LET THERE BE LIGHT!!! I think.

[vanessa]

Ok so I'm not going to say I am anywhere knowlegable about lighting and nano tanks... I was looking for some way to light my 12 gal eclipse without having to plunk down $50 or more on a retofit kit which would require me to drill holes and rig something that might not work the best. Here's what I found and I may be wrong but I'm sure you guys out there will let me know. I found a PC light that is a 50/50 bulb that fits the eclipse 12's pre-existing fixture. The bulb is a 50/50 actinic 03 and 10000K daylight. That seems more than adequate doesn't it for a nano-tank? considering the light the tank came with is 13W 5000K PC. This will double the daylight and add actinic qualities as well. And since it's 13W I won't have to worry about chance of fire &/or melting the hood with a bulb that's requires too much wattage and generates more heat than what I've already got. Let me know

[glazer]

Hi vanessa,

Well what you've done or are going to do hasn't really doubled anything. You've just put a bulb in that is more suited for reef setups... the higher K (kelvin temperature) you speak of.

IF you haven't done this already when you install the new bulb it may even seem somewhat dimmer than what you had in it to begin with.... the eye normally interprets higher Kelvin temperatures as being less bright.

So what it comes down to is that you still have a 13 watt PC over a 12 gallon tank. Your stocking choices are going to be extremely limited with this much or should I say little light that you have.

You'll have to decide what your end goal with the tank is... right now you could prolly support some shroom's at best. If you check around there is usually some good deals to be had on the 32 watt retro kit made by CSL. It was originally designed to replace what you have now, in fact it is most commonly marketed that way, as an Eclipse lighting upgrade. Needless to say the install on this is very very simple....shouldn't take you any more than a few minutes.

Like I said.... figure out what it is you would LIKE to keep in the tank and then light it accordingly.

hth

[LiQuiD]

Gee, another eclipse hood question, this has got to be what, a hundred this week. Nothing against you Vanessa, just see alot of these. I do see a problem, not a problem for some but problem none the less. The CSL retrofits are designed for the rectangle hoods with the existing long NO bulb. From what you described (13 watt PC) I would say you have the acrylic bow front 12 with the bow hood, correct? The rectangle hood you replace by simply (and it is simple) putting the bulb inside the plastic shield where the old 17" bulb was. The problem with your hood is that the 32 watt bulb wont fit inside the 8 or so inch shield for the stock PC bulb. You will have to loose the existing shield and bulb and attach it directly to the hood (you put the screws through the existing screw holes once you removed the old light). It is not very difficult, I had a CSL retrofit in the same hood (now in a eclipse rectangle hood), the tank is no longer used for a reef due to the fact of trying to clean coraline algae off the acrylic (pain in the ass without scratching the tank). Basically, is you are not going to get many good choices for under 50 bucks and you really do need the light if you want to keep something besides coraline and shrooms.

[technoshaman]

Just had to add there have been like 10 bazillion eclipse lighting threads past few days. Someone should write a FAQ.