goblinsharkman
New member
On friday im gettin an eclipse 6 from a friend to start my mantis shrimp tank. How much LR and LS do you all recommend?
Gettin an Eclipse 6 gallon
- Thread starter goblinsharkman
- Start date
Meisen
Premium Member
These things really suck as nano reefs...Sorry.
I had a eclipse 12 for a year and a half. I finally gave it up a couple of months ago. I turned the damb thing into a goldfish tank for the girlfriend.
The reasons:
lighting: totally weak 20 watt bulb! Need at least 3X this for a decent reef set up in a 12 gallon. I used a LOA pc retrofit into the hood though it was a major PITA to do.
filtration: filter pad and biowheel are bad news, plus the outflow of the pump constantly stirs the sand. This means that the intake will eventually grab some sand grains and fry itself trying to eat them.
Salt creep: think its bad on a regular reef? Try one with the water actually piped though the hood! I ruined a perfectly good entertainment center with all the salt that came off this thing.
Accessability: you have to empty the whole hood to get decent access into the tank. The flip up top is not big enough to do much of anything. Water invaribly mixes with electricity when you do this!!!
If you are still convinced its the way to go, I would do it without a sand bed, maybe 10-20 lbs of live rock on bare glass or starboard on the bottom. You could also use a UNTREATED cutting board from the dollar store, cut to fit.
Upgrade the lights somehow to at least powercompacts. Someone sells a plug and play upgrade kit however it is like 75.00 or so if you can find it.
It will be a major pita to clean as you go through your algae cycle but eventually, the bare bottom method may work where DSB failed miserably.
Sorry, hope my experience serves as a caveat to others. you are better off investing the extra 100 or so bucks to get a nano reef setup.
I had a eclipse 12 for a year and a half. I finally gave it up a couple of months ago. I turned the damb thing into a goldfish tank for the girlfriend.
The reasons:
lighting: totally weak 20 watt bulb! Need at least 3X this for a decent reef set up in a 12 gallon. I used a LOA pc retrofit into the hood though it was a major PITA to do.
filtration: filter pad and biowheel are bad news, plus the outflow of the pump constantly stirs the sand. This means that the intake will eventually grab some sand grains and fry itself trying to eat them.
Salt creep: think its bad on a regular reef? Try one with the water actually piped though the hood! I ruined a perfectly good entertainment center with all the salt that came off this thing.
Accessability: you have to empty the whole hood to get decent access into the tank. The flip up top is not big enough to do much of anything. Water invaribly mixes with electricity when you do this!!!
If you are still convinced its the way to go, I would do it without a sand bed, maybe 10-20 lbs of live rock on bare glass or starboard on the bottom. You could also use a UNTREATED cutting board from the dollar store, cut to fit.
Upgrade the lights somehow to at least powercompacts. Someone sells a plug and play upgrade kit however it is like 75.00 or so if you can find it.
It will be a major pita to clean as you go through your algae cycle but eventually, the bare bottom method may work where DSB failed miserably.
Sorry, hope my experience serves as a caveat to others. you are better off investing the extra 100 or so bucks to get a nano reef setup.
goblinsharkman
New member
i also can get a 10 gallon from him if i choose this what would u recommend i get for it, lighting and filter wise. Its mainly for a mantis and zoos.
Meisen
Premium Member
Maybe we are thinking of different things but the eclipse system in my mind comes with filter and light built in.....part of the "system".
If you are talking just a plain tank, I would grab a cheap protein skimmer (you might be able to get away without this if you have a small mantis, feed sparingly and do some water changes), a power head or two for water flow and a double bulb regular aquarium hood. A power compact fixture would be better and increase the variety of what you can keep dramatically. The protein skimmer and the live rock will do all the filtration you will need with only a mantis in there. See if they will trade out one of the stock bulbs for you for an actinic bulb and you are good to go for the mantis.
You may do ok with just 20-30 watts of flourescent lighting on zoanthids, depends on the variety of zoas you have (some love light, others need less light). If you get power compacts, you should be able to do nicely with any zoanthids you please.
Hope that helps.
If you are talking just a plain tank, I would grab a cheap protein skimmer (you might be able to get away without this if you have a small mantis, feed sparingly and do some water changes), a power head or two for water flow and a double bulb regular aquarium hood. A power compact fixture would be better and increase the variety of what you can keep dramatically. The protein skimmer and the live rock will do all the filtration you will need with only a mantis in there. See if they will trade out one of the stock bulbs for you for an actinic bulb and you are good to go for the mantis.
You may do ok with just 20-30 watts of flourescent lighting on zoanthids, depends on the variety of zoas you have (some love light, others need less light). If you get power compacts, you should be able to do nicely with any zoanthids you please.
Hope that helps.
goblinsharkman
New member
anyonelse got an opinion?
I've got the eclipse 12 and added the retrofit lighting kit. It seems enough to support a zenia and a couple of mushrooms I've put in there. I bought a small powerhead for extra circulation and am considering taking the "system" pump off. It would just make it easier to get access to the tank throught the lid. I have a mantis and just put my original 2 damsels in there with him. They seem to be coexisting fairly well. I have about a 1" deep sand bed and about 15lbs of LR.
