Eclipse 3 Hood?

[Magdelaine]

I have a "new" 29 gallon that I have to get a filter and possibly a light for. An Eclipse hood may be the answer, but I want to know what you all think.

I want to keep a community tank of tetras, rasboras, danios, and perhaps a sword couple and I want to grow low-tech low light plants. Will this hood do the job? I think it comes with two flourescent bulbs...

Or would it be better to go with a Penguin bio wheel,for example, and retrofit my current hood with a compact flourescent fixture (65w)? Both options cost about the same.

[fishboy]

go for the penguin bio wheel, much more reliable

[Damon]

The eclipse hood has a bio-wheel Its a good all-in-one setup for community tanks but I don't reccommend them for planted tanks. Better off buying seperate and going with a light fixture and Aquaclear HOB filter or canister filter. Have a look at these...........


http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/...d1=1843;pcid2=
40 watts of light for $38.00

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/...d1=2885;pcid2=

Great canister filter for $55.00
Or if you want a HOB and want to save a few dollars....

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/...d1=2885;pcid2=

Filtration for $38.00

The eclipse 3 hood will run approx $100.00. You can get better for cheaper or the same price. I don't like bio-wheel filters on tanks with plants.

Just something to think about.

[TheDuckyOne]

I dissagree, I have kept plant tanks w/bio wheels in the past and have never had a problem with it. I love my eclipse hood, the double light fixture and clean look makes it worth the price of admission IMO. Make sure that you use some kind of substrate the plants like, and supplement w/ferts and co2 and I wouldnt expect that you will have much of an issue.

Edit:I felt, for whatever reason, the need to clarify...the fella posting above me is an expert. I was just giving an opinion based on my own experince. My guess, and I am sure it will be clairified, the reason hes not a fan of bio-wheels is because they provide an oxygen rich enviroment, which is great for fish but not for plants. I personally find that it gives me a larger margin of error for co2. I dont worry as much because I know theres already more oxygen in the tank then normal. When I switched to the eclipse hood I saw no more jumps in the pH, and my plants continued to thrive. Thats just my .02, so take it for what its worth. He has far more experince then me.

[Fishfirst]

CO2 levels are still dangerous even with adequite amounts of o2. You should never treat CO2 and O2 as counter balances. Co2 is just as deadly with high amounts of o2 than with low amounts of o2.

[Damon]

By no means am I an expert. I'm learning just like the rest of you. To think otherwise is folly.

Bio-wheels do turn over enough water IME. For planted tanks, filtration is mostly mechanical. Biological is left to the plants although some bio-filtration is still done by bacteria. Plants themselves use nh3 etc...but also provide surface area for more bacteria. Waterflow is more important. Aquaclear HOB filters have one of the highest waterflow rates of common HOB filters. And its easily adjustable unlike the bio-wheels. I don't like the fact that they outgas too much CO2 from the water. I have run planted tanks with them, but would perfer not to.

[TheDuckyOne]

Sorry I dont think I made myself very clear....I didnt mean that they where counter balanced, although I am aware thats how it came off...the extra aeration that the biowheel provides knocked more co2 out of the water...just like the aeration that a powerhead would provide. All the water agitation...I still dont know if I am making sense, its a been a rough week.

Either way, I had 2 pH crashes due to co2 levels before I got the eclipse hood. Havent had one since, but that doesnt make my theory right. It could be lots of other factors, including more experince. I wouldnt part with it, and I would recommend it to anyone, based on personal experince, co2 or no. When I set the tank up again recently, I didnt consider any other brand filter or hood. My SW tank is an eclipse tank, the two 29 gallons I have ready to be set up will both be eclipse filtered tanks. Maybe I am biased...or brand loyal, I do tend to stick with whats worked for me in the past.....actually now that I think about it....I have alot of marineland products.

Anyway....I actually think your plants will do well no matter what you do. Pick hearty, easy to care for plants, be patient, and you will likely be rewarded with a beautiful tank.

[Damon]

Originally Posted by TheDuckyOne

Sorry I dont think I made myself very clear....I didnt mean that they where counter balanced, although I am aware thats how it came off...the extra aeration that the biowheel provides knocked more co2 out of the water...just like the aeration that a powerhead would provide. All the water agitation...I still dont know if I am making sense, its a been a rough week.

Either way, I had 2 pH crashes due to co2 levels before I got the eclipse hood. Havent had one since, but that doesnt make my theory right. It could be lots of other factors, including more experince. I wouldnt part with it, and I would recommend it to anyone, based on personal experince, co2 or no. When I set the tank up again recently, I didnt consider any other brand filter or hood. My SW tank is an eclipse tank, the two 29 gallons I have ready to be set up will both be eclipse filtered tanks. Maybe I am biased...or brand loyal, I do tend to stick with whats worked for me in the past.....actually now that I think about it....I have alot of marineland products.

