Marineland Eclipse System 12

[mimzy]

FINALLY picked a tank!! It's RIGHT in my price range and I'm having it shipped free... :happy:
Marineland Eclipse System 12 tank kit
Bio-wheel rated - 150gph
Activated carbon
Flourescent lights (which I'll most likely replace...any suggestions?)
Planning on keeping a LOT of live rock (20-25lbs), some easy beginner corals (would love suggestions for these as well), and a bunch of inverts. No fish in this one.
Anyone have one of these? Love it? Hate it? Modify it?
ANY suggestion/comments would be GREATLY appreciated! :cheer:

 

[chamic1]

I've got an ecplise 3 lighting/filter hood on my 29g. If your hood is similar, I don't know how your going to modify it with better lights. You shouldn't put any other light into the socket that are not rated for the ballast. If your planning of removing the lighting piece, then you wasted your money. As far as I know you can keep zoo's, mushrooms and polyps with the light that come with that hood. Anything else is no good.
I'm not sure on how to attatch pics

 

[mimzy]

Hhm... Good to know, Chamic - I haven't ordered it yet, just found a good deal on one. I'll have to go to the LFS to inspect the hood to see if I can change out the lights. I'm really glad you mentioned this...
By the way... how do u have a 3gallon hood on a 29 gallon tank? :notsure:
I'm new at this though, so zoos shroom and polyps might just be an excellent start!
Thanx a million!

 

[chamic1]

This isn't a 3g hood, it fits the 29g. If your new to this hobby, as am I, then you need to do a lot of research. A few helpful hints to start you off.
Whatever you do, do cheap-out on your lighting, it screws you in the end!
Don't impulse buy.
Buy well know equipment, the worst thing to do is buy something cheap and have to upgrade later.
If you get a metal halide light (MH), and there not cheap, in a small tank, like mine, you should be able to keep almost anything. You'll also have to get a few fluorecents if you go with the MH. Keep posting and checking out other people's post. This site helps a lot.
Any other questions?

 

[mimzy]

Ahh, I was confused by the "3."
Yes, I've found this site to be TREMENDOUSLY helpfull, and I'm slowly beginning my aquarium library.
This tank is my first tank - I'll be moving in 6 mos or so, and I didnt want to start a 55-75 gallon tank right away (my goal is to keep a reef with fuzzy dwarf lions only) b/c I'd have to move it and screw up the cycle.
So, to 'get my feet wet' I'm going to try my hand at a nano-tank. I'm not planning on stocking it with fish - I just want to make sure I can keep a tank at the proper levels. I like that you have to pay so much more attention to a smaller tank... I think it'll help prepare me for larger collections, and I can use the 12g later for a sump/refugium/quarentine/whatever.
I may end up with a couple really easy corals (like the aforementioned shrooms etc), but I want to take it really slow.....really really slow. :yes:
Got any favorite brands of salt or test kits?
Also... the filter is rated at 150g per hour - since I won't be stocking it with more than a cleanup crew and MAYBE some corals, I don't think I'll need a powerhead...but I thought I'd ask just to be sure.
Thanks so much for the input - reading about stuff is one thing, but having it explained to you by someone with experience is quite another! :joy:

 

[chamic1]

I personally like the Hagen test kits opposed to the aquarium pharmacutical. As for the Power head (PH), not to get confused with per Hydrogen (pH), I would get a fairly good one if you want minor corals in the future. It will save you in the long run b/c they usually need water flow to carry in/out wastes/food/Oxygen/ Carbon Dioxide. As for testers, I would start off with testing Nitrite (NO2), Nitrate (NO3), pH (0-14), ammonia/ammonium (NH3/NH4), specific gravity (should be about 1.024-1.026), Calcium (Ca). The PH will also help to prevent the growth of some algaes, even on the substrate. As for salt, I would go with the instant ocean brand. Are you buying and Live Rock (LR) and what type of substrate are you getting?

