My 29G Eclipse tank.

My 29G Eclipse III tank. The 29G and Eclipse hood is what I had on hand from my previous life as a freshwater aquarist. I'm trying to see how far I can go with this basic setup. I'll probably add some compact fluorescent lighting similiar to the way this guy added a single fluorescent blub: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/5629/, and I have a skimmer that I've yet to set up, but that's about as much as I have planned for the hardware. I want to see how far this minimal setup can take me. The tank has been going about six weeks now. Current inhabitants include:

* 20 lbs of live rock.

* 7 turbo snails

* 4 tiny hermit crabs

* 1 yellow tail damsel fish.

* 1 yellow tang

* 1 pincushion urchin.

* 1 green star polyp frag.

Another pic:

Urchin dude:

Hermit crab dude:

ah jeez, i hear the tang police coming. my recommendation is to remove the second pic, and then i'll edit out my post.

the tank looks very clean, good job

one word of advise, i think you're going to want a larger cleanup crew than that for when the diatoms/hair algae/cyano comes. if you stock up now you might never have to deal with any pest algae. i'd go with about 20 hermits, but thats just me.

delete the thread while u can! lol i sense lots of complaints within the near future. im not gonna say anything just for the fact i was banned recently on another name lol

dude I understand that you are new to reefs and probably to saltwater fish, but before you make a purchase you should really research the needs of your livestock. A yellow tang requires a minimum of 100+ gallons. Sure you will get those who have kept them in a 55 but a 29 is plain old reeftarded. I suggest that you take it back to you lfs. Also upgrade your lighting before buying any corals

I have seen Yellow Tangs do absolutely fine in 45g tank...29 may be small...but, what is this 100+????

Lol reeftarded Is your avatar kanji?

>dude I understand that you are new to reefs and probably to saltwater

>fish, but before you make a purchase you should really research the needs

>of your livestock.

By 'should' do you mean morally or only that it will enhance my chance of success? I read indignation in the tone of your post and the picture you attached. Is that right?

I'll help ya out... Morally and successfully... It's not worth trying. They may look small, but they have to have large areas to swim in. A 29 just won't cut it. You really should have researched much more before getting that fish... You're reading a lot of indignation because people rant and rave all the time about the people who have tangs in such small environments. It's prob. 1:20 threads around here...

>I'll help ya out... Morally and successfully... It's not worth trying. They may

>look small, but they have to have large areas to swim in. A 29 just won't

>cut it.

I believe you that it won't work. Let me be clear about that.

I'm just puzzled that anyone cares what I do enough to feel

indignant about it.

>You really should have researched much more before getting that fish...

>You're reading a lot of indignation because people rant and rave all the

>time about the people who have tangs in such small environments.

>It's prob. 1:20 threads around here...

Interesting. Rant and rave, you say? I find that truly amazing.

Over a fish?

Is it the thought of animal's suffering that pains them so?

since no one else was too terribly helpful, i think it might be to your advantage to ditch the eclipse hood and just buy a HOB filter and high quality lighting. the eclipse series is made primarily for freshwater aquariums(believe me, i know!...i have an eclipse12 set up) and when used as a reef tank, it is virtually a piece of junk. you definetly will need more live rock and may want to re-think the use of the aragonite(crushed coral) bed. it often functions more as a detritus trap than anything else.

make sure that the damsel you have in there is really what you want! they're a real difficult fish to extract from an aquarium.

overall, my suggestions would be...take the tang back to the store...buy a lot more live rock...possible change the CC substrate to livesand...upgrade your filtration and lighting setup and get some coral! =)

oh, and have fun while you're at it.

>since no one else was too terribly helpful, i think it might be to your

>advantage to ditch the eclipse hood and just buy a HOB filter and high

>quality lighting. the eclipse series is made primarily for freshwater

Thanks for the comments. I am quite aware of the Eclipse's limitations as a reef system. For various reasons, though, I'm rather comitted to seeing what I can do with it.

>overall, my suggestions would be...take the tang back to the store...buy a

>lot more live rock...possible change the CC substrate to livesand...upgrade

>your filtration and lighting setup and get some coral! =)

I will be taking the tang back. Unless, that is, I decide to purposely

murder him just to annoy the tang police, which is quite tempting.

More live rock will come, but slowly, since my budget is severely limited.

I'll think about the livesand. Already it's clear that I need to vacuum the CC soon. Livesand would have the same issues of accumulating detritus, wouldn't it?

>oh, and have fun while you're at it.

