MattyJatz's 37G Eclipse SW Diary

mattyjatz

mattyjatz

Member
Alrighty folks, well after spending hours on end reading thread after thread, diary after diary, I decided to take this hobby a little more serious and start my adventure. I was really looking into the Oceanic BioCube tanks for sometime until I read about starting with something large. Soo... long story short, a best friend of mine's parents had a tank setup a couple years back and I knew they weren't using it. So I decided to make a phone call, and sure enough they gave me the tank!
Now I know the Eclipse setup is very limited. Since it has the all in one hood, you are limited on lighting. Right when I picked up the tank, I washed it really good and changed out the bulbs.
So this is the start of my diary, hope you all enjoy. I'm excited to meet everyone and keep you guys updated. I know everyone will be a great help and some already have! I feel that I'm at a good start so far. I'll let you guys decide.
Here's a list so far of what I have:
Marineland Eclipse 3 (37Gallon)
1 Hydor Koralia 2
40lbs. Live Sand
Approx. 24 lbs. Live Rock
2 Coralife 24'' 20 Watt 50/50 Bulbs - Plan on getting a T5 and removing the hood. (Opinions would be great!) Only getting about 1-2 watt per gallon right now....

I have had the tank up and running for about a week now. I just added my LF yesterday and bought a test kit today. Here are my results from today's test:
pH: 8.2
Ammonia: 1.0
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: 5.0
I need to do more research on the cycling process and testing process to understand why I have these numbers...
 
mattyjatz

mattyjatz

Member
Haven't received any feedback or comments yet from anyone...anyway I checked my parameters again today and this is where I stand:
pH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0.50
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: 10
Water Temp: 82
Salinity: 1.026
I cannot get my temperature below 80 degrees....

Also, I thought Nitrate should only start to show once Ammonia and Nitrite are at 0? Is this correct?
 
runn3rb3an

runn3rb3an

Active Member
Try moving the thread tothe nano section, you might get some more views there... Not to many diarys in new hobbyists I think.
Tank looks good so far

Try floating some frozen bottles of distilled water in it when it gets to be an emergency, 80 isnt disasterous though. You can also get a little desktop fan and point it into the tank, leave the flaps open. It obviously is only going to get hotter, especially in Florida so that might be a good thing to pick up.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
The tank looks nice, you are probably gonna want another powerhead..You have some nice coraline growth on the LR...80 degrees is ok for a temp....just as long as the temp stays steady...if it gets any hotter you may want to add a small fan or eliminate the hood. Sounds like your begininning cycle is going as expected
welcome to the hobby
 
mattyjatz

mattyjatz

Member
Originally Posted by runn3rb3an
http:///forum/post/3073223
Try moving the thread tothe nano section, you might get some more views there... Not to many diarys in new hobbyists I think.
Tank looks good so far

Try floating some frozen bottles of distilled water in it when it gets to be an emergency, 80 isnt disasterous though. You can also get a little desktop fan and point it into the tank, leave the flaps open. It obviously is only going to get hotter, especially in Florida so that might be a good thing to pick up.
It's funny that you say how there isn't many Diarys in the Hobby section. I was thinking the same thing when I started this thread. I didn't know where else to add it since it's really not a "Nano." Can you instruct me on how to move the thread to another section?
 
mattyjatz

mattyjatz

Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3073224
The tank looks nice, you are probably gonna want another powerhead..You have some nice coraline growth on the LR...80 degrees is ok for a temp....just as long as the temp stays steady...if it gets any hotter you may want to add a small fan or eliminate the hood. Sounds like your begininning cycle is going as expected
welcome to the hobby
I have the Koralia 2 powerhead. You don't think another one would be too much? It almost seemed as though a Koralia 1 would have been better when I installed this one. It seemed to stur up some sand at the beginning. Since I bought the LR with coraline already growing, should it continue to grow everywhere else or is there something I need to do, like scrape it off and let the pump cycle it through the tank?
Thanks for the tips guys, it helps a bunch!
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by MattyJatz
http:///forum/post/3073296
It's funny that you say how there isn't many Diarys in the Hobby section. I was thinking the same thing when I started this thread. I didn't know where else to add it since it's really not a "Nano." Can you instruct me on how to move the thread to another section?
Just pm a mod and they will do it for you...sepulation, ophiura, bangguy...
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by MattyJatz
http:///forum/post/3073299
I have the Koralia 2 powerhead. You don't think another one would be too much? It almost seemed as though a Koralia 1 would have been better when I installed this one. It seemed to stur up some sand at the beginning. Since I bought the LR with coraline already growing, should it continue to grow everywhere else or is there something I need to do, like scrape it off and let the pump cycle it through the tank?
Thanks for the tips guys, it helps a bunch!
NOO...LOL..I have K1, and a K2 and I Rio 600 powerheads in my 29g...
 
mattyjatz

mattyjatz

Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3073302
NOO...LOL..I have K1, and a K2 and I Rio 600 powerheads in my 29g...
What about the Coraline question? Also, I dont think I can PM yet since I'm a newbie to the forum. Would you maybe be so kind and PM one for me?!!!!!!!!
 
runn3rb3an

runn3rb3an

Active Member
Nope just leave the coraline alone and it grows by itself, you can scrape it off the glass though obviously. They also make chemicals to boost your coraline growth... I have never used them personally though. What I did was just add some calcium and it started growing like crazy to the point where I have to frequently scrape it off the glass.
 
worrballer

worrballer

Member
Welcome!
Good looking tank! You're off to a great start, especially posting here you'll get tons of advice. Here is mine:
I'd look into a HOB (hang on back) protein skimmer or you can get an Aquaclear or something. Pretty much beef up your filtration. Another powerhead will help too. Oh and personally I'd get more rock too; about 10-15 lbs. more.
Next I'd get T5HO. They'll be high enough output to penetrate to the bottom but not cook the tank. I have the Nova Extreme, but there are better/more expensive ones out there. But since heat is an issue I'd go with T5s over metal halides (for your tank at least).
I'm in Arizona so I'm constantly battling heat lol.
 
hlcroghan

hlcroghan

Active Member
Looks great so far!!! You are off to a very good start.....welcome to the boards!!!
Worrballer, I never realized you were in AZ....what part?
 
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