Tanked Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 It's been 6 weeks now since I ventured into the nano hobby. Just wanted to share my experiences with any other people considering the undertaking. I bought a Marineland Eclipse 12 gallon acrylic tank online. The light never worked properly, right out of the box. Just kind of flickered. Since I had planned to install a retrofit lighting kit anyways, I was irked but undeterred. I filled the tank with freshwater once I had the tank placed in a good location, light installed, and heater/powerheads running to make sure everything was working. The Eclipse tanks come with powerfilters and biowheels installed in the included canopy. Most people on this site don't seem to use them. That's good because mine stopped working after 2 days of freshwater use. I checked the impeller assembly numerous times looking for a clog but could find nothing of the sort. The entire canopy ended up being discarded because the water temperature hovered in the mid 80's and water was condensing on the light ballasts. Oddly enough, the Smartlife 32 watt retrofit light clearly states on the packaging that it cannot get wet even though they're made for aquariums! Strange. Fast forward to the present. The tank has been running for 6 weeks now. I also have a 5.5 gallon glass tank with a Visatherm Deluxe 50 watt heater (also a Marineland product) and a small powerhead mixing saltwater at all times. Today the heater stopped working. That's strike three on my count against Marineland. I'm using a Tronic 50 watt in the main tank. I specifically went with 2 different brands just in case one would be more reliable than the other. I'm just glad it was the mixing tank that has the malfunctioning heater. I ordered an Ebo Jager today to replace the Visa. So in summary, if I could do it all over again I'd buy a 10 gallon glass tank and cut a piece of acrylic for the cover. Any decent lighting configuration could work over that. The Eclipse 12 is a bowfront styled tank and so cutting a piece of acrylic to fit it after tossing the canopy was a pain. The acrylic I cut for the 5.5 gallon rectangular tank was a breeze. Do this NOW newbies. Save some time, headaches, and money. Link to comment
Tanked Posted October 2, 2003 Author Share Posted October 2, 2003 The light I'm using is a CustomSeaLife 32 watt Smartlight retrofit kit...just in case anyone else out there is considering buying one. Link to comment
bobioden Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 Hi, The 32w Smartlite was meant to be used with the rectangular Eclipse hoods, which has a splashguard. CSL makes the Supernova whith is a 32w for the Eclipse Twelve. It comes with rubberized endcaps. If you try Acrylic on top of the tank, I think you will have a bigger heat problem. I haven't had any problems with mine so far. Ditch the stock filter and put on a small Aquaclear. The stock filter blocks alot of light from getting to the back of the tank. Bob Link to comment
NaNO ReeFiN Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 The only problem I see was you used an eclipse tank as a nano-reef. Some people have success with these tanks but many don't, me included. I've never had a problem with visi-therm heaters though. Been using them for years with no problems. I did use an ebo once and it was crap.. I'm pretty sure I had a defective one. I'm guessing your visi-therm could've just been defective as well. Link to comment
BLT Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 I have an eclipse 5 hex and after dremeling the back a little it is making a great nano. I feel experience helps this also. Link to comment
harbingerofthefish Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 don't dis all Marineland products. i have been using a Regent from Wally worlld (a marine land product) HoB for a year now with no problems. Link to comment
Iphantom Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 I have been using marine land products for a while with my freshtanks and nano reef with no problems at all Link to comment
Tanked Posted October 2, 2003 Author Share Posted October 2, 2003 Just offering my take on said brand based solely on my experiences. The bottom line is, use whatever's working for you. Marineland products have not worked for me and I don't think I'll be purchasing anything else from them in the near future. Hey Bob, I guess I should have posted 7 weeks ago about the retrofitting kit. Oh well. And...I would have heating problems from the acrylic cover if it covered the entire surface of the tank. I cut it orginally to shield the Smartlite when it was in the Eclipse canopy. After I jettisoned the cover, the back half of my tank became exposed relieving a good portion of the temperature problems I was having. Since I had no fish, I was none too concerned about carpet surfers, but now that there's a Royal Gramma on board, I'm going to have to find something for the back to cover it and still allow cooler air to circulate at the surface. Some kind of plastic mesh screen or something I guess. I may still have to invest in a chiller eventually. Thanks for the info. Link to comment
MWehr76364 Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 Have you tried to contact them? I have a problem with a motor that I thought that had crapped out on my Eclipse 6 which made the whole filter unit bad cause there is no way to get the motor out unless you can find some way to get the plastic alan bolt out which I just rounded off. I called marineland to see how much a new filter unit would be for the 6. Told them that it was probably my fault that it happened cause at the time I had used some really crappy sand that just kind of floated to the top and caused me all kinds of problems before I switched to LS. The lady said for me not to worry about it and 2 days later I had one priority shipped to me at no charge for anything. Now thats a company that stands behind there product I think even though I told them it was probably my fault that it happend. Come to find out I just thouroughly cleaned the filter and impellar xtremely well and it started to work again. I called them back and talked to a different person told them what happened and asked them if they wanted to charge me for the unit or send it back to them and they said not to worry about anything that they will stick behind there product 100% and for me just to use it as a back up in case anything goes wrong in the future. I also use there powerheads and Visi Therms and have never had a problem with them. Maybe you just got a bad shipment or something. Call them and see what they can do. Link to comment
~_~ Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 I just bought some Maxi-Jets from marinedepot, and they are MarineLand branded Maxijets. Kind of ugly though with the lettering on them. Link to comment
danc19 Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 I have an eclipse 12, but with a rectangular glass tank. Was running a sw fish only tank for 2 years with no problems. Just converted to a reef tank using the CSL 32W smartlite, no problems. starting off with just a few corals, everything seem ok. Link to comment
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