Eclipse 3 Hood

[5xevy]

Hey there. On of my buddies just gave me an Eclipse 3 hood (from a 29G) for my 20G long dwarf puffer tank. I'd like to have this tank moderately to heavily planted.

2 questions. Has anyone had this hood and how well does it work with the integrated filter/lighting?

What bulbs should I buy for the plants assuming most of them will be moderate-light, possibly heavy-light, plants?

Thanks in advance.

 

[severum mama]

I haven't used that specific model, but in the past the Eclipse systems have always worked fine for me. Not wonderful, but fine, and it will be more than adequate for what you want to do, in terms of filtration.

It's the lighting that I'm not sure about. As I understand it, the unit uses 2x18 watt bulbs. That gives you 36 watts over a 20 long... less than 2 wpg of NO T8. Also, the bulbs appear to only be 24" long; hopefully that won't leave you with dark spots on the sides of your tank. At any rate, it doesn't give you enough light for high-light plants, and even some of the medium-light species may not fare too well. However, it may help that a 20 long is so shallow. Should be a lot easier than planting a 29 with that lighting.

At any rate, the good ol' Drs. want $106.99 for that hood, so it's definitely a good score!

If you really want to keep high-light plants, maybe you can retrofit the hood...
http://www.hellolights.com/t5horeki.html
... but I'm not sure how that would affect the temp of the tank, or if it's even really possible. Kinda pricey, too.

 

[bghill]

I bought the exact same hood as you now have,an Eclipse 3. My thoughts on it......
I think they look great first of all. The combination lighting/filter makes electrical cord management a breeze. My tank is visible from 4 sides so this was important to me.
The stock lighting was 2 x 20 watt bulbs. The bulbs were their own brand so I don't know what range they are but work very well for my moderately planted tank. I have so Riccia, Java Fen, Corkscrew Vals, and an Amazon Sword. I have noticed more growth than with the old canopy which was a CF.
The filter system. I have changed from using the Marineland filter cartridges and made my own DIY. It did not seem like there was much to those cartridges besides the carbon and at $5 bucks a pop, I knew I could do it cheaper. The pump is powerful enough to suck up any fish that gets to close to the intake so I now have a sponge on the filter intake after losing a frog (leg sucked up filter and poor thing was stuck half in - half out of intake tube for probably several hours) and then losing a Neon. (Found him on top of the filter cartridge inside the hood) People on this forum rave about the Bio-Wheel and it seems to be working great, but like I said, I have changed around the mechanical parts to pre-filter at the intake, Fluval foam on top of the Marineland cartridge frame I butchered and Bio Max where the carbon used to sit.
The only problem I have is tank access. Since it is a pain to remove the canopy, you are forced to access the tank from an opening of about 6 inches. To add or remove any large objects such as driftwood or large rocks, you have to disconnect the filter and lights to lift off the canopy. It is also a bit more difficult to net fish or scrape algae off the glass due to limited top access.
To me it is all worth it for a cleaner look and I am happy with the filteration and lighting.

 

[severum mama]

Ah, the good ol' Drs. listed the wrong wattage on their website! Thanks for the correction, and I do agree that this is the best solution for tanks that are viewable from all sides. Good idea on making your own media, too... one of the things that bugs me the most about Marineland filters are those dang proprietary cartridges....

 

[5xevy]

It's the lighting that I'm not sure about. As I understand it, the unit uses 2x18 watt bulbs. That gives you 36 watts over a 20 long... less than 2 wpg of NO T8. Also, the bulbs appear to only be 24" long; hopefully that won't leave you with dark spots on the sides of your tank. At any rate, it doesn't give you enough light for high-light plants, and even some of the medium-light species may not fare too well. However, it may help that a 20 long is so shallow. Should be a lot easier than planting a 29 with that lighting.

At any rate, the good ol' Drs. want $106.99 for that hood, so it's definitely a good score!

If you really want to keep high-light plants, maybe you can retrofit the hood...
http://www.hellolights.com/t5horeki.html
... but I'm not sure how that would affect the temp of the tank, or if it's even really possible. Kinda pricey, too.

Wow, I didn't realize these hoods went for so much! I just checked and it said to replace with T8 bulbs no more than 18 watts. Looks like one fixture with 2 bulbs each so you're right that it's only 36 watts and they are 24".

Like a reef tank, is there some kind of freshwater "rule"- so many watts per gallon to have high-light plants? Or would you, or anyone else, just suggest keeping the low to medium light ones?

The filter system. I have changed from using the Marineland filter cartridges and made my own DIY. It did not seem like there was much to those cartridges besides the carbon and at $5 bucks a pop, I knew I could do it cheaper. The pump is powerful enough to suck up any fish that gets to close to the intake


The only problem I have is tank access. Since it is a pain to remove the canopy, you are forced to access the tank from an opening of about 6 inches. To add or remove any large objects such as driftwood or large rocks, you have to disconnect the filter and lights to lift off the canopy. It is also a bit more difficult to net fish or scrape algae off the glass due to limited top access.
To me it is all worth it for a cleaner look and I am happy with the filteration and lighting.

Do you have a 29G or a 20G? My lighting is only a couple watts below yours. Regarding the intake, I already assumed I'd have to stick a sponge over it or something similar. Those DPs are pretty small and the last thing I want is for them to get stuck.

I just checked out my tank- the access doesn't look too bad since the back folds up which makes the lighting case fold up easier for decent access. Maybe it's because I'm using it on a 20G? Overall it does seem like it would be a pain to pull the entire thing off. I hope to get most of the tank planted, with possible driftwood, done in one shot. I know I'll probably add more here and there and I do see the small 6" leeway you're referring to.

 

[bghill]

It's on a 29 gallon.

 

[severum mama]

Like a reef tank, is there some kind of freshwater "rule"- so many watts per gallon to have high-light plants?

The simple answer is that 3 wpg or more would be considered enough for high light plants. The complicated answer involves the lumens produced by the diff. types of lighting, like NO flourescent vs. compact flourescent vs. T5... you see where I am going with this. So, you pretty much only have enough light for med-light plants, although you never know what you're going to have success with, even with a "less than adequate" amount of light. If you decide to retrofit it, the T5s would be the best choice, as they burn cooler than PCs and are cheaper to replace. Keep in mind that the high-light species are generally more difficult to keep than the low or medium light species, and you'll have to add CO2 and dose ferts if you go over 2 wpg. That's how I understand it, anyway.

 

[5xevy]

Thanks for your input. Yeah I really don't want to mess around with CO2 (you know how busy those marine aquariums can make you). I guess I'll just keep what I've got and go for the low to medium light plants. Thanks again.