NEW and excited!

[mcfluffin]

I've bought my basic 3 gallon tank (an Eclipse 3 system.) I am reading around and around the subject of exactly what i need to get started, but I can't seem to work out what size heater etc I need. I want to get the setup just right before I put anything in. I am planning on keeping corals and a few inverts and maybe 1 or 2 very small fish. Can anyone help me out in terms of what epuipment I need, e.g. protein skimmers etc, and also what species survive well in 3 g setups.

Thanks all

Peace out!

 

[sadielynn]

Hi and welcome to nanotank
Heater = 25 to 50 watts
Skimmer = shouldnt need one if you do weekly 10% 20% water changes
As for corals in an elcipse system you will be very limited with out some diffrent lights they are just to weak for corals . I am not real well versed on the eclips system other than you will need to upgrade lights not sure on the filters ect . If you go FOWLR then lighting will not be as important . HTH :mrgreen:

 

[mcfluffin]

Oh thankyou...well the filter is an Eclipse Rite-Size Filter Cartridge and BIO-Wheel. They have the replacable pads. Presumably the lighting can be replaced with a brighter tube? As far as water treatment and chemical balance maintenence is concerned, what do I need to monitor and control pH and salinity etc? Also will a 25 W heater need a fan to cool the water at all...or will the thermostat do the job.

Sorry to sound stupid...but if you don't know something you should ask

Thanks
Joe

 

[skipm]

:welcome to nanotank.

If you can take the Eclipse back and exchange it for a 5 1/2 gallon or 10 gallon tank you will find it much easier to light to a level where you can keep alot of corals. I have an Eclipse 6 and decided that it just wasn't worth trying to upgrade the lighting on so I used it for dwarf seahorses. I have seen MiniBow 7 setups available near me that included a hang on powerfilter.
Like Sadie said, you just won't be able to keep many corals with the lighting in the 3 and you don't have many upgrading options.

 

[mcfluffin]

Well I'd love to have a bigger auarium, but I live in an aprtment with limited space, and this one is just right for my needs. Is there no way I can set up a 3 gallon tank with a different light rig?

Thanks for the feedback guys

 

[skipm]

If you give me the measurments of the tank I may be able to come up with an idea. I don't have access to a Eclipse 3 right now.

 

[sadielynn]

Oh thankyou...well the filter is an Eclipse Rite-Size Filter Cartridge and BIO-Wheel. They have the replacable pads. Presumably the lighting can be replaced with a brighter tube? As far as water treatment and chemical balance maintenence is concerned, what do I need to monitor and control pH and salinity etc? Also will a 25 W heater need a fan to cool the water at all...or will the thermostat do the job.

Sorry to sound stupid...but if you don't know something you should ask

Thanks
Joe

Absolutely if you dont understand or know then ask .
As for adding a brighter tube the ballast may burn out or create a fire hazzard or just wont light . With a 25 watt heater you should not need a fan but if you find that you are running hot then you could add one , with the open top tank you will find that it will be easier to maintain temps but you will have evap issues perhaps . Also with an open top you will have a steadier ph and should not have huge swings . You will not need a monitor for the ph but you should test for it , there are ph tests . You will need a hydrometer or a refractometer, some are even using the digilab testers .
The main tests that should be run are:
NitrIte
NitrAte
PH
Ammonia
Spg
if corals are kept you should be checking calcium , iodine ect....(I dont have those tests and keep corals but our LFS has them and does the testing for us for free)



Remove the bio wheel they are NitrAte factories
Once established you wont need the wheel . I have a Penguin filter with bio and when I couldnt get the nitrAtes to drop I removed it and with in a couple of h20 changes it dropped .
I would recommend either a 2.5 gallon , 5 gallon or 7 gallon bow front , we also live in an apartment and the 7 and 2.5 work well in our settings , from there you could get a premade light with legs cut some egg crate to close the top in from jummpers . I think that you could do one from scratch and get everything you want in a tank , from lighting to filters ect. Then you have the say in what you put on it unlike a cookie cutter mold tank .One thing I think that is worth mentioning about these tanks is that they are acrylic and will scratch big time thus making it a bit more difficult to clean with out scratching . HTH :mrgreen:

 

[reefman23]

:welcome to nanotank.

If you can take the Eclipse back and exchange it for a 5 1/2 gallon or 10 gallon tank you will find it much easier to light to a level where you can keep alot of corals. I have an Eclipse 6 and decided that it just wasn't worth trying to upgrade the lighting on so I used it for dwarf seahorses. I have seen MiniBow 7 setups available near me that included a hang on powerfilter.
Like Sadie said, you just won't be able to keep many corals with the lighting in the 3 and you don't have many upgrading options.

I really do second this. If you have room for the eclipse 3, then you should have room for a glass 5.5 gallon. The eclipse is just not going to work out for a pico reef. There are a few different lighting options out there for the 5.5g now, and i know you will be much more pleased with what you are able to do with it.


ps those eclipses scratch really easily I would think.

jesse

 

[mikeguerrero]

I owned the Eclipse 6 and ran a mini reef for about a year but I had to add an extra light to the system an actinic.

It was very risky since the bulb wasnt' under the splash guard. The eclipses in my opinion are not designed for mini reef, they are fish only or very low light corals like some types of mushrooms.

If you do decide to keep it just go with the very low level shrooms and maybe a couple of inverts to keep you interested. Maybe a combo pair of a yosha and pistol shrimp and some feather duster worms.

Mike

 

[skipm]

I have been thinking about this tank and I can't come up with a lighting solution that makes sense moneywise because everything I come up with is too costly or you have to toss the hood and filter.
You said you had limited space try some of these dimensions:
2 1/2 gallon tank is 12"x6" and here is a good light to use: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... RK:MEWN:IT .
5 1/2 gallon tank is 16"x8"
6 gallon Nanocube is 11 1/2"x13 1/2" and is self contained like the Eclipse, it comes with an 18 watt PC light but can be upgraded to 3 18 watters by www.nanocustoms.com .
10 gallon tank is 20"x10" and there are quite a few lighting options including strip fixtures and DIY lighting.

If you decide which corals you want to keep that will determine your lighting needs and enable us to help by making specific recommendations. There are other tanks available that have a small footprint (there are a couple more listed at nanocustoms) but I am just trying to give an idea of some better options. Lighting is usually the most expensive part of your equipment, the rest is relatively inexpensive.

 

[mcfluffin]

Decisions

Well you'll be pleased to hear that I have sent the eclipse back, and I'm getting a 16x8x8 tank. I was looking at some 50/50 lights with 12 inch tubes. There also seems to be plenty of 25 watt heaters, but i think I will make sure to get one with a thermostat. Only problem I have at the moment is finding a suitable hood. Anyone have any suggestions?

Again, thankyou so much for the advice, It has prevented some possible catastrophes

Joe

 

[skipm]

Are you a skilled DIYer? If so it would be easy to make a canopy for the tank and then install some PCs.
If thats not an option I'll have to see what I can come up with, I am not familiar with a 16" light right off. Maybe someone else knows of one and will post shortly.

 

[mcfluffin]

Thanks skip! Well no i'm not great at woodwork. Made a wooden train at school. I suppose if I had a basic instruction for a hood I could make one. It's definately an interesting project. From scratch I will not be able to do it I'm afraid.

 

[skipm]

There are a couple of canopy designs here but you would have to change some measurements to fit your tank but they may give you a general idea: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.p ... opic=63394 . IMO building a canopy is going to be the best way to light your tank, even if you just build a small box to go upside down on the tank and put a set of PCs in it I think it will better than most of the commercially available fixtures for a 16" tank (which there seems to be very few).