6 gal eclipse

[smalls]

i have decided to make a 6 gallon eclipse ive had lying around for the 6-8 mos into a sw tank. now this is my first sw so bare with me. basically to start i bought 2 coralife 18w fixtures and modded them to my stock eclipse hood. my onlyquestion about lighting is this going to be enough fo my tank. i eventually want to try to keep some corals and maybe an anemone for a clown to host in (from what i hear at least.) so far as my setup i bought 6-7 lbs live rock (2 big pieces wish i wouldve gotten smaller) and ~13 lbs of live sand. now according to my readings i need to let my tank "cycle"for a couple weeks to let chemicals to balance. oh and the bigger piece of live rock supposedly not fully cured yet. afteri let my tank cycle to my understanding i introduce a cleanup crew. with my current setup id say maybe 4 gallon water plus sand nd LR. what type of cleaning crew should i get. oh and i apologize im sure these are repeat questions. tnak temp should be about 76-78 correct? i think those are all my questions for now. ill try to post some pics soon. any other good info for a true newbie (never had a sw tank before) plz let me know

thanks smalls

 

[incysor]

i have decided to make a 6 gallon eclipse ive had lying around for the 6-8 mos into a sw tank. now this is my first sw so bare with me. basically to start i bought 2 coralife 18w fixtures and modded them to my stock eclipse hood. my onlyquestion about lighting is this going to be enough fo my tank. i eventually want to try to keep some corals and maybe an anemone for a clown to host in (from what i hear at least.) so far as my setup i bought 6-7 lbs live rock (2 big pieces wish i wouldve gotten smaller) and ~13 lbs of live sand. now according to my readings i need to let my tank "cycle"for a couple weeks to let chemicals to balance. oh and the bigger piece of live rock supposedly not fully cured yet. afteri let my tank cycle to my understanding i introduce a cleanup crew. with my current setup id say maybe 4 gallon water plus sand nd LR. what type of cleaning crew should i get. oh and i apologize im sure these are repeat questions. tnak temp should be about 76-78 correct? i think those are all my questions for now. ill try to post some pics soon. any other good info for a true newbie (never had a sw tank before) plz let me know

thanks smalls

36w is enough for mushrooms, softies, zoos, and some lps, like frogspawn, and torch. I've got 32w over my 6g minibow, and have that stuff. It is not enough for an anemone. If you want an anemone you'll need to upgrade your lighting quite a bit. I think you'll have a hard time cramming enough pc wattage over that small a tank. You'd be better off getting a MH pendant fo some kind. Maybe with some actininic supplimenting it. You'll also need to have the tank setup and stable for at least 6 months, with the new lighting before you try to add the anemone.
This gives the tank time to stabilize, and you enough experience keeping it stable. This six-month rule is especially true for newbies, but every tank setup is a bit different, so it's a good rule for everyone really. Even experience reefers will set up a new system that's a bit different, and end up battling algea, or can't get their parameters to stabilize properly. Anemones are pretty delicate, and require really good water quality all the time.

If you've got two big pieces of rock, just take a hammer and chisel to them. It'll make aquascaping much simpler, and give you more options for placement when it comes time to start adding corals.

72-80 is an acceptable range for reef tanks. The key is you don't want large temp swings, a couple degrees a day is fine, but 5-6 isn't.

A variety of snails, and crabs for your cleanup crew is optimal. Everyone likes a different mix. I like the mini blue-leg hermits, and the smaller snails. I also have an emerald crab in all of my tanks.

You didn't mention what type of filtration you plan on having?

B

 

[smalls]

i am actually using the filter that came with the tank. i plan on adding a powerhead in the near future. on a plus note i was looking at some custom tanks last night and i saw a 55 gal hex that seemed to be reasonably priced. few months out though. need to build a stand and canopy for it first. think i like the idea of a hex because you can view from all angles. if all is planned right thetank will be visible from the lr area (in a corner) but it is a half wall where i thiking about putting it so 2 more sides will be visible from the kitchen leaving only one side not visible. well let me know what ya think. should have some pics up soon!

 

[incysor]

i am actually using the filter that came with the tank. i plan on adding a powerhead in the near future. on a plus note i was looking at some custom tanks last night and i saw a 55 gal hex that seemed to be reasonably priced. few months out though. need to build a stand and canopy for it first. think i like the idea of a hex because you can view from all angles. if all is planned right thetank will be visible from the lr area (in a corner) but it is a half wall where i thiking about putting it so 2 more sides will be visible from the kitchen leaving only one side not visible. well let me know what ya think. should have some pics up soon!

This still doesn't really answer the question about filtration...Is it a HOB filter, a cannister filter, an undergravel filter, (which would be a huge no-no). Is it a bio-wheel filter?

Most of my tanks are viewable from more than one side. My 75-40 combo comes straight out from the wall, so I hear you about liking the hex tanks.
If it's a stretch hex then they're great for reef tanks, if it's a standard tall hex, then they're not as good as a regular shaped 55g. It means you have to aquascape everything vertically, and you need much stronger lights to get useable light down to the bottom. Most folks that do those type tanks go with a MH light setup.

B

 

[EcoSystem]

incysor...the 6 gal eclipse filter is a biowheel filter fitted under the hood of the tank so that ther is no wasted tank space. It is just a modded ver of the penguin biowheel.

It pulls water up the intake, runs it over an insert and then past the biowheel. Very good filter, but very little water movement.

smalls...could you tell me how you did the lights...i have a 6 and have been thinking the last few days about turning it into a salt tank. Did you have to add a new balast and how did you protect the lights from salt spray.

 

[smalls]

right no jsut keep tank full so water doent splash. plan on siliconing the plexi or glass that came with the coralife hood to them for water prob. ballast i modded to sit behing tank. not the best looking thing but it works. as far as everything else i pretty sure i am going to get a hex of some sort but i am going to have fun building custom hood and stand for it. i know a guy that does really good work here in san antonio. can be a little more pricy sometimes but has cred. just to name one of many he did the showroom for the ducati dealership here in town. pretty awesome stuff and i talked tohim today and he said sure to helping me buils a stand and hood

 

[incysor]

incysor...the 6 gal eclipse filter is a biowheel filter fitted under the hood of the tank so that ther is no wasted tank space. It is just a modded ver of the penguin biowheel.

It pulls water up the intake, runs it over an insert and then past the biowheel. Very good filter, but very little water movement.

smalls...could you tell me how you did the lights...i have a 6 and have been thinking the last few days about turning it into a salt tank. Did you have to add a new balast and how did you protect the lights from salt spray.

Gotcha....Somehow I missed the word eclipse....Those filters are bascially useless. The biowheel becomes a nitrate factory very quickly. I had an eclipse 3 hood on my 25. I cut the back out and added a large HOB biowheel filter that I took the biowheel out of, but it adds much more flow, and it holds a lot more filter media than the eclipse tray. It also gave me room to add a HOB skimmer. I left the light portion for several months because I liked the clean look on the front, and the plastic guard for the lights is nice. I finally took that off as well when I re-did the lighting on another tank and ended up with a 65w pc lamp available that fit perfectly.

B