The Future Setup

[surfingelite]

What am I missing or need to change on my Christmas list?

 

- Eclipse 12g aquarium

- Synthetic salt

- Specific gravity meter

- 13 lb live sand

- 11 lb live rock (or mixed with some base rock)

- Heater (not sure if it is included w/ the eclipse)

- Test kits (Ph, NO2, NO3, NH4 )

- Supplements (Ca, Mg, Sr, I)

- Coral-accel

- Protein skimmer...?

 

Does this sound like an expensive start?

[palaegic]

You may want to do a 'Search' on Eclipse. The light is not sufficient and the bio-wheel is counter productive in a reef tank environment.

 

I say skip it and go with a standard 10 or a 20 gallon long.

You certainly don't need a protein skimmer just starting out, your personal experience as you advance in the hobby will help you make that decision.

[caja]

You forgot lighting, one of the most important parts of a successful reef tank. The stock lighting on any store bought aquarium is insufficient for keeping corals.

[surfingelite]

Thank you for the advice

 

I have been looking around on some of discussion board postings and it seems that the eclipse systems scratch easily, have insufficient filters and lighting. I prefer the taller tank design verses the long. Is there a tall tank design that is about 10-12 gallons that does not scratch easily? What sort of lighting and filtration do I need for this setup? Right now I am loaded with questions because I want to do this right.

[sukeband]

Try a 15 gallon high glass

[surfingelite]

I have been searching and those do not seem to be a common type. I think that I am going to have to settle for the 10 gallon long. Is a 50/50 and one of those blueish/purplish light bulbs (acrylic??) sufficient this tank? I have no idea what kind of filter would be good for it.

[Ehawk]

Surfingelite,

 

Welcome to Nano-reefs! You will find lots of helpful people here with some good advice and lots of experience. You can help yourself by reading, reading some more, then reading some more. Try- http://www.nano-reef.com/articles/

and also the search function in the fourms for :

 

nano and lighting and eclipse

 

You should find at least a couple of pages of results to sift through.

 

Also search only in members nano reefs for eclipse. Look at the tanks you find. Do you like what you see? If so take a look at what they have for equipment, but realize some of the tanks may have been set up for a while and a new tank is not going to look that good.

 

As many others have heard: Patience, do not rush into anything with your tank, equipment or livestock.

 

Lighting is a key factor in what you can keep in your tank, not the only one, but a major one. Think about what you want in your tank in a year or so and work backwards. If you want sps and clams in a year then you will need more intense lighting. Knowing that, you probably would not want to start with NO flourescent bulbs.

 

Also, open ended questions are hard for people to answer, so try to be as specific as possible. "Is this lighting good enough?" Vs. I plan on 12 gallon tank, with some zoos mushrooms and eventually a Montipora capricornus, will X watts of (insert choice of light source here) be sufficent? This will help you get better answers and save some of the BS you might get otherwise.

 

sorry if this comes off as a rant, it is not meant to be.

[surfingelite]

I have done a lot of searching in the past couple of days and am really anxious to get started, but there is a lot for me learn and I have a few weeks to do it.