Need some help with my new tank :)

[dsg7777]

Well, I have been researching nano-reefs for a month or so, and yesterday for my birthday my parents picked up an eclipse 6 bowfront tank and a 150 dollar gift certificate to the LFS. I know I will probably need 9 or 10 pounds of live rock, and live sand, but what else do I need? What kind of lighting is needed? and can I use the same filter that came with it? I heard bio-wheels are bad, whats the deal with that? thanks a bunch

[audi206rs4]

well they make pc (power compact) retrofit kits for the eclipse hood. so i would do that.

 

get about 6-10 lbs. of lr and 6-10 lbs. of ls (depends how deep you would like your sand bed. i got my lr locally from a guy who was breaking down his 200 gallon reef for $2 a pound for some premo stuff! i just think that lr from a tank that have been established for a few years should be bursting full of life, imo? just keep an eye out for good deals, be patient. i didn't want to spend $7-10 per pound, do you?

 

get a good heater... ebo jager seems popular here (you'll need the 50 w). 78-80 degrees is the norm.

 

good quality salt is important... i do instant ocean. sp. gravity at 1.023 it'll give you leeway for it to rise to 1.025, but if you keep up with topping off evaporated water... it'll stay pretty stable.

 

your lr and ls will be your filter, remove your bio-wheel... it'll just be a nitrATE factory. you can put in some carbon from time to time if you wish for a lil' extra oomph! and if you'd like throw in some form of micro-algae to soak up excess nutrients (ie. nitrate/phosphate). but keep up with WEEKLY water changes!

 

set up the tank with water. install the heater and run the filter. when the temp is set mix in the salt (it'll mix/melt easier with the water warmer. just my opinion and experience). let the tank run overnight to make sure that everything works.

 

now go out and get you lr and ls and set it up to your liking and just be patient and let it it CYCLE!!!

 

have fun!

[MrConclusion]

I agree with everything but one:

 

You may want to leave the bio wheel in place. It's good for adding dissolved oxygen, and it grows a little bit of biofilm, too.

 

The "nitrATE factory" is a myth. All waste in your tank will go through the ammonia-to-nitrite-to-nitrate cycle, no matter whether it happens in the sand, live rock, or filter media.

 

The other bio-wheel myth is the starved live rock theory. Basically, the idea is that the bio-wheel is so efficient that it will use up all the nutrition and the live rock will die. But think about it: the bio wheel supports less bacteria than a pound of rock, so this is tantamount to claiming that, if you add an extra pound of rock to your tank, all of your old rock would die of starvation! That's obviously silly.

 

The fact is that the biological base of the tank (bacteria in the rock, the sandbed, and every surface) will naturally equalize with the biological load of the tank (the amount of nutrition available.)

Nitrates are removed only by anaerobic breakdown in the deep sand bed, green algae growth, and water changes.

 

Other things you need:

 

1. A Carbonate Hardness (KH) test kit.

 

2. A Calcium test kit.

 

Hagen test kits are cheap and effective. I would not spend a lot on high-end kits if you're on a budget. Here's a link to check them out, but they should be available at your LFS. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...d=6&pCatId=4469

 

3. Suppliments, which you'll use more and more as your tank becomes active.

 

Some people have success with Seachem's "reef" series, which are made to be used together. You can buy the three popular ones in a "starter pack"

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...d=6&pCatId=4872

 

Other people like the Kent products. I am experimenting with their recommended combination of Turbo-Calcium, Strontium/molybdenum, Coral-Vite, and Essential Elements. This will be my first "All Kent" supplimented tank.

 

4. A 2-3 gallon bucket with a small cheap pump and a small cheap heater to mix your saltwater. Trust me, you can get this for less than $40 and you will love it.

 

5. Write yourself a note to change your PC bulbs every 6 months OR SOONER. Although they keep lighting up, the actual light output goes way down and your animals (which were doing so well) start to suffer. You don't notice because the bulbs are a little bit dimmer every day, and your eyes adjust, but it makes a huge difference.

[MrConclusion]

By the way, this is the kind of lighting you will probably be looking for. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...d=6&pCatId=3811

 

I have an eclipse 6, so I'm familiar with what you're trying to do. If you're not a handy-type person, you may want to consider swapping the eclipse for something easier (like a plain 10 gallon glass tank with a cheap hood. A plain 10 gallon hood is very easy to retrofit to PC lighting.)

 

The hard part about the eclipse 6 is that the entire original lighting system will need to be removed, and then the new bulbs will need to be enclosed to protect from water & salt, so you gotta be creative but not ruin your equipment or electrocute yourself.

[caja]

Actually, that is not the exact retrokit you would want. You want the CSL 32 watt PC Supernova. Has a waterproof rubberized end cap to keep the moisture off the ballast. Super easy to install, even comes with the instructions. It took me all of 20 miutes to remove the stock lighting, and install the retrokit. Here's a link to one of NR's sponsors who sell the Supernova kit. Item # LT 23132, about 1/3 of the way down the page. Great price BTW.

http://www.customaquatic.com/customaquatic...D=lt&brandID=CF

 

I won't go down the biowheel path, but my experience with it was this. I ran my Eclipse 6 with it in place for 3 months and always had a slightly elevated trate reading. Tossed the biowheel and the trates dissapeared.

[dsg7777]

So, I went down there and picked up the live sand and I have my tank up and running now. The guy down there says I should start out with just FOWLR, what do you guys think? he told me to just get an 8 watt bulb that will fit my tank, get the live rock, set it up and see how I like it after awhile. what do you guys think? What kind of stuff can you put in a tank with just an 8 watt bulb?

[douglask]

Wow, perfect thread for me to read. I recently picked up a Eclipse 6 tank as well and I'm looking to set it up (long story). The SuperNova you pointed to says it works on a Eclipse 12. Just want to verify it does fit in the 6 before purchasing.

 

I'd love to get two tiny clowns and some corals, etc (if there is room to make them happy). What do most people have in their Eclipse 6s? It would be nice to have a list of what actually works in this tank since this is my first saltwater attempt. Something really colorful would be a huge plus.

 

Thanks in advance!

[harbingerofthefish]

An 8 watt bulb is probally going to be a waste of money. You can cycle with it and then decide to go brighter, but you'll see some die off and possibly another mini-cycle due to low light orginisms being shocked and thus dying due to the extreme light change.

 

Just buy your lights online. LFS are great to find live stock deals, but when it comes to hardware, most are outrageuos, esp. when it comes to retrofit lighting.

 

douglask-

 

checked out the member reefs?

 

there are quite a few people on here with 6 gallons.

 

2 clowns might be a little much. after you take up 1/2 gallon of water with sand and another gallon with rock you only have a 4-5 gallon tank.

 

If you want a clown to host you can probally get a torch, frogspawn, hammer, or even some leathers, and they may host with it. I personally would shy away from anenomes, but an all anenome tank would be cool.