Primeval Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Started off with the eclipse 12 as just a FOWLR. It has been running since April of 2006 as a birthday present to her. It has just about 15 pounds of fiji liverock and 10 pounds of aragalive pink fiji live sand. I recently decided to upgrade the lighting around Christmas time for her to be able to house some coral aside from just fish and liverock. I bought the Eclipse because I like the sleek look of the tank and having everything already in the hood (lighting and filtration). The closed system also would reduce evaporation, salt creep, and dust and things falling in the tank. My only option to upgrade was a retrofit kit since I still wanted to keep the full hood and keep it in tact as much as possible. I purchased the 96w quad after reading about some doing it on here. This has been a large project for me since I live in the city, have almost no tools to work with, and no knowledge or experience in modding anything. After much reading I pulled out the original lighting pretty easily. I pressed the reflector that came with the retrofit kit against the original screw holes just enough to dent the reflector so I could see where to drill. I borrowed a drill and drilled new holes since the holes already on the reflector dont match up. I used the stock screws and attached the reflector securely. I am keeping the stock filtration minus the bio-wheel because I like the sleek look of everything being hidden. I have read that most people cut the back of the hood and put in a AC200 and pull out the original filtration. I realize the placement of the lighting towards the front of the hood will block some light to the back of the tank but I am willing to sacrifice that for the look. I really just don't like the look of the AC hanging on the back of the tank and getting salt creep all over the top of the hood. Luckily the reflector still fits in the hood with the original filtration after some slight bending of the reflector. After installing the light and getting it running I later noticed that the tank is bright in the front and back anyway so the placement of the lighting was almost arbitrary. The temp during the day with everything running (maxijet 1200, stock filtration, and the stock 13w bulb) with the closed hood is around 79-80. With the feeder door open it drops about 2 degrees and the lot off drops it another degree. I never really see it below 76. I assumed bumping the lighting from 13w to 96w will dramatically raise the temperature by some large unknown amount. I decided after further reading to add a fan to the back of the hood. I decided to install the fan in the area where there is already that dumb removable piece that the filter and and light cords exit the hood. It is here that I also have the maxijet hanging on the back of the tank since I dont have that piece on there anymore. I purchased a fan from radioshack: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...mp;tab=features It was my plan to cut a bigger hole in the back of the hood close to the already made opening and bolt the fan to the back of the hood to blow the warm air out. I traced the outline of the fan and borrowed a dremel to cut the opening. I used a pencil to dot where I need the drill holes for the bolts to attach it. I attempted to splice the fan wires into the cord for the stock pump since they both run on 12volts. My inexperience in this type of stuff caused me to burn up the fan. This was likely due that there was just too much power from the wall into the fan and I realized later I should have used an AC adapter which prevents this. O well, live and learn. I ended up buying the fan that coralife makes for use with retrofit kits. It produces a little more sound but even more CFM and most of all, no rewiring is required since it already has an outlet hookup and the screws for installation. http://www.hellolights.com/cocofankit.html I was worried that the 27CFM fan from coralife wouldn't cool the hood enough but the only way to find out is try it out since so few people have retrofitted the eclipse with 96watts successfully. The stock filtration splashed from the top of the water onto the reflector just a bit but this was mostly due to the low water level from evaporation. With constantly adding more water I hope to not have this issue. I really dont want to have to clean this reflector and the bulb frequently due to salt creep and such but I do not have the tools or the knowledge to fit a piece of glass or acrylic to perfectly fit the top of the tank. Plus, keeping the water even more closed than it already is might increase the temps even more and make the fan pointless. OR it could keep the warm air above the water and get sucked out by the fan installed...I don't really know and don't care to experiment. The reflector is stainless steel so it shouldnt rust. The splashguard as constructed in this picture here is pretty cool by the way: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...ost&id=4372 Again, I do not have the tools or the know-how to even begin to make something like that. I also here that ones made out of acrylic have warped in the past and if I do make one like that I should use glass. Moving on. I rewired the cord to the stock filter (because I cut it to splice in the fan that I originally burnt up). I bought a soldering iron with solder and soldered the cord back together and wrapped it up in electrical tape. I went back to radioshack and purchased some heat shrink for the cord for better protection of the cord and solder and so it will look better than electrical tape. The filter worked fine after I put it back. I installed the fan in the desired location and added the hood back to the tank. Now