retrofitting Eclipse 6 lighting

[Dapple2]

Since the ballast on one of my 6g's has given up the ghost, I figure it's high time to upgrade my lighting like I've been meaning to do for at least a year or two.

I know in the past I've seen websites and direction for how to do this, but now that I'm ready to actually buy the lights I can't find them. I went to ah supplie's website and noticed that they have two different kits for sale http://ahsupply.com/twox.htm Now I'm trying to figure out which one to get. My first thought was that it's probably the more expensive one, but they I realized, hey wait, what if the reflector doesn't it...

Any advice/ words of wisdom?

[jt325i]

I would love to hear the outcome of this project as I also have a System 6 & a bit stronger light wouldn't hurt. The standard light is a T5, 8 watts. Appears to be 12" in length. I haven't seen any aftermarket lights of this type. Would be nice to get around 2w per gallon so you could put plants that require brighter light in it.

[Dapple2]

Will do! I've seen pictures of other people's and it looks really great with the increased lighting.

I'm still trying to figur out which kit to get. I'm thinking of going with the one that comes with the relector, but I'm not sure if it will fit and I'd rather not spend the extra money if that's the case.

Anyone? Please? (pretty please, with a cherry even?)

[jt325i]

Have any links to pics or lists of what other people have done to this hood? I think about 15w would be plenty on a tank this small. A reflector would certainly help. I'd like to keep the integrated look of the tank & also minimizing the extra heat that would likely be created by increased lighting.

[Dapple2]

Well, I know I saw a better link somewhere...but it's no longer working. I was *pretty* sure they had modified the reflector a bit to get it to work, but I just don't recall. In the mean time, I found one that upgraded the lights for a reef set-up

pic: http://www.turetsky.org/nanoreef/Lights.jpg
directions: http://www.turetsky.org/nanoreef/

[jt325i]

That set-up looks pretty good but is probably overkill for freshwater I would imagine. It would be nice if something could go in place of the existing ballast so you don't have to drill & hack up the hood.

[Dapple2]

Hehe, sure would be! Every retrofit I've seen for them involved drilling holes and such in the hood I'm afraid. I just put my order, but I still wouldn't mind having more sets of directions to look at...I've never really done of this nature before and am not particularly "handy-man" inclined, so if I can do it anybody can at least :D

[jt325i]

Originally posted by Dapple2
Hehe, sure would be! Every retrofit I've seen for them involved drilling holes and such in the hood I'm afraid. I just put my order, but I still wouldn't mind having more sets of directions to look at...I've never really done of this nature before and am not particularly "handy-man" inclined, so if I can do it anybody can at least :D

Let me know how it goes. I think this would definitely be worth doing on a larger Eclipse hood. I love these hoods & don't think I could go back to a regular one. (No ugly tubes to mess with, filter is easy to get to, light is in the front of the tank, no places for fish to jump out or water to evaporate as easily) Eventually I want to get a 29 gallon & get one of the Eclipse hoods for it.

[Dapple2]

Well, I put my order in yesturday and they said they should arrive by Monday or Tuesday. Yippee!

Ah, Eclipse hoods...ya either love em or ya hate em from what I've seen. I like them myself, especially the smaller tanks, because they are easy to move (think multiple fish tanks combined with a dorm room) and also bacause my killis havn't found a way to jump out of them yet (of the big or the small ons):D

I remember seeing a retrofit kit for larger Eclipse hoods in one of the catalogs, Pet Warehouse I think...but now the darn thing's gone awol...

[Jeremy S]

Pet warehouse was bought out by Drs. Foster and Smith. They have even more products then pet warehouse had. Is this (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3811&R=7419&N=1+113562&in_merch=1) is the retrofit you were thinking of?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3811&R=7419&N=1+113562&in_merch=1

[Dapple2]

Yep, I'm always caling thm by the wrong name now, lol.

And yes, that's excactly the one I was thinking of, thanks! :)

[Dapple2]

Just got my order! Wow, I'd heard that thier packaging was great, but it still didn't prepare me... I'm still digging through packing peanuts, no way anything was going break in there!

Now just to find someone to loan me their drill and I'll be all set!

[jt325i]

Originally posted by Dapple2
Just got my order! Wow, I'd heard that thier packaging was great, but it still didn't prepare me... I'm still digging through packing peanuts, no way anything was going break in there!

Now just to find someone to loan me their drill and I'll be all set!

Looking forward to hearing how this comes out. Perhaps you can put some instructions together & maybe a few photos so we don't ruin any hoods. ;)

[Dapple2]

Okay, it took me a while, but I finaly did my two hoods today. The drilling went really smoothly for the most part. The wiring gave me the most trouble (see http://aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21582 (this thread) ) The only thing that that that didn't quite go smoothly was the stupid one-inch drill bit. I used a wood drill bit, but the plastic was a bit to flimsy for it so the hole came out srta jagged and it made a hellacious mess of lil bitty plastic flakes (in other words, don't do this in the middle of your dorm room like I did...). All in all it went really well, the second one only took me about half an hour and there is a definate improvement compared to the stock lighting.

[Aquarius0015]

How much did the whole venture cost you? I have an Eclipse System 12. I love it, but my plants aren't exactly flourishing. I hope there is a kit for the 12 gallon system. I'd love 3ish watts per gallon.

[Dapple2]

I ordered two 13 watt kits plus 4 bulbs from AH Supply (http://ahsupply.com/twox.htm) since I was retrofitting two tanks at once and it cost me about 70-80 bucks I believe. I've heard that hellolights.com has good prices too, but haven't tried them. AH Supply was really fast to ship though and did an *amazing* packing job!