New upgrade for Eclipse 12 gal! *pics*

[jdavis28]

Well I paid a visit to the folks of Premier Aquatics thursday of this week. (Tulsa, OK) Greg and Scott were very helpful. Especially Greg. He helped me manufacture this refugium from a Marineland Penguin 200 HOB Filter. His handywork my idea, worked great.

 

We took some "plastic egg crate" and made a divider. We used underwater epoxy. Kinda like a gray resin to put the plastic dividers in place. When I got home, I added some superglue gel to the sides of the divider to help hold it in place. I then added Carbon, live Sand and then Cheato to this HOB Filter.

 

The end result was a HOB Fuge. 200 gal per hour creates alot of flow. Boy does it look great with all the water swirling around. I also kept the original hood. It was a challege getting it all to work, but the clean look is incredible. Lots of hack sawing and measuring, cursing, and markers mark whisky, and Kodiak wintergreen got me and my girlfriend through it. None the less it works great.

 

I plan on using my old 13watt light fixture from the original stock hood to give light to the refugium. The tank currently has a 96watt power compact kit that I installed.

 

Without further waiting here are some pics. I will add some more pics on friday of the tank lit up during the day so you guys can see the full effect.

 

Mod list to stock 12 gal eclipse are as follows:

Pengiun 200gal filter modified to a HOB Fuge

96W power compact light

still kept the stock hood with lots of fabrication (clean look)

1 blue led moonlight for nightime...will soon upgrade to two lights shortly.

Enjoy the pics

TIM

 

Here is a good shot of the plastic egg crate screen divider.

 

Here is me modifying the hood. It took alot more hacksawing that you see here to get it to fit the HOB 200 filter/fuge

 

Here is a picture of the Fuge on the back of the tank

 

 

here is the fuge running

 

 

Here is the final clean look

[jdavis28]

Well I paid a visit to the folks of Premier Aquatics thursday of this week. (Tulsa, OK) Greg and Scott were very helpful. Especially Greg. He helped me manufacture this refugium from a Marineland Penguin 200 HOB Filter. His handywork my idea, worked great.

 

We took some "plastic egg crate" and made a divider. We used underwater epoxy. Kinda like a gray resin to put the plastic dividers in place. When I got home, I added some superglue gel to the sides of the divider to help hold it in place. I then added Carbon, live Sand and then Cheato to this HOB Filter.

 

The end result was a HOB Fuge. 200 gal per hour creates alot of flow. Boy does it look great with all the water swirling around. I also kept the original hood. It was a challege getting it all to work, but the clean look is incredible. Lots of hack sawing and measuring, cursing, and markers mark whisky, and Kodiak wintergreen got me and my girlfriend through it. None the less it works great.

 

I plan on using my old 13watt light fixture from the original stock hood to give light to the refugium. The tank currently has a 96watt power compact kit that I installed.

 

Without further waiting here are some pics. I will add some more pics on friday of the tank lit up during the day so you guys can see the full effect.

 

Mod list to stock 12 gal eclipse are as follows:

Pengiun 200gal filter modified to a HOB Fuge

96W power compact light

still kept the stock hood with lots of fabrication (clean look)

1 blue led moonlight for nightime...will soon upgrade to two lights shortly.

Enjoy the pics

TIM

 

Here is a good shot of the plastic egg crate screen divider.

 

Here is me modifying the hood. It took alot more hacksawing that you see here to get it to fit the HOB 200 filter/fuge

 

Here is a picture of the Fuge on the back of the tank

 

 

here is the fuge running

Here is the final clean look

 

 

what do u guys think?

[akslope]

Hey jd looks nice a clean!!! I have the same 12 Eclipse and am in the process of constructing a 12.5 gal sump/refugium. Got all the acrylic last R&R and ordered the Mag3 pump just yesterday. I like the lighting that you have done in the hood. Could you let me know some spicifics?? I still have the stock lighting and am looking at either making a new hood or retro fitting the existing.

Thanks in advance

Ken

[jdavis28]

Here is another clean look of the backside.

 

Boy the flow in this thing is crazy for a 12 gal.

 

 

Tango

 

Ken-

I ordered a 96Watt power compact setup like this: http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idProduct=CU01615

From marinedepot. It was a perfect fit in the front of the tank. Now I have 96W per 12 gal= 8watts per gallon. boy is she bright. I put a computer fan on the back of the hood for cooling because the light creates alot of heat. I also manufactured a splash guard for the light out of acrylic.

 

This post: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...topic=51834&hl= Offers some incredible ideas for modding an eclipse or any other for that matter.

 

Tango

[akslope]

Tango,

Thanks for the link!!! I am really looking foward to doing the DIY projects. I get back home in a week and will jump right into doing the sump/refugium. The lighting will come next. I have to pace my bank account!!!

Thanks again,

Ken

[pico1]

looks nice can we get a full tank shot?

[jdavis28]

of course friend of friends!

 

not the greatest pic, but she will do for now.

 

tango

 

note: the hi performance flow of the 200gal/hr filter/fuge!

very hipo!

[dstarview]

I've just bought a hob filter for the same thing. Did you have to cut the thicker plastic just inside the rim of the tank? If so, how to do that without getting anything in the tank itself?

[jdavis28]

I've just bought a hob filter for the same thing. Did you have to cut the thicker plastic just inside the rim of the tank? If so, how to do that without getting anything in the tank itself?

 

 

Good question. I know exactly what you are speaking of. Yes I used a hacksaw, and had an assistant hold a dustpan up to the edge of the back glass just below where I was cutting. WHen I was finished cutting, I used wet papertowels and wet cuetips to wipe the plastic chunks back onto the dustpan and not stick on the plastic glass or fall into the tank.

 

I also siphoned out about 3 gals of water so that it would give my hacksaw room to operate.

Tango.

[kraig]

My girlfriend chews Copenhagen.

 

Lots of hack sawing and measuring, cursing, and markers mark whisky, and Kodiak wintergreen got me and my girlfriend through it. None the less it works great.

[Argent]

looks good -- I have one of those HOB on my 15H tropical tank -- slightly overkill on the water movement but the fish love it -- I was thinking of switching this tank over to a reef one and was wondering if I could re-use the HOB -- now that I've seen what you did I think I may go ahead and try it!

[Primeval]

nice. I wish i had the time and tools to do that to my 12