# Eclipse system 3 questions



## DJK (Mar 30, 2005)

I have an eclipse system 3 that I'm trying to figure if I have high/low/medium light in it.
I took off the original hood and put in its place a 15w flourescent light. Not sure what specifics I would need off of the light for more help, but it says it's 5000k on the package.
Is this a decent light setup for this tank?


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

well; 15 watts over a 3 gallon is 5 wpg, but on a small tank, that isnt all too much. It will be fine for low light plants, though. 5000K is not optimal; 6,500K will give you the best growth; but again, you should be fine. Good luck with the tank! roud:


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## DJK (Mar 30, 2005)

Ok. Thanks.
Right now I have hornwort, 3 stems of java fern and some grass type plant (not 100% sure it's aquatic or not). With the light that originally came with the eclipse the hornwort has seemed to do ok, as also the java fern has. The hornwort seems to have some ?branches? browing a bit on the ends so that's what made me decide to go with a higher light than the 8w that was there before.
Also, is java fern considered a low light plant? I'm looking for something to put in the foreground and over the driftwood a bit.


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## Twist (Apr 5, 2005)

*Hey DJK*

I also have a 3 gallon Eclipse I started up a few weeks back. I am using the standard light they give you with the Eclipse and the plants I have are doing exceptionally well. I cannot imagine them turning around and dying at this point. The only bit of advice I can give to you is that the hornwort is generally a fast-growing and dominant plant. In your small tank, it might take over and get all weedy. Of course, if that's what you're aiming for, you'll have no problem. I kind of want that effect with my java moss and so far it is really taking hold into the driftwood and climbing. so is my java fern, which, by the way, is doing well under the standard little fluorescent.

Joe roud:


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## DJK (Mar 30, 2005)

Thanks joe.
I may just switch around to try to find the right combo for this tank as the hood on there does look better than the way it's setup now.
I do like the way the hornwort grows right now, right now I plan on using that to cover the entire back wall of the tank as I really like the bushy look of it.
BTW, where did you get your java moss? I can't find any locally and the few sites I've checked either want way to much shipping or a minimum of a 25$ order, which I don't see myself fulfilling with just a 3 gallon tank.


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## Bichirdude (Apr 16, 2005)

www.thezengardens.com is where I go for plants, great CS, no mimimum for ordering and the shipping prices are scaled based on how much you buy.


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

DJK said:


> Thanks joe.
> I may just switch around to try to find the right combo for this tank as the hood on there does look better than the way it's setup now.
> I do like the way the hornwort grows right now, right now I plan on using that to cover the entire back wall of the tank as I really like the bushy look of it.
> BTW, where did you get your java moss? I can't find any locally and the few sites I've checked either want way to much shipping or a minimum of a 25$ order, which I don't see myself fulfilling with just a 3 gallon tank.


see if you can get your LFS that carries plants to order some for you next time they get a shipment. Hornwort will get massive, way too big for even a 10 gallon tank. I would go with some moss, and maybe a bit of hairgrass or glosso in the tank. Java fern is considered a slow grower under low light, but in higher light, it will grow fast and also get too big for a 3 gallon tank. But, you can leave it while it lasts roud: 
What kind of fish are you planning on?


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## DJK (Mar 30, 2005)

Well there is one male betta in there and 4 neons.
Yes I know overstocked, but I watched the level real close the first month they were all in there and as long as I do a 50% waterchange the levels stay normal, ammonia and nitrite stay at 0, nitrates around 10-15 or so.
I think I will try to go with lower plants, as the hornwort is growing fast and trying to get every single piece of it under the light. I do like the look of the hairgrass so maybe I will try some of that to see how it does.


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## Bichirdude (Apr 16, 2005)

What is considered high/medium/low light for nano tanks?


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## DJK (Mar 30, 2005)

That's what I'm still trying to figure out..heh.
I was thinking of getting this instead of my current setup:
http://ahsupply.com/twox.htm
I'm just trying to figure out if I could squeeze two of them under the hood, but I think just one of them would be tons better than what I currently have. I'm not 100% sure on that though, so I guess this is also a question, would that light be good for this tank? Would that be considered medium light? Figured I would ask before ordering it.
Thanks.


