10 gal Eclipse 1 journal

[supaoopa]

Just setup a new ten gal tank with and eclipse 1 filtration hood. Hood was originally of a 12 gallon eclipse kit but it leaked and i was able to buy the hood for cheap.

Inital setup:

10 gal tank
Eclipse 1 hood
eco- complete plant substrate
50 watt Visi-thermal stealth heater
Nutrafin co2 canister w/ ladder diffuser

upgrades/mod's

Ahsupply 36 watt CF bright kit w/ custom box for ballast
fluval 203/204 sponge on stripped cartridge with bio-max media


Inital startup



Next came the ahsupply 36 watt retrofit into the eclipse hood



Since tank is on a counter there was no place to secure the ballast so i just put it in an aluminum box and drilled some holes for the power wires and for cooling.




the much improved light...



And with the improved light comes more plants.




I left some open space in the front for some carpet plants. Still can't decide between glosso or Hemianthus callitrichoides. I want a really dense, low carpet of green.

Here is a pic of the fluval 203/204 sponge in the filter area.





I just moved some plants around and spread the riccia a little better on the wood. Will update when i start to add the foreground plants.

Let me know if you have any suggestions. :icon_big



UPDATE:
It's been three years since the last update. Finally going to a pressurized Co2 since prices for small setups are low enough to spike my interest in experimenting with it without tying up funds for my other hobbies.



Picking up a 20oz co2 bottle tomorrow and start playing around with it.

[Buck]

Thats going to be a nice little tank
Keep the test kits handy, the CO2 bubbling and the water fresh and it will be a gem in no time.

[Fosty]

That tank looks great. I can't wait to see it when its grown out bit. That lighting makes such a huge difference.

[Tino]

Looks great! You are on the right track, my friend. What are you doing with the foreground - marsilea? microsword?

[supaoopa]

Thanks for the compliments.

Tino for the foreground i would like to add either glosso or Hemianthus callitrichoides.

Although i have been thinking about doing a mix of both... what do you guys think? .... VVVV

Glosso to the left of the anubia nana

and

Hemianthus callitrichoides to the right of anubia nana.




I added about 10 gold dust molly fry and one black molly fry from a friend that didn't know what to do with them. Had a brain fart and put them in my tank before taking out my betta. Only 5 Gold dust molly's and the 1 Black molly made it before I realized what was going on and scrambled to get a container to but my betta in.

LOL, additional changes made to make this tank more suitable for fry and plants were...

prefilter sponge on intake as well as Nutrafin co2 canister and ladder diffuser...





Poly fiber on filter output to reduce flow that was blowing the fry every where as well as causing to much surface disturbance (lose less co2)...





Then for some added water polishing i packed some filter floss in the filter area where the water is first pumped in.





here are some better pics of the riccia, bacopa, rotala, hornwort...



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Also wanted to add some baby tears at the base of the larger peice of wood or infront of the rotala indica in the left corner.

Going to also add some japonica shrimp as soon as i can find some at a LFS.



Not bad for 2 weeks.

[Thanks]

Originally Posted by supaoopa

Not bad for 2 weeks.

I agree.

[ja__]

WoW look stunning

what kind of moss did you use on that driftwood? and how did you tie it?

[supaoopa]

2 week update.

[supaoopa]

some pics from the kitchen side.

[mrbelvedere]

I am soooooo envious.

[vibes_jedi99]

Hey SUPAOOPA! what is your tank spec right now is it still the same? lighting, substrate and plants can you list them again? tanks.....

[supaoopa]

Originally Posted by vibes_jedi99

Hey SUPAOOPA! what is your tank spec right now is it still the same? lighting, substrate and plants can you list them again? tanks.....

Back From the deaD! lol.

Just to update. Setup is the same equipment wise. The Eclipse hood has held up well for the past three years this has been setup. No deformation of the hood from the heat of the bulb too if anyone doing this had any worries about heat buildup. Only thing that i have needed to replace is the splash guard since i let the hood drop once and it cracked. I stopped using co2 and ferts and have just stuck to monthly water changes.

Plants i currently have are Pearlgrass, taiwan moss, bacoba C., african fern, and rotala R. in basically the same scape after removing the small chunk of wood from the right corner. I'll get some pics up in a bit.

Very low maintenance, and most importantly no algae problems. Same fish and shrimp from the last time too.

[supaoopa]

Update. Picked up some goodies today. Will update with new pics once I get it to where I want it.

[supaoopa]

New beginning.


These guys have been in there since the initial setup. How long are they sup post to live for?

[supaoopa]

Update