check out my custom eclipse 12

[wfrancis76]

Hey. This is my first post. I decided to set up a nano reef a few months ago. I've had fresh tanks for many years. I've gotten bored with them and only have a couple of 5 gallons for the kitchen and my office. Anyway, I've got a friend who is a fish freak and he's been walking me through the process of setting up a tank. I've also been using this site alot along with MAAST.org.

 

So Here's what i've got so far.

 

Eclipse 12

Stock filtration

Rio 200 PH

Stealth 50 Watt heater

96 Watt power quad retro

home made moon lights (6 - 2600 mcd - 468nm - leds)

18 lbs of live rock

12 lbs of live sand

 

The tanks been going for about a 10 days and already the nitrites and amonia have dropped to zero. there is small amount of nitrate.

 

I've been having an absolute blast customizing hood. My wife thinks i'm nuts.

 

I tried to take some pics. I'm not very good at it. but i'll try to attach them. Tell me what you think.

[wfrancis76]

here's a close up

[wfrancis76]

here's my lights with my custom moon lights. i had fun wiring them up.

[wfrancis76]

moon lights in action

[wfrancis76]

custom cut acrylic for a splash gaurd. has anyone with a eclipse 12 done this? will it create any propblems?

[wfrancis76]

last one. my CPU fan on the back to dissipate heat.

[wfrancis76]

I was also wondering when I can put in the "clean up" crew. I'm starting to get algae and there is alot of material on the LR that looks dead. Any help would be appreciated.

[reverai]

> was also wondering when I can put in the "clean up" crew. I'm starting to get algae and there is alot of material on the LR that looks dead. Any help would be appreciated.<

 

That depends what your specs are in term of long the cycle has gone. When things are at zero then adding a cleaning crew or other they will likely die and add to your problems.

 

And did you make your own splash guard? I have a freshwater 12 eclipse and am planning to upgrade the lights in it but I've a bit puzzled by how to put down a spash guard for the new lights.

 

Steve

[reverai]

Oh, for a reef tank you need to take out that biowheel......or you will never get rid of nitrates. Live the live rock and water do its job. You might also add some macro algae behind those rocks to help keep your water stable.

 

Steve

[wfrancis76]

Thanks for the advice. I did make my own splash guard. I bought some acrylic (.100 inch thick) from Lowes and put a Scoring blade on my utility knife. I first made a template with some cardboard and then taped it to the acrylic. Then you just have to sit for a while and cut with the utility knife until your halfway through the acrylic, then you just snap it.

[Hannahlyn]

hmmmm well theres an idea for me now at least

[imafishboy]

hey i bet that power quad gets pretty damn hot. but if that is a regular peice of acryllic, it will start to wrap. lol i have a peice of acrylly as a splash gaurd also. but when it bent one way, i flipped it over, and it bent the other way, and i did it again. and i guess i "heat tempered" it or somehting...cuz now it won't bend nemore. heh

[wfrancis76]

Funny you said that imafishboy. I just did a water change and noticed that the acrylic was bowed a little. so i flipped it. You are right about heat treating it. During the hours of 8 to 5 on weekdays I'm supposed to be a materials research engineer, and from the knowledge i'm supposed to have I can say that the heating and cooling cycles that the acrylic undergoes will introduce small flaws in the plastic that will stiffen it up. don't quote me on that. just a theory.

[RUDEdogSURFrat]

That is a cool looking tank. What is all that crap in the back? I'm obviously unfamiliar with eclipse. I just see some stuff in the back left and right. Also, that thermometer looks too much like a thermometer. Can you custom make the splash guard to stick to the hood and make it easily removable so you can screw with the bulbs when you want?

Are those "moon lights" re-positionable? That would be cool because sometimes liverock changes shape and falls or repositions itself. Especially if you end up with one of those mantis shrimp that may have come with it.

Shouldn't the cpu fan get rid of most of the heat?

 

With these new cubes do you still get all that weird salt crust that everyone used to get hanging off of the tanks with the systems 10 years ago. I'm thinking it was because of my protien skimmer, but I'm not sure.

 

One thing missing from your post is how much money and time you have spent. That would be nice to know for those of us who decide to follow in your footsteps.

[RUDEdogSURFrat]

Hey under my screen name it says I'm a nano reefer. Ha ha. Reefer.

[claudiabkr]

That looks really good. I also have an Eclipse 1 hood but with a 15g glass tank. However did you shoehorn in that power quad?!!! Did you have to cut out the wall between the light area and the filter? I just put in a 32w pc retro, but I'd like more light.

 

You should be able to add a small clean up crew since your ammonia and nitrites are at zero, but I'll warn you against crabs as I have a sally lightfoot terrorizing my tank and I swear its been nibbling on one of my zoos! grrr!!!!

[xtm]

 

wow that looks like a live rock concert stage (pun intended)

good job

 

LATER

[RUDEdogSURFrat]

I get it. Turbo snail.

Clever

[wfrancis76]

I take the fifth on the money and time i've put into it. that stuff on the left is the heater and extra power head for circulation. The Coralife 18 in power quat fits perfect in the eclipse 12 hood. you just use the existing mounting holes and drill holes in the reflector. Hey RudedogSurfrat. If this cost me any more money your wedding gift is going to suck ass. What did you get me for my wedding anyway?

[wfrancis76]

With an enclosed system you don't get any external salt creep. Some of the guys run a protien skimmer or an external "Fuge" which as far as I understand it is an seperate tank with 24 lighting with live rock and someother stuff for natural filtration. Some guys with nano-cube build the fuge into the built in filtration system. You don't need a protien skimmer if you do weekly water changes. I have a 5 gallon bucket with a small powerhead and heater with salt water mixed in it next to the tank to make water changes easy. just about 1.5 gallons a week. The only other thing is dealing with evaporation. I have to replenish the tank with about .25 gallons a day of fresh water to keep the salinity constant.

[EPICTANKHERE]

I am doing the same thing with my eclipse 12 right now, just finished the retrofit a month ago same 96w. next week is an DIY acfuge (you should check out the threads on that in this site. Anyways i have 2 moon leds and dont feel like its enough. was wondering how hard and what you had to buy to do that custom moonlight job? I got rid of the stock filtration all together and until next week only have powerheads and so far so good. My tank is almost 5 months old here,s an ok pic.....

[EPICTANKHERE]

Also wondering how that fan has been with your water temp. i have to leave the feeding hood off the top or my tank gets to 83? whats your temp with the fan?

[wfrancis76]

The fan works great my water temp stays stable between 79 and 80. I drilled somde holes in the front of the feeding hood to help with air flow. The lights were easy to do if you know a little about electronics. you have to be careful about the voltage supply and the volts that the LED requires. I can draw up a wiring diagram and give detailed instructions about how to calculate the type of resistors you need. It's easier than it sounds. It cost me about $32 dollars for all the supplies and took about an hour. let me know.

[janasleah]

Ihave an eclipse hex 5...different, but same type of filter system. I actually did get salt creep while I was using the stock filter, although it didn't get out of the tank. I finally removed the stock filter, because it was only moving the water at about 7x/hour, and put in a microjet powerhead. I also cut a piece of acrylic to put where the filter had been, so I could put additional lighting...I cut it using the same method wfrancis76 did, but it was a pain in the neck! I got some cracking and splintering when I tried to snap it, too. Think next time I'll use a small circular saw or a jigsaw....

[clipse12]

wFrancis, care to elaborate on the wiring for your fan and LED setup? I am considering the 96w you got but am concerned w/ keeping the temp <80F. Wiring info for the fan would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.