. I would like to hear of any other skimmers I could get in to replace the stock one.

Cheer

CoMan

 

[CoMan]

Just to answer seffies question, I would def recomend this tank. I think it's a good starter level for those like me that have never done anything like this before. Only thing is if you like some of the bigger fish like Tangs etc you'll need a bigger set up so do your research.

 

[Harry1996]

when i first looked at the title i thought seffie whent mad and didint remember that she had a orca and set one up lol.

 

[seffieuk]

Seffie x

 

[Harry1996]

sorry seffie i am a bit of a retard when it comes to reading.

 

[seffieuk]

Well, think you are doing great and you are right, the title is ambiguous, so I'm changing it

Seffie x


ps guys, can we have a few more contributions from you orca owners please