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retrofit for 6 gallon Eclipse

3K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  amanda huggenkiss 
#1 ·
Anybody out there retrofit a 6 gallon Eclipse? Any advice?

I know AH Supply has a 1x13watt kit and a 2x13watt kit. Has anybody used these? Would you recommend them? And which would be more appropriate in terms of lighting? 26watts seems awfully high, but I know the wpg rule breaks down on smaller tanks.

Anybody used other kits?

Any info would be greatly appreciated. I was planning to stick with just low light plants, but now I'm comparing the look of my two tanks and I'm just itchin' to upgrade.

Thanks all!
 
#3 ·
I don't think that's too much light for your plants, but I would be leery of putting that much under that hood. AH Supply has a link to someone who retro'd in those lights for a nano-reef. IMO (as an Eclipse owner myself) I think they are not appropriate for heavily plantd tanks, due to the filter design, biowheel, etc.

I have heard of people removing the back flap and stock filter and dropping a Coralife MiniMight in there.
 
#4 ·
equilibrium said:
I don't think that's too much light for your plants, but I would be leery of putting that much under that hood.
See, that was my main concern. I expect it's going to generate a lot of heat under there... I've emailed AHSupply and am awaiting a reply.

I'm running an eclipse over my 29 gallon, heavily planted, and have no problems with either the biowheel or the filtration. YMMV I guess. I originally went with eclipse before I got into plants because I liked the idea of the biowheel. Plus it's a really nice looking hood. When I started planting heavily, I heard eclipse wouldn't be so good, but just took a wait-and-see attitude... so far so good. If it ain't broke... :wink:
 
#5 ·
I know that the retrofit you are talking about has been done successfully (like the nano-reef guy linked on the AHS site).. Would I do it? No, I would purchase individual components.

I also got the Eclipse before getting into plants. I agree that it is really nice looking. I have kept the outside frame of the hood intact, but have shifted the stock lighting to the back, dropped a 1 x 65W aqualight through the front, and torn out the stock filter in favor of a canister.

I have the Eclipse 2, so I think I had fewer retro options. The stock lighting was just not enough for what I wanted. The filtration system wouldn't let me keep more than ~4 ppm of CO2 in the tank, giving me a pH of 8.0 or so, given my tap's high KH.. and me not wanting to 'fight my water' (thank you Rex Grigg).
 
#6 ·
On my Eclipse 3, I tore out the stock lighting altogether and put a 65w Coralife ballast into the existing light housing. Gets a bit warm, but my cat loves it (she's always sitting on top of the tank). Not really having a problem with too much CO2 outgassing -- I've got two hagen's running simultaneously, and my GH/KH is naturally reeeeeeally low so I don't have the problem with the high PH.

I'll switch to a canister eventually, but for now there are other things I'd like to spend my money on.
 
#7 ·
I have an eclipse 6 with an ahsupply.com 13watt kit added to it. I also run a DIY CO2 2 liter bottle into the intake of the filter and I get right about 20ppm of CO2 consitently.

The lighting was pretty easy, I just followed the instructions like the guy did for the nano-reef, except it's only one light.

Definitly worth the upgrade.
 
#10 ·
One could also use 2x 7w or 9w PCs instead of the 13w.

The stock light heats up the 6g Eclispes enough, but the ballast is located in the fixture itself, so if you mount any ballasts to the rear of the tank, then heat might not be a problem.

I do recommend using a HOB filter. I found AC Minis work great. Have to cut an opening out, and I found they work better when positioned on the right rear side.
 
#11 ·
Daemonfly is right, I wouldn't try mounting the ballast for the light inside. I carefully monitored the tempature on my tank after adding the 13w PC and noticed absolutely no change in the tempature throughout the day. My heater may come on a little bit less, but I'm not sure. And the tube I have covering the bulb is still cool to the touch.
 
#12 ·
amanda huggenkiss said:
On my Eclipse 3, I tore out the stock lighting altogether and put a 65w Coralife ballast into the existing light housing. Gets a bit warm, but my cat loves it (she's always sitting on top of the tank).
I didn't go with the retro route becuase I read an account of someone getting plastic warping with a 32W CSL kit.. maybe they were just bad at retros or something..

my GH/KH is naturally reeeeeeally low so I don't have the problem with the high PH.
I'm jealous.. :twisted: ... much easier to go up than down.

And, I agree that Daemonfly has a good point. I forgot all about the ballast being in there.. Taking the mag. ballast out from underneath the hood would certainly give you more flexibility to put in higher wattage bulbs.. as you would have only bulb heat to contend with after mounting the new ballast remotely.
 
#13 ·
amanda huggenkiss said:
On my Eclipse 3, I tore out the stock lighting altogether and put a 65w Coralife ballast into the existing light housing.
I just re-read that and realized how bad it sounded. I didn't put the ballast into the existing light housing, just the new 65w. The ballast is mounted externally!

equilibrium said:
I didn't go with the retro route becuase I read an account of someone getting plastic warping with a 32W CSL kit.. maybe they were just bad at retros or something...
The 65w is definitely a lot warmer than the original lighting, but not hot enough to warp the plastic. I'm thinking about drilling a few vent holes as well -- should help things out.
 
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