# My 6 gal eclipse planted



## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

Good job. roud: NIce little jungle look you have going. I have a system 6 too and was wondering if you had a pic of the 13 watt retrofit mounted in the hood? I'm curious as to how you mounted it. Any details or tips would be great, I'm planning to do the same thing to my tank in the near future.


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## chacal (Nov 21, 2003)

*photos of the modded hood*

here are some photos..it was pretty straightforward. initially i used the screws included in the kit, just pushing them through the plastic. the negative was that i had sharp screw tips poking through the top of the aquarium hood. a couple days later i replaced them with nuts & bolts, giving the top a much cleaner look. So the button no longer works, but that's not a big deal.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

You could easily put a switch on that setup to control the lights. I would put it inline on the positive side between the plug and the balast.

Have you ever thought of adding a second fixture? The left hand side of the tank has a dead area (not getting as much light) where the actual fixture is.


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## chacal (Nov 21, 2003)

yeah, putting _a_ switch in wouldn't be a big deal, but I don't know how big a deal it'd be to make the eclipse built-in switch work. since the light's on a timer, it isn't much of a big deal.

as for a second fixture. I definitely thought about getting the 2x13 from ahsupply, and apparently it (barely) fits inside this hood..but i wasn't sure I was ready for 26 watts over a 6 gallon tank. As it stands right now, the light fixture is more or less over the big piece of driftwood, so even if there's less light over there, it isn't such a big deal.

my biggest problem w/ this tank, aside from a little algae, is SNAILS. some plant or plants I brought in introduced a HUGE snail population to this little tank..and every snail eating fish I read about is either nasty (dwarf puffers) toward community fish or gets really big (most loaches).

Can anyone recommend a fish for a nano/pico tank that'll scarf up all of these snails?

Thanks!


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## AlexPerez (Jan 25, 2004)

Hey chacal,

Do you find heat to be an issue. I got the same AHS Kit mounted in my Eclipse 6 and I have to keep the Lid open to keep the Temp below 80.
with the Lid on the temp goes up to 84 and higher.

Regards,
ALex


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## chacal (Nov 21, 2003)

Alex,

I think the temp stays right around 80 w/ the lid on. My apartment's pretty cool, and I don't think that the heater ever clicks on during the day.


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

thanks for the pics.  I was hoping there was a way to mount the lighting without drilling through the top of the hood. :icon_frow


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## zero9046 (Jul 6, 2005)

I don't know how long ago yours was ordered and installed, but i just got and installed mine this evening, and the power cord came with a little on off switch, so maybe they are doing that now.


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## chadly (May 17, 2005)

would this fit in a 3gal eclipse?


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## kamla (Feb 17, 2005)

i have think of doing the same thing for my 6 gal..
does the back of the tank get enough linght...
i am also worried about the heat...

Any thoughts..


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## robv1965 (Jan 19, 2005)

I have a 3 gallon eclipse that I added a 13w CF droplight to. I think the light was about 10-12 bucks at walmart. I used plastic tubing thats used for regular fluoresents and rubber chair feet to seal the tube and protect it from mousture. I attached to whole thing to the top with 2 cable ties thru the top. The ballest sits on the floor in its original drop light handle.

I added a fan since it seems to get a bit hot under there.

I'm considering replacing the built in filter with a small canister and adding another 13w's so that the back of the tank gets some light. The light I added fits between the filter and the existing light.

I can take a picture if anyone is interested......

Rob


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## Zach987 (Mar 4, 2004)

yes please post some


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## cbennett (Oct 20, 2005)

after i retrofitted mine, I simply popped out the little black rubber thingy for the old switch. Since hot air rises, made a good vent and kept the tank a little cooler. On hot summer days (I have no air conditioning), I just move the little liftable lid down about an inch.


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## Zach987 (Mar 4, 2004)

I upgraded a 6 gallon when i lived in georgia but it was a top off restoration "80 watts". I am about to start another one here and wannt to keep the clean lines.

Does anyone know of a better install than ahsupply's?


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