Thanks. I am.

i want to put in my two cents here.. i think elgordoinwhereverhe'sin was just messed up there was no reason for saying that its retarded for him to have a tang in his 30gln or calling him a retard then posting a pic with some guys head up his arse! these forums are to help each other out. and i think you where just jumping on the band wagon with the whole tang issue .. next time think before you post sothing if you are going to be a arse! just dont say anything.. i know its not cool to keep a tang in a 30gln but to be honest its his tank his money his choice! i also have a tang in my 30 gln and i know he is eventually going to get to big for it if he hasnt already. i bought him knowing that i was going to upgrade my tank wich i have. so he will have a enough room to swim. but in my 30 he is a happy pig! anyhow wiht your lights there is a setup that you can buy that will fit in your fixture i think it runs about 60.00-80.00 i am actually selling my old jbj light its in the classified section ..anyhow to avoid further harrasment just dont post pics with your tang anymore because you will get peeps with heads up there ass! giving you grief about it ..just take this hobby slow bro. read as much as possible it will save you lots of $$$$$$ in the long run dont do thing the cheap way because eventually you will either want somthing you cant keep with the lights you have or you will run into some sort of prob buy trying to save a few bucks .. there is cool peeps in this forum that will give you gooood help.. or check out reefcentral.com stuff like what elgordo said doesnt get put up with there..

have fun with this hobby its great!! keep up the good work with your tank looks good o and like yoshiod9 said i would get rid crushed coral.

i'm glad to see that this thread didn't get out of hand. i think your plans for the future are good. as for the live sand, go to your local lowe's, or home depot, and look for playsand from either southdown, or old castle. it's the exact same stuff as aragonite sand and you'll get it for pennies on the dollar. it's only available at some places around the country, so if they don't have it, don't go on and buy what they do have, because the sand needs to be aragonite based, and not silica based.

bro, you can keep shroooms and zoo's with that light you will not get much growth but they will stay alive .. i wouldnt suggest anything else if you want the zoo's to look cool and glow replace one of the bulbs with a blue actinic light.. they cost like 12.00 .. hey and i am glad you kept your cool and respond in a harsh way although i would have LOL ..

Just in case anyone feels moved to continue the discussion of why people seem so indignant when you do something not up to their standards, I have created a thread for this topic in the lounge:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=41690

Probably should keep this thread to discussing the tank only.

I do think it is an interesting discussion to have, since I noticed this phenomena a lot even before I posted.

>anyhow to avoid further harrasment just dont post pics with your tang

>anymore because you will get peeps with heads up there ass! giving you

>grief about it

Thanks, but I think I'll just keep posting pics of what I have, whether people approve of it or not. I can handle the grief.

As a beginner, I appreciate seeing all the crazy things beginners do. The main reason I chose to post my tank here was to provide that same service to other beginners. If it all goes horribly bad, I'll post those pics too, so beginners can see what you get out of this low-road approach. If I limp along with some success, I'll keep everyone updated on that. This is raw data, for people to get out of whatever they will.

I know full well what people recommend for a good setup. I have seen enough of these posts to know that everyone would say my lighting was inadequate, my filtration too poor, that there is a large body of people who feel the biowheel will just become a nitrate factory and should be removed, that you should wait longer before adding livestock, etc. I know all of that. I have just chosen to try it with what I have anyway (Not that I mind people telling me these things again, so keep your comments coming because there is plently still to learn).

I also realize that the long term cost of not doing things the 'right way' up front will be higher, and that short term savings are likely to be washed out by higher costs later along with an overall sub-par experience. However, it's not the long term cost that I'm trying to minimize. It's the up-front cost I am trying to minimize. I am willing to live with sub-par experience just to get my feet wet.

>wouldnt suggest anything else if you want the zoo's to look cool and glow

>replace one of the bulbs with a blue actinic light.. they cost like 12.00

Ah, I should have mentioned, I have one 50/50 actinic bulb and one 10K bulb in there now. I also have a pure actinic bulb which I tried for a while, but I didn't really like they way things looked under it.

>anyhow with your lights there is a setup that you can buy that will fit in

>your fixture i think it runs about 60.00-80.00 i am actually selling my old

>jbj light its in the classified section

I definitnely intend to add more lighting. Have you got any more specific information about the setup you mention? Along with my other arbitrary commitments, I am committed to adding only lighting that will fit under my current hood. I like the way it looks, clean and neat, and so I'm going to see what I can accomplish within that constraint. There is room in there for two more T-8 24" bulbs, no problem. I can put the ballast or electronics under the stand. I've seen an expensive add-on kit (~$200) and a replacement CF kit for the existing lights which was also expensive. I'd be very interested in a $60-$80 kit of some sort.

its a retro fit kit i will get info for you let me find it ..

i like your attitude !!!

oh man, i feel sorry for you! I had that same tank and...

1. Filtration sucks

2. You GOTTA get better lights

3. ( The only good thing) Perfict size...Good luck anyway