it was time to test for temps. It was pretty cool in the apartment and the water was at around 70 degrees without the hood being on and under a cooling vent in the ceiling. After 4 hours the temp never got above 72. The next day the light was on for 8 hrs and the temp never got above 77, which is where it sits now. SUCCESS! ----------------------------------------------------------- Tank Specs and Cost: 12 Gallon Eclipse tank - $70 15 pounds of Fiji Live Rock - $50 10 Pounds of Aragalive Fiji Pink Live Sand - $9 Maxijet 1200 - $15 Magfloat - $5 Thermometer - $1 2 False Percula Clownfish - $14 1 Sixline Wrasse - $9 1 Black Clown Goby - $4 5 Nassarius Snails - $10 20 Blue legs - $20 1 Frogspawn $30 96watt Coralife Retrofit Kit - $75 3.125" Coralife Cooling Fan - $10 Heat Shrink for wiring - $3 Soldering Iron - $20 There is a tiny opening about 2" each way for feeding. Lucked out on that one. 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PrettyEyesSCT Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 That's my tank!!! Thanks baby! I love you so much Link to comment
Primeval Posted March 14, 2007 Author Share Posted March 14, 2007 Update! Got some new coral I added: A blue or purple (?) frogspawn frag that some guy gave me that the clownfish have both hosted (the male more than the female) Red mushrooms that were only the size of a quarter at the LPS but now at least 3" in diameter. There were 5 mushrooms but one has fallen off and is floating around the bottom. A Toadstool leather about 7" in diameter (very heavy) which was advertised as a yellow leather from Jakarta but it looks nothing like a yellow leather I've ever seen. So to add some yellow to the tank I added yellow polyps that are growing like crazy. Link to comment
Lingwendil Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Again, very nice! Those yellows will spread like aiptasia soon, they're so great for filling in areas. Link to comment
NanoCube-boy Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Awsome Hammer corals you got there. The mod is awsome. What kind of heat shield is that? Where did youget it? Link to comment
princefredo Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Looking good. Thumbs up on the mods! Link to comment
RBuddha Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Looks like someone is getting a happy ending! Link to comment
Primeval Posted March 23, 2007 Author Share Posted March 23, 2007 Awsome Hammer corals you got there. The mod is awsome. What kind of heat shield is that? Where did youget it? Its actually a frogspawn And I'm not exactly sure what heatshield you are referring to. If you are talking about something between the bulb and the water, there isnt anything. This mod is over open water. Thanks for the comments though, guys. Link to comment
NanoClown Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 one this i suggest, if you have heat issues, you could downgrade from a 1200 to a 900, 20w to 9w, so less heat Link to comment
PrettyEyesSCT Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 my temp never goes above 78 degrees, but thank you! Link to comment
NanoCube-boy Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Primeval, I meant the reflector that sheild the light from the housing. Link to comment
Primeval Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 Its a typical stainless steal reflector that comes with most fixtures. It came with the 96watt retro that I ordered from corallife Link to comment
NanoCube-boy Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 I see. That's nice. man. What you use for splashguard for your retrofit.? Link to comment
Primeval Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 as said above, nothing. Its over open water Link to comment
NanoCube-boy Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Is that safe? water and electric isn't safe... I don't think so. Link to comment
PrettyEyesSCT Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 The power that could possibly be exposed ends at the square pins in the wire to the bulb and corallife has generously installed a moisture-proof cap that covers the pin connections. As far as the bulb getting wet, it doesnt really matter. Just wipe it off as needed. So far the fixture has no condensation visible or salt creep after almost 4 months Link to comment
Primeval Posted April 2, 2007 Author Share Posted April 2, 2007 I should post a pic of my 20hex that I've neglected because I've put so much of my efforts into the eclipse. I have a hella-bad red algae problem Link to comment
Primeval Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 just added a new colony rock that has Green Star polyps, red button/sand polyps and some sort of blue/purple polyps. I also added a bubble coral and some blue mushrooms. I'm thinking about adding some red sea pulsing xenia to the back as well since its on sale. Pics to come soon Link to comment
Primeval Posted April 14, 2007 Author Share Posted April 14, 2007 Here are some pictures of the new items added to the tank... As you can see, her clowns love getting their picture taken. At least one of them made it partially in each shot FTS Yellow polyps, frogspawn, xenia, pink toadstool leather Rock with all kinds of button polyps and green star polyps Blue mushrooms (that actually look more purple) Bubble coral and red mushrooms Link to comment
Primeval Posted April 14, 2007 Author Share Posted April 14, 2007 still havent figured out exactly what is all on the colony rock. The only thing I am sure of is gsp and the red button polyps Link to comment
beachsidejuj Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 what are you using for filtration? Link to comment
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