6 gal eclipse lighting

[ankjones]

Hey everybody, i was wondering if there is anybody out there that is using the stock flourescent lighting that comes with the eclipse six. And if so, what corals do you have. I would prefer not to add new lighting, I was told I could have polyps and zoo's and richordia and maybe a leather. If anybody has any input on what I COULD put in my tank i would appreciate it... thanks

 

[Elmo18]

Hi. I do not have an Eclipse 6 system with the stock lighting. I do not even have an Eclipse 6 system, but with the stock lighting, you will be able to keep mushrooms, brown sand polyps, green star polyps. Ricordea needs higher lighting than the stock lighting in that system.

I would definitely think about replacing the stock light and putting in small Power Compact retrofit kit.

- Elmo

 

[Doug1]

Haven't seen an Eclipse 6 but I imagine that you really would benfir from an upgrade to a pc light, the little stock lights just dont put out much

 

[achu]

I had an eclipse 6 nano for a very long time. It isn't hard to change out the stock lighting.

13W PC setups don't cost that much either.

I managed to fit 3 under the hood, but 2 should be enough. The PC sockets run around $2 each and the ballasts and the bulbs run around $5-6 each.

Good luck and if you end up sticking to the stock lighting, let us know how it does. Trust me though, you will want to start getting some cooler corals that need a little more light.

achu

 

[Oscapus]

I would just add beware of the Eclipse pumps shorting out.

I recently started losing camel shrimp in a 6 gallon Eclipse jail I kept in the kitchen for bully fish. I couldn't figure out why I was losing a shrimp every 2 days, and the fish were hiding. Scrubbing and siphoning, I happened to touch the metal kitchen sink and suddenly the scratch on my finger underwater started to sting. Salt I figured, but then leaning way over to reach a corner I really got hold of my sink and felt a current through both arms and my forehead. So, I put in a spare grounding probe and the circuit breaker immediately tripped (twice). The Eclipse pump was shorting out. I threw everything out and kept the tank as a skimmate collector.

 

[ankjones]

wow, thats really interesting, how would I go about testing my pump without a ground source around?
Also, Achu, how did you go about keeping the temp down in your eclipse with all that lighting?

 

[Oscapus]

There are various test meters at Radio Shack, or you could try the "old lick the finger" approach like I did and see if it hurts....

By the way ankjones, I was born and raised on the westside of Indianapolis, Ben Davis H.S. class of '76, but I haven't been back in 20 years.

 

[Clownguy]

I use to have the eclipse 6 and I put a 32 watt pc in it. I was able to keep softies and even some montiporas. Never had any trouble with it. Good luck, jus watch for heat issues I just cut open the back and left the top open.

 

[Beckmola24]

Oscapus! LoL. I also have a 6 gallon eclipse tank in my kitchen for bully fish and evil crabs. That's too funny. I Have a Coralife 50/50 PC bulb on the tank and it gives relatively good lighting. The bulb fit in the socket and was relatively inexpensive. I can't for the life of me remember the price of the bulb though... It is a Power compact bulb and is something around 11 Watts. HTH

 

[achu]

I had a big clip on fan behind the tank to keep the temps down. Oh yea, I also cut open part of the back to allow air circulation

I also had montis along with zoanthids, shrooms and other stuff...

achu