# Planted Eclipse system 6 journal



## trenac (Feb 15, 2004)

The large plants in the background are swords maybe Amazon swords, if so they will get way to large for a 6G tank. The plants in the front middle look like Crypts, can't tell what the plants are on the front sides are.


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

well here's an update. Hope these plants do ok in the longterm.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Looks good...
You are going to want to pull the fern's rhyzomes out of the substrate though. roud:


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

Buck said:


> Looks good...
> You are going to want to pull the fern's rhyzomes out of the substrate though. roud:



LOL, ya i just read that looking up more info on it. THey were labeled tropica ferns in the container they were in, but they are just Java ferns.

thx. 


Would there be a problem if the rhymzomes were lightly buried?


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

The fine hair roots can go in but none of the rhyzome.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Looks awesome, dramatic growth of the plants. Good job!


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

MrMup04 said:


> Looks awesome, dramatic growth of the plants. Good job!


lol. :icon_bigg No, just a bunch of new plants. The tall swords did grow in quite a bit. Pruned about half the leaves off each.


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## harpospeaking (Nov 11, 2004)

*how often do you do water changes*

Hi,

I'm thinking about starting a 6 gallon planted tank. I read that with low light tanks, you should only do water changes every few months. How often are you doing them?

Thanks!


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## fishyboy (Nov 16, 2003)

you do water changfes weekly or twice a week no matter on your light evel


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

I do a 30% once a week and have had no problems.


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## enchanted (Sep 23, 2004)

If anything you would do less water changes with High Light plants than low light plants. The higher light plants use more nutrients out of the water and thus cause lower nitrates, etc... 

But, IMO, you should always do weekly water changes.


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## aquarium boy (Jul 28, 2004)

man that looks alsome


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

Well i cleaned it up a bit. Took out two of the java ferns and transfered them to my 29 gal. Three of the new plants also turned out not to be true aquatic plants so i took them out. Added a mini sword type plant in the front to replace the Java fern and it has been doing very well. 











only two tiny specks of algae in the 3 months running. roud: 

that is all. :icon_bigg


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

update. 

Between and eclipse 1 hood, system 6, and penquin 330... i've been spending a butt load on replacement filters. So i was read about replacing the marineland cartridge with a fluval sponge (203/204) in my Eclipse 1... perfect fit. So i looked at the fluval 104 sponge and compared it to the system six cartridge. Perfect fit also. roud: Just strap the sponge onto a stripped cartridge and your done. Some bio media can be added in the pockets that hold the carbon.










Won't have to worry about spending any money on the eclipse's untill the sponges get worn out (couple months at least). Just need to rinse them clean during water changes in some tank water.  

Nice little trick for all of you using a system six.


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

BUMP.

update pic of how the tank is doing...










trimmed a couple leaves off the swords in the back. everything else is doing great.


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## cprroy73 (Nov 10, 2004)

what kind and amount of lighting do those things have?


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

i agree, it looks great. Some of the leaves are turning a bit yellow though, are you dosing enough iron?


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## catwoman (Aug 30, 2004)

Just an FYI... The Regent 5 (also made by Marineland) at Walmart uses the same filter cartridges as the Eclipse 6. The Regent 5 filter cartridges "might" be cheaper that the Eclipse. I still like the sponge idea, tho. I am going to try it with mine.


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

cprroy73 said:


> what kind and amount of lighting do those things have?


I think it's a 8-9 watt flourescent bulb. Just enought for some decent low light plants. 




Thanks said:


> i agree, it looks great. Some of the leaves are turning a bit yellow though, are you dosing enough iron?


Ha, :tongue: the yellow in the pic is actually a reflection of my arm in the tank. NO its not a butt! (Arm pit = seexxay) :hihi: 

No worries, all the leaves are nice and green. 





I only dose: 

Flora Pride once a week. 

I recently started with a little bit of flourish and flourish excel once a week also.




catwoman said:


> Just an FYI... The Regent 5 (also made by Marineland) at Walmart uses the same filter cartridges as the Eclipse 6. The Regent 5 filter cartridges "might" be cheaper that the Eclipse. I still like the sponge idea, tho. I am going to try it with mine.


I remember reading that somewhere. roud: Only problem is i know of no local Walmart's in my area. But now i don't have to worry about ever spending money on replacement cartriges. I can also stuff the empty cartrige with filter floss under the sponge for additional water polishing. 

Note:
The filter sponge fits perfect from side to side, but comes up a little short front to back. Don't get worried, it you strap the sponge onto the old filter cartrige the sponge filts perfectly over the frame preventing any water bypass.


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

Update. Just added 3 pygmy cories! I've been looking for these quys forever. :icon_bigg THey are so tiny and cute. 

put three in the tank and am planning on another 2-3 in a week or two. 

close-up

















zoomed out a bit so you can get a feel to how small they are (still in the bottom right corner of tank....









Hanging out...









Better shot of the entire tank without the reflection of my arm. :tongue: 









Any comments appreciated.