 

[mimzy]

Hagen, yes...they've been reccomended to me before.
As for a powerhead... once I cycle everything I might throw an aqua-clear in there, everyone seems to like those.
Instant ocean seems to be everyone's favorite - will I have to supplement with calcium when I go for corals?
As for live rock - yes yes and yes. The original plan was to ONLY have live rock to see if I could cycle it properly. But I'm going with a 12 gallon (as opposed to a 10 or smaller, which is what I thought I'd be starting with), so I might just want some corals in there to keep my friends from talking about nutty me with pet rocks
I'd like to have a good amount in there - 25lbs I'd say. Can I start with that much, or shall I add it gradually in small pieces after the tank cycles the first time? I'm going with the 'rotting shrimp' method for the 1st cycle - i know you've got to have some LR in there with it...but how much is too much?
As for substrate... definitly live sand. Where from and what kind, I have yet to decide. I'd like a brittle star and a bunch of bumble-bee snails in there...MAYBE an urchin once it's matured a bit...so I figure 2inches of sand would be a good thickness - no one's really gonna BURROW, but I think it'd really help as a biofilter.
OR..I could be completely off about everything, and the only thing I should do with the sand is bury my head in it
I really appreciate all the help!!

 

[eclipseagent]

Yes you can start with as much as you want (in regards to LR).
You dunno if you need 25 lbs.. but whatever floats your boat.
Also, for a successful cycle you need to jump start your bio, with either a cleaner crew or a hearty fish (damn damsels).
Live sand is a must (well not a must, but make sthe tank look 100 million times better and is good for the natural bio in the tank).
1 - 2" is fine for the base

 

[dhughesz28]

Hay Mimzy,
I have an eclipse 12 and love it! Mine has been up and running for a month now, it just cycled last week and my cleanup crew went in on Monday. Here is a pic of the tank from Monday.

As far as the lights go, its only a 13watt pc, so to keep corals you would definatly need to upgrade. You would have to remove the existing light fixture to do it though. I set up this tank to house a couple mean damsels, so im not to worried about light.

 

[mimzy]

Wow D, your tank looks great!
What do you have it sitting on?
Yeah, about the lighting, I went to the LFS today to check out the tank in person (ordered mine on the 'net), and realized the entire light fixture's gonna hafta be replaced if I want corals. ::sigh:: I'll burn that bridge when I come to it... I just wanna try my hand at keeping levels balanced!
Eclipse - thanx for the suggestions...I was thinking of buying small pieces of LR from an LFS to cycle it before adding the bulk... but if I can, I'd rather just cure it all at once and then add it to the tank all at the same time. ...Cheaper that way anyhow... prices at my LFSs are THREE TIMES as much as it is from my 'net source!
I'll post pix of my tank when it gets here!!! :happy:

 

[bret61081]

If you want a great place to get a retro fit kit for the eclipse tank, let me know. I ordered mine from a company called AH supply. Came with everything pretty much I needed and great instuctions. check them out...good prices too...If they block the name of the company...email me! Bret61081@AOL.com

 

[chamic1]

Hey Bret, did you retro fit your eclipse tank? If you did can you give me some info and maybe post a picture?

 

[bret61081]

sure...I will try to get a pic tomorrow...but I just removed the original light...screwed the 2 ballest in to the back of the cover(had to drill) and screwed the 2 13W lights in to the 2 screw holes from the original lights. It was pretty easy actually. the hardest part was doing the electrical work! I blew a bulb my first try...the only bad part is you cant use the cute little switch that is on the top of the tank...but oh well...other then that, I only have Zoos in my 6G and they are doing great...and the colaline algae goes like CRAZY...the only other thing I did was use the small bag of chempure and some of the blue fiber filter media...and its been working great for me! I'll try and get you some pics as soon as I can! good luck and check out ahsupply.com they have the retro fit kits and the bulbs...not too bad prices... Good luck :happy:

 

[chamic1]

cool! I checke out their website and it seems very cheap and easy to do. By the way, what size is your tank?

 

[bret61081]

mine is a 6G...it was my first real experiment with salt water...I know what they say, its better to go bigger at first...but oh well...its done pretty well for me thus far. The only things in there are 2 small aquacultered Perculas, a neon goby, a few snails, hermits and some hitchhiker crab which just doubled in size. There is also like 8 pounds of fiji rock with some small corals growing on it, a clam, a few zoos and some red mushrooms as well. the bio load is big so I change 1G of water once a week. I tried a small haitian anenome in there for the percs, but it didn't seem to like it, moved around for a week straight so I moved it to my 55G where it seems much happier! Plus the pecrulas never even went near it...oh well. But thats its...I had a Royal Gamma in it for several months but took him out b/c he was getting too big so I got the perculas for 7$ a piece and put them in there! I'llget a pic of it and the lights for you soon!

 

[reefdude37]

your tank is so damn ugly

 

[reefdude37]

sorry that was my friend