Anyway....I actually think your plants will do well no matter what you do. Pick hearty, easy to care for plants, be patient, and you will likely be rewarded with a beautiful tank.

Well said.

[Magdelaine]

Thanks everyone! Simpte I was thinking of getting an Aquaclear before a friend of mine recommended the Eclipse and I started thinking about bio-wheels. I found what you said about plants doing the biofiltration interesting, particularly because I'm NOT going to do CO2.

That 40w looks really good for the price. I was also looking at this:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/...873&pcid1=1843

But I don't know if the extra $20 would be worth the extra 25w, especially if I'm not using CO2. Would 65w be too much for a 29 gallon (w/no CO2)?

[Damon]

Its 6 in one hand, half a dozen in the other. It could lead to algae problems, then again, it may not. You will get better spread with the 2x20 and less chance of algaeif nutrients get a little out of whack. You will be able to grow more types of plants with the pc fixture but increased lighting means everything else has to be in better order. Less room for error with more lighting.

[Fishfirst]

Just to clarify "theduckyone" O2 does not kick off co2, although concentration gradients of CO2 in the water maybe higher and it is expelled into the air because of that concentration gradient, the introduction of o2 has a very little affect on co2, they are by no means related and one will not "kick out" the other.
Its okay though, its a common misconception (especially when people talk about respiration and hemoglobin, they think hemoglobin controls o2 and co2 exchange)

[Magdelaine]

That helps. I need (I'm afraid to admit) more room for error not less. I just want to grow your average low-light, easy plants. So, I think I have that part nailed down finally!

[TheDuckyOne]

So what you are saying is water aeration doesnt effect co2 levels? Because I do not believe that is correct. Water aeration effects both o2 and co2 levels in the tank. The biowheel provides more aeration then a standard power filter.

I don't want to argue with you here, I guess I wasnt explaining myself properly. As I stated in the last post, other things could have just as easily caused the stablity, including my expanding experince. However there is no denying that there is more water aeration with a biowheel then a power filter without one. The water is being moved more, giving a chance for both o2 and co2 to exit the water, and replacing itself with o2. Its always been my understanding that is the way that gasses are exchanged. If that is incorrect, please correct me.

[Damon]

Gasses will always try to exchange till the reach equillibruim (like 3% for CO2 and 5% for O2 in water). Any more and it will try to gas off, any less and it will be absorbed. Agitation will speed up the process but there is a limit of saturation for both gasses (and all gasses. Neon is harder to saturate for instance).

[TheDuckyOne]

TY for clarification.

Damnit I really had hoped the neon would work...now I will have to figure out a new way to make my fish glow.

[Fishfirst]

I'm not saying aeration does not affect o2 levels, I'm saying o2 levels have absolutely nothing to do with co2 levels for instance, you can have a high co2 level (by % or by ppm) and a high o2 level (by % or by ppm) or low o2 and low co2, or high o2 and low co2, or low o2 and high co2... one does not kick the other one out, you can have a lot of both and it can still be deadly... as for where I got this information, it is basic principles of high concentrations and low concentrations, a particle could "care less" if a particle of a different molecular structure is in a concentration with it... it only "cares" how many particles are in concentration with it that is the same molecular structure.

[TheDuckyOne]

Argh, I am seriously not going to continue to discuss this with you. Ive cleared up the first post (which was unclear and I admit that) already, and you still dont seem to understand what I am saying. I consider the conversation here done, it has gone far off topic, and I cannot continue to repeat myself. The biowheel provides more aeration in the water, and the gasses are exchanged quicker. That is all I am saying. Ive already stated that the co2 stablity in the tank could be due to other things then the additional oppertunity for it to evaporate away. Either way it doesnt change the fact that I have had no problems growning plants using the eclipse hood.

[Fishboy93]

Low tech with average light is the way to go less chance of screw ups. Sorry i dont have time to read all this Co2 stuff and lights cause we are preparin for wilma... here is a pic of my average light tank

[Fishfirst]

I'm not trying to be rude or trying to take this thread off topic... I just wanted to clarify some stuff that I thought to be wrong and a misconception. Now that you put it in your current words, I understand what you were saying, although both times before that it seemed to be off a bit. I do appologize if I seemed like I was seeking for an arguement here, because I wasn't.

Fishboy's setup is probably what you are looking for Medelaine. Low tech, and some simple plants to take care of.

[Magdelaine]

Yes, it's just beautiful. I ordered the following from big Al's:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/...d1=1843;pcid2=
(I saw that Simpte posted this elsewhere and it just so happened that it was a dollar less than the double strip light above...)

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/...d1=2885;pcid2=

I'm looking forward to getting my tank going but I still have to save up so I can get a bunch of plants at once.



BTW, fishboy how'd you weather Wilma?