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## Olakytrion (Feb 20, 2005)

looks great! have you added those new pygmy coreys yet? update!


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

Olakytrion said:


> looks great! have you added those new pygmy coreys yet? update!



Nope, not yet. Maybe later this week i'll go pic some more up.  

I'll update with a pic when the foreground fills in a little better. roud:


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

looks really great. Do you have good CO2 levels? that should speed up the tennelus.


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

I'm impressed! I wouldn't think such good growth would be possible with such low light.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Its doing great, very clean looking and I love the betta... he must look like a ghost whisping through them swords ! 

Nice Lookin' Tank roud:


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

Thanks said:


> looks really great. Do you have good CO2 levels? that should speed up the tennelus.


I really don't know what the co2 levels in this tank would be. This is my lowtechjustfeedthefishandchangethewateronceaweek tank. :icon_mrgr 

I just dose with some watered down liquid ferts 1-2 times a week. I haven't touched the plants for at least 2 months (except to trim off 3-4 sword leaves). Low to no maintenance, I love it!


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## Ahkuma (Dec 5, 2004)

I would love to get some of those pygmy cories for my ten gallon. They seem very hard to find tho. There is only about 2 places in the whole Sac area that have healthy fish for sale and one of the places said he won't stock the pygmys because most of them die during the acclimation from the shipment. Seems like you have had good luck with yours which gives me hope.


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

Well the LFS i got them from is a pretty unique place (Ocean Aquarium in S.F. to those that know the place). He quarantines all his fish for one week before he puts them for sale. A lot of his fish are actually breeding in his tanks. The fish there are usually a bit pricey but the health of the fish is a '10' for most if not all the tanks. 

I think the trio of pygmy's i purchased from them might of actually been hatched in one of his tanks, he had a huge swarm of them.  

Good luck in your search for pygmy's! roud:


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## figgy (Feb 27, 2005)

Thanks for the pix and the inspiration--what a lovely small tank!

Figs


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

lol, i just read this thread beginning to end. Man, I've come a long way. :hihi: 

Well the java ferns were taken out because they were getting way to big. Tank doesn't look the same without them but i'm looking for something that will be undemanding and not grow to tall and fill in good. I threw in some rotala clippings to see how they would look but i don't think i am going to be getting the same amount of cover. Anyone have any suggestions. :icon_frow


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

I have the exact same tank. To save money, I just took the eclipse filter pads and carefully cut around 3 edges, leaving it connected on 1 side. Then I place rubber bands or plastic coated sandwich ties around it. When it gets dirty, I just open it up, dump out the resin and rinse the pad with my sprayer in the kitchen sink. Then I replace whatever stuff I decide to load it up with, if anything, and drop it back in the tank. So far 3 eclipse filter pads have lasted about a year and a half. No sense in throwing away your money if you don't need to.
-Aphyosemion


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

Thanks for the advice. :tongue: I already had the reusable-filter-thing down on page 1. :hihi: I originally found that the mesh used on the cartidges degraded and came undone after every rinse so I replaced it with a sponge. SHould last a good 2+ years. roud:


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## sarahbobarah (May 20, 2005)

How about aurea. It's a stem plant and grows a little slow but it's undemanding as far as mainenance.


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## newshound (May 9, 2005)

love it!
Those cories are so cute.


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

Just wanted to update with a current pic. The midground is definitely needing something since the rotala just doesn't grow its best under the system 6 lighting, and the plain gravel. Most of the java moss was also removed since some sort of algea was taking it over.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Looks good, I have the same tank as you are but I am pending on whether to finish setting it up or not.


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## amber2461 (Sep 26, 2004)

Gotta love those Cory Habrosus .. I have 7 of them and they are just downright adowable roud:


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## dashalovesyou (Jan 28, 2005)

hey, i'm ne where, and i want to get the same tank to replace my 2g hex that my betta is in... what other fish do you have with your betta? have you ever had problems with betta getting along with other fish?

i had a betta before in my 10g with cherry barbs and he was fine, but when he died () and i got a new one, this one won't get along with other fish. i'm wondering if getting a special tank just for him is worth it since he's such a bad boy  although maybe doing a heavily planted 6g with just a betta wont be so bad?


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

Honestly just having one betta in there is all you need to have an entertaining tank. Especially with all the plants, its amazing how active they are when they have plenty of 'nooks and crannies' to explore and keep watch over. :icon_bigg I currently have some white clouds, the cories, and 2 shrimp in that tank. The betta will occasionally charge at one of the minnows, but they are to quick for him. 

Mileage may vary depending on the Betta.  If you've noticed that your new betta is overly aggressive, i would just get a tank for only him.


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## Skyfish (May 31, 2004)

Absolutely FAB!! Thanks for the inspiration, I am setting up my 30x30x30cm cube shrinp tank tonight. roud:


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## julesann (Sep 28, 2005)

AMAZING!

Can you describe which plants are what in your last picture upload?

Thanks.


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