Hey Guys/Gals..Born again Marine with a *29* gal

irishsalt

irishsalt

Member
Whaddup ya'll,
Let me preface by saying that I know what it's like to be a total newb and total vet on forums of various genre. I've contibuted to a varitable plehtora of Net forum genres over the years and I often go out of my way to help newbs. I'll try not to inundate ya'll with newbie/Mundane questions..hehe.
I've been outta Marine tanks for 6 years now. My last and First tank was a Gorgeous 155 Gallon Bow Fish/Reef tank. It was amazing but I was way to busy with work travel to properly matain my tank. My uncle actually setup said tank for me as a Graduation gift and he was doing most of the matinence.
Anyway, A buddy of mine - the local Pet shop gave me an offer I couldn't refuse on a MarineLand 29 Gallon Marine setup. It uses the Eclipse III top with one Biowheel and size H Carbon filters. I'd much rather have a 55+ Gallon(or a 300 for that matter) but space restrains in my current home wont allow me to run anything bigger without pissing off the woman(for now).
My tank has been running for five days now with 20 Lbs of various premium rock(mostly fiji). I got a 20 pound bag of Argo-live(Indo-pacific color) for free and that's the bedding I'm running with 10 more pounds of regular Reefsand. I prefer the Traditional, Florida Keys type(off-white) Live sand but I'm willing to try something new. I've got 20-25 lbs of Fiji rock ne route from this site(willilng to give em a try). Specific Gravity is a perfect 1.023 and the temps are consistent - 76F. Ammonia is 0.1, PH is exactly 8.2(Oakton Digital PH meter). The Nitire hasn't spiked yet but I'm sure it's coming soon. I might get an Algea Bloom from Phosphates but I can take care of it, if that happens. I'm running my lights on a 12/12 schedule for now.
I've been Happy with most every Marineland product I've ever used. I just realized that Eclipse has a proprietary floro light size(kinda erks me) and I can't find a blue spectrum Marine-glow type floro for the ballast.
Does anyone make a Marine Glow Type FLoro that will fit the Eclipe III TOP? I might end up scrapping the entire top and setuping up regular Penguin filters and a Compact floro or VHO top.
The tank is a *High* style tank, How much light penetration am I really getting with these floros?
I know most some/many wouldn't run a Protein Skimmer but I want to? I know it's very subjective but what would most of ya'll reco for the best price/performance ratio for this smaller tank. I don't wanna spend a fortune on a skimmer for a 29gallon.
Thanks in advance to all that read this and take the time out of their lives to help
Peace
 
darknes

darknes

Active Member
Welcome back to the hobby! Sounds like you are off to a good start.
A few norms may have changed in the six years since you've been in the hobby. I've got the same 29gallon Eclipse III tank as you've described, so maybe I can help you out a little.
First off, do you plan to have this a fish only, or a reef tank. If you want to have corals, you need to scrap the lighting on your eclipse. I have a 130-Watt PC lighting system. I had to get rid of the front part of the hood and build my own light hood with a retrofit lighting system. If you plan to go with fish only, the current lighting will be fine, but if it's possible to get a blue Marine light, it will bring out the color in your tank much more than the regular white bulbs.
The filtration system comes with a bio wheel. I've heard that biowheels can become a Nitrate factory in your tank and also that they are useless for saltwater. I don't know if that's true, but I got rid of mine with no difference. When you take that out, your filter is going to make a bunch of noise. You can then put a spong or some fabric to help reduce that. What I did was took off the outlets on the bottom, and put some PVC piping with reduced fittings to slow down the pressure output, and reduce the noise.
As for a skimmer, good luck finding a decent one that will fit with the hood. You cannot use any HOB skimmers, and very few in-tank skimmers will fit with the filter in there. What I did was I built my own skimmer, but it's a lot of work (it works awesome though). Your other option is to setup a sump and run a skimmer there.
I hope this helps, and you may find yourself getting rid of the Eclipse hood. It is GREAT for freshwater tanks, but not so much for saltwater; it also looks very nice with nothing hanging off the side or any cords.
If you want to see any pics of mine, let me know.
I hope I helped, and good luck.
 
pensky

pensky

Member
I just recently started my facination with saltwater tanks and up until a few months ago I have never even seen a marine tank. To this day I have only seen one tank in person the only other thing i have seen is on the internet. I can't quite picture a 29 gal tank with the proper lighting for corals. Do you have any pictures of the way you have your lights set up.
 
fishmamma

fishmamma

Active Member
Just wanted to share.....I am persuing an Aqua C Remora Hang on Tank Skimmer. It is 17.5 " high and 6" wide, rated up to 75 gallon's. Retails for about $165.00 on-line. I figured I would spend more on a good skimmer so I would have the ability to upgrade to a larger tank with it. Currently I am running a 16 gallon bow with a Penguin bio-wheel.
Good luck!!
 
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