Goodbye to the Eclipse BTA Farm... im gonna miss ya.

[stan]

Well, three years have passed now and i'm finally gonna tear down my Eclipse 12. I dont care what people say, the Eclipse 12 makes an awesome reef tank with minimal modifications and is super low maintenance once it's dialed in.

 

I wanted to pay the tank it's proper respects before breaking it down and starting on my new project....

 

Specs:

 

Lighting: 96W Quad 50/50 retrofit

HOB Refugium from Acrylic City with 9W 6500K clip on light

2 Minijet 606 for circulation

Ice-Probe Chiller in the Fuge.

 

Inhabitants:

 

4 RBTA (started with one and have sold many)

Xenia, Zoos, Ricordia, GSP, Hairy Shroom, Regular Shrooms

1 False Perc

Various snails, crabs, conchs, etc

Chaeto & Gracillaria in the sump.

 

Maintenace:

2-3 Gallon water change every week with NSW and a quick scrape down of the glass.

No Dosing whatsoever. Just feed the BTAs and the Fish a couple times a week.

 

Here's full tank shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Clown in his 4 bedroom house.

 

 

 

HOB Fuge Mod with the chiller

 

The Fuge Lighting. $5 clip on light from Target and a $4 6500K 9W bulb. Luckily the HOB fuge is clear so i can light it from below.

[travisurfer]

that tank is perfect! that clown looks so happy in there too.

[stan]

Thanks!!! Went through 3 or 4 different setups on the E12 and found this to be the ideal setup.

 

Shame i have to take it down now, but after 3 years the rock and sand is holding a ton of nutrients. Maybe i'll start it up again in another room someday.

[travisurfer]

just get that pack from ipsf to get your diversity back up and then add some nassarius snails. anyway, sounds like youve made up your mind. what are you going to do with the livestock?

[stan]

Not familiar with that product? How does it recharge your system? My live rock is looking pretty sludgy these days

 

If i go through with the breakdown, I plan on selling/donating all but one of the BTAs then i'm gonna cook the old rock. The zoos are already on plugs (recent frags).

[travisurfer]

it has a live sand crawling with all sorts of stuff. not sure if it would help or not, but this tank is great. i think it its www.ipsf.com .

[stan]

I just looked at that site.. funny when i read it all i can hear is the voice of that crazy dude on the late night infomercials. They look like they have some pretty cool stuff though.

 

I dont think it's a detrivore issue though. The rock is just sludgy. Not slime or cyano.. it just looks like it's full of crap and detritus. I guess i could just cook out the rock one piece at a time but then i wouldnt have the excuse of starting up new.

[jeremai]

Yeah, IPSF tends to have a pretty cheesy sales pitch, but I've worked with them before, their stuff is solid. The detrivore pack is just meant to add diversity to your system; perhaps the organisms you have now don't like your sludge, but guaranteed something that IPSF sends you, will.

 

But that's all moot - start the new tank. You'll love all the extra room.

[travisurfer]

more room would be cool but Id hate to ruin a good thing. best of luck in whatever you do.

[stan]

Thanks. Like i said.. sad to see it go, but hopefully the new setup will kick the ######nit outta this one.

 

Already made a deal on 40lbs of live rock for the new 20, so no turning back now!