25 gal eclipse

[acuraman]

Oh i didnt know that about links Im used to my other boards which allow links. Geez now this will me my third board I visit daily, superhonda.org and the chameleon forum at kingsnake.com now swf.com ahhhhhhhhhhhh way to many hobbies. Anyway so now what protein skimmer and UV thing do you recommend?

 

[templar]

erm, besides the fact that you posted links again, lol. Their's a ton of different types of pumps, skimmers and UVs out there I would just look around. A preference would be a berlin skimmer, I don't use UVs in my reef tanks so I don't have anything to reccomend to you for them. And for pumps Rio is a good brand name but it really doesn't matter. You should make sure the fittings are the same sizes on all of them for less of a hassle (ie. the water pump has 3/4 in. output and the skimmer has a 3/4 in. input).

 

[acuraman]

Oh I really didnt even consider them links more of just a name plus neither site sells anything. One last thing before I retire how much live rock and live sand should I get?

 

[templar]

40-60 lbs of LS, and 25-50 lbs of LR. You could buy all your LR online for cheaper and use it to cycle your tank as well. Because of the die off from the shipping process of buying LR online it will re-cycle your tank so don't add it to a stocked tank unless you cure it yourself. Or you can put it directly into your new tank and kill two birds with one stone by cycling your tank, and curing your rock.

 

[class clown]

Hey Acuraman, I have that same skimmer in my 29 gal. Eclipse system (same height as your 25 gal.) It does fit, but yes, it looks ugly as hell inside the tank. Also, in order for it not to stick above the hood, you must place it lower in the water than recomended in the instructions, therefore affecting its already poor performance. Mine doesn't skim very well (or maybe I'm such an awesome fish keeper that my tank has barely any waste )but it's better than nothing and it's all you can put in there and still retain the clean Eclipse look.
As for me, I wish I hadn't bought that damn Eclipse. It's almost impossible to upgarde without sacrificing its looks, which is the point of the Eclipse. And if you do modify it, it'll end up looking much worse than any other hood. I just bought a nice pine hood and stand. I'm going to butcher the Eclipse hood, keep just the filtration/bio wheel section, and attach it to the pine hood. Then I'll put an overflow box with a sump and move the skimmer to the sump.

 

[acuraman2]

Gotcha Ill just go with an external skimmer also can a bicolor angel take the place of either of the other 2 and what kinda live rock do you recommend FL or Fiji.

 

[von_rahvin]

becareful; with fl aquaculture, it has lots of mantis shrimp in it, i went and visited tampa on the gulf side to see what there was to see, they have some nice peices, but it looks kinda fake to me. all in you own taste. personally i like tonga, it has more coraline algea and usually a deeper purple than the fiji we get here.

 

[flamehawk]

The 25 eclipse will only be 20 gallons of actual water after displacement due to l/r and l/s etc. Allot of folks on this chat have stated emphatically that you should have 5 gallons per inch of fish. That would be only 4 inches of fish and that would mean only one dwarf angel( any kind)! While I really wonder how many hobbiest actually stick to the 5g per inch, I'm a bit more liberal and go with the 2.5/in. rule. Even with this measurement you would only be able to put 8 inches of adult size fish. That would basically be a dwarf angel and a clown , that's it as far as fish are concerned. A shrimp or two would be ok. I'd stay away from anenome since they are quite sensitive and do better in high light fully estasblished tanks. If you want a hearty addition, go w/ a green polyop and/or mushroom. Little light intenesity needed. Your current bulb would do. By the way the falme hawk is a great fish. One of my favorites and very hardy. Would eat the shrimp but if you can do without them I'd get the flamehawk over the clown but that is just my preference. Good luck.