Brand advice

[MoparORnoCAR]

Noob here,


I have not had a tank set up since the LA earthquakes in 1994 cracked my aqaurium and left its inhabitants scattered across my livingroom floor...I have not had the heart to set up another one until now.

It's been quite some time but I am really looking forward to getting going again. I have been looking and I think I am decided on an ECLIPSE 25 or 29 gal. kit, any thoughts on this brand?

also any tips or pointers for a neo-noob would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Nick

[BELLUM]

I had an ECLIPSE 29 gallon tank for 2 years. I loved it. Get one.

Just plan out what you want to put in it. Cycle. And enjoy the hobby.

[sumthin fishy]

Read the stickies on the top of the forrum. There are a lot of commonly asked questions answered there, so you dont have to post and wait for an answer. If you read tham and are confused you can still post here for clarification. Welcome to AC, and GO GM!!!!!!!!!

I guess I should answer your origional question. Ive not hear anything bad about the eclipse tanks. But have not used them myself. I have a topfin(cheap walmart) 10 gallon that ive had for over a year. My mom had the same type of tank for im guessing 5 years with no leaks or other problems. As long as you dont have another earthquake or do anything to stress the glass(hey, no tapping the glass kids!!) it should last a long time.

[phanmc]

The eclipse setup is a good beginner setup. The filter hidden under the hood makes for a very clean looking setup and its capable enough to handle a good bio-load. Its easy to work with and is pretty quiet.

The light that comes with the system isn't great for live plants so don't expect to grow a garden with it. If you want plants, you'll be restricted to low light plants.

[Pretender]

I have a coworker with a few decades of experience keeping several aquaria, and she has been very helpful to me. On all of her tanks for which they're available, she has switched to the Eclipse hoods. She likes the simple all-in-one design, and the bio-wheel biological filtration is highly-regarded. The downside is the lack of modularity - if you want to add more filtration or better lights, you may have to replace the entire hood. (There are third-party light retofit kits for the Eclipese available). The aquarium itself is probably Perfecto, which is one of the common, reliable brands.

As long as the lack of modularity is considered, I don't think you have much to worry about with this system.