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12g eclipse, now what?


mumrah

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I just recieved a 12g eclipse tank. My girlfriend and I want to go reef with this. What's a good starting point? Or some references.

 

thanks

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the eclipse12 is a great place to start. but to have a reef, be prepared to spend a lot of money on the initial start up. check out my old tank thread and feel free to pm me if you have any questions. :D

-danny

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here is some advice from a n00b also. I am almost 2 months into my 6g eclipse...my 1st tank.

 

1: prepared to be confused until you can't take it anymore.

2: resist putting in plastic plants

3: build a C02 reactor and sump fuge/HOB,

4: you need 5 1200gph maxi power heads.

5: sell your girfriends car for a MH orbiting moonlight 5 bulb lighting system.

6: COnnect your protein skimmer and power heads to your PC and download any Enya MP3's. Play Enya and the power controls digital timers will fluctuate to simulate real water flows of a reef.

7: everyone here hates eclipse.

8: ignore advice #2 - 7

9: search these forums for eclipse

10: this is a good link...http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/saltwa...First_Reef.html

 

Now, here is how this n00b did it...

before I found this site and that link..

 

buy enough sand until it looks like you want it.

buy enough live rock you can afford. until it looks like you want it.

get those jugs rolling fro your local store full of saltwater.

 

dump them all in. let sit for 3 or more weeks.

 

You can also do this.. get some advice to use damsel fish to cycle the tank.. watch them gasp on the bottom until they die. fun for the whole family. I did this 3 times. My 2 year old was confused why I left the house early each morning, and when I came back, there were different fish in the tank.

 

After about 3 weeks or so, you will see some brown algea film on the glass. This is a sign from the Nano gods to add a cleanup crew.

 

wait 2 more weeks

 

now your all set to get some corals and fish.

 

during this time, you will have spent hours on this site. and you learn everything about what corals you can keep with your water flow and lighting, what fish do best. how much fun it will be to post to the forums that you put a tang in a 12 gallon, and back to #1, be really confused on HOB/MH/powerheads, protein skimmers etc..

 

I am worse off now than I was when I started.

 

I am actually going in a new direction, no more FOWLR or Nano-Reefing..

 

I am going to just have tanks of Live rocks, sand and algea

 

(of course, with $800 MH pendant lighting and a 45 gallon refuge.)

 

seriously, reading these boards, be prepared. I think about starting over every minute, 30gal aga with all the bells and whistles? or 24g nano-cube all self contained.

 

but everything HAS to be modded... I dont kow why. this is like the "Hot Rod" magazine place for saltwater tanks. Where can us honda civic people go!

 

Bah, here is all you need. Buy a new pair of Nikes. cut out the Nike "Swoosh", tape it on the tank... and "Just do it"

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well, following the advice of a trusted LFS, i think i'm going to get 20lbs of live sand, a few good sized base pieces of live rock, and maybe an invert or two.

 

the stock lighting (13W 5000K) needs to be upgraded for sure, but i think the blub is some proprietary shape. So i'll probably get a retrofit kit of sorts.

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believe me, 20lbs is too much sand. you're going to get anaerobic areas and eventually something is going to move that patch and you're going to get a nasty surprise of a crashed tank when you come home one day.

 

do NOT trust lfs...they are there to make a profit. we are hobbiests and are looking out for you. if you're going to pay money for live rock...don't get base rock. base rock is just heavy, non-porous rock. try to find some live rock that is porous.

 

as for lighting, you can easily fit a 96w powerquad into the eclipse hood. you may have to trim the reflector a bit to help if fit with the stock filter, but it should be fine. http://www.hellolights.com/201xcoaqcfho.html if you do use the powerquad, make sure to buy a little 4-6" fan that you can use to point over the top of the tank to get the hot air out.

 

with that light you can basically keep ANY coral(with the exception of most acropora species). good luck.

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Speaking of 12 gal Eclipse has anyone been getting slight crazing marks or cracks? The both local stores here have been pitching the plastic (its a thin plastic not typical acrylic as usedin aquariums) and throwing in a 10 gal all glass tank in its place....I acquired 7 brand new removed from new boxes when sold plastic Eclipse tanks for free already from one dealer already. Just curious as to how the plastic tanks on these systems really do hold up in use.......My stash is still unused but will probably be putting them into use for FW holding tanks for my fry.

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