Help With Light for Eclipse 6

[MWehr76364]

Im getting mixed signals from alot of people and I need some of you all to help me sorth this stuff out. I have an eclipse 6 system that I have set up as salt. Right now all it has in it is sand, rock, damsel, and peppermint shrimp. I need to upgrade the lighting as all I have now in there is a Powerglow bulb. A few people on here said I need to upgrade the lights which is what I want to do to add corals. However here is where the problem is. Hellolights.com has a PC retro kit that will fit that is 13W and has a 50/50 10,000K bulb in it. I have been told that I need to go to a higher wattage. I contacted Drs Foster Smith today and there resident fish expert told me that if I put a PC on my tank it will become a fire hazard. However there sell PC retro kits for a 2 and 3gal tanks? I need help any thoughts and comments on what to do would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

Mike W

[Christopher Marks]

Quite a few people have successfully installed a Custom Sea Life Super Nova fixture, which is a 32w lamp with a rubber endcap. The added heat will indeed be an issue though; and you will need to mount a fan on top, or cut vent holes somewhere in the hood. Do a search on the forums to see if you come across any examples of others' installations.

[AzSnake]

AH Supply Sells a twin 13 watt PC retro kit for about 15 bucks. It comes with 2 ballasts, 2 bulb sockets, wire, wire nuts, and all other hardware including 2 1" vents that you drill into the hood and snap in. I got 2 more vents for .25 cents each. The Kit is very very affordable. 2 13watt PC's should give you good light in an Eclipse 6 setup. They have combo bulbs for 7 bucks each. 1/2 is 10K and the other side is actinic. I installed the setup in my Eclipse 6 last night and it was a piece of cake. It does get hot but i had it on for about 7 hrs and it didn't get too hot with the vents installed. i also purchased the power cord with a switch for a few more bucks. Everything together was around $40 after shipping.

 

AH Supply

[C Jerome]

Whats up. I retro fitted my eclipse 6 last winter with 2 X 28W PCs. It fits fine and is twice the wattage of the 2 X13W jaz. Do a search under my Username and you will find my post showing how i did it. There are pics too. I have not had a heat problem, i have a peice if plexi beneath the lights resting on the inside lip of the top. I prop the lit about a third of the way open with a LEGO piece. Check it out.

C. Jerome