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## Ray1214 (Aug 6, 2003)

*K*

Well I have had an Eclipse system 3 for going on 3 years on my desk at work. It currently has two sparkling gournamis and 3 Hephastus cory cats. For plants I have a dwarf sword, hornwort, java fern, water wisteria, and now a flowering type of pennywort they are planted in the red stuff planted tank stuff from seachem. 

I have been using the same bulb that came with the tank. I have changed it out every year. I do 1 gallon water changes once a week and add flourish excel and flourish trace every week after the water change. It had 3 cherry shrimp but I lost them after about 2 years. 1 after another in a slow transgression over about 6-7 months. 

I have kept white clouds but removed them as the gold ones are kinda mean to the sparkling gournamis. 

I believe it is considered low lighting as I have a 3 gal eclipse that is a nano reef at home. That tank has 2X13 watt fixture from ahsupply. However, I noticed that putting MHs on my large planted tank didn't help much till I dosed CO2. (I have MH fixtures from my reef tanks). I currently run 110 Watts of PC on my 55 gal planted tank, and supplemented with 175 XM 10K (2 years old bulb) on one side where my crypts are. 

Hornwort. IMHO, is one of the most important types of plant to have in a small nano tank. It grows faster that algae, and I use it in all of my pico and nano planted tanks (I have a few 1/2 gal tanks at home). It can be a nusciance but I spend a total of 1 hour a week at best. That includes feeding and adding top off water daily, and 15 minutes for my water change and tank clean, with about 5 minutes to dose, and once a month a filter change. This includes pruning all plants. I love my nano tanks. I am just very careful to stock them light.

Ray


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

DJK said:


> Well there is one male betta in there and 4 neons.
> Yes I know overstocked, but I watched the level real close the first month they were all in there and as long as I do a 50% waterchange the levels stay normal, ammonia and nitrite stay at 0, nitrates around 10-15 or so.
> I think I will try to go with lower plants, as the hornwort is growing fast and trying to get every single piece of it under the light. I do like the look of the hairgrass so maybe I will try some of that to see how it does.


overstocked?? are you kidding? when my 3 gallon eclipse was up and running and fully planted, I kept a betta and 12-15 neons in there, plus 2 ottos. 
Then I forgot to put on the intake strainer one time, and one by one they got sucked up and ground to pieces; I didnt realize why my fish were dissapearing until I smelled a smell of rotting meat and saw red and blue and bones in my filter pad :icon_frow 

anyway... you can stock it quite heavily with small schooling fish.


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## DJK (Mar 30, 2005)

Ok, well maybe I'm not too overstocked then. 
But I put that 13 watt light on it, got some plants from members here (java moss and fern and some hairgrass) and stuff is growing like crazy.
I just planted the hairgrass on wednesday and I've already got an inch growth on it and the java ferns are sprouting new leaves from the stem? that your not supposed to bury every couple days. I'm really pleased...now just to figure out this algea problem that's on the java moss.


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## capricorn77 (May 6, 2005)

Hello All,
Am new here and have been reading posts on this forum for a while before I joined. Extremely informative and important discussions I've found. I've definitely learned a lot. 
Question I have is: 
I also have a 3 gallon Eclipse System 3, and when I emailed AH Supply to see if their 13W CF fixture would fit in this system, they told me no. 

If you were successful in fitting ahsupply's 13W CF fixture on your system 3 hood, can you please share that knowledge with me? I would greatly appreciate it. 

Thanks in advance.


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

if the 13 watt doesnt work for you, you could always get a clip-on compact flourescent light from home depot, and cut a hole into the eclipse lid. They are usually 15-20 watts which will be plenty. It won't look as sleek, but it will get the lighting job done.


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## jdeverter (Apr 12, 2005)

I just received the 13 watt setup... my project this weekend is to get it to fit into the Eclipse 3... I will let you know how it goes....

I forgot to buy a bulb... I have to find one of those this weekend too....

Pics to follow..

BTW: by dwarf hairgrass does NOT like the light that came w/ this unit.

-Jeff


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## capricorn77 (May 6, 2005)

Thanks Jeff. 
That would be greatly appreciated if you can share your experience and knowledge on how to fit the 13W set up to the Eclipse System 3. 
I will eagerly await the successfull results of your endeavor!


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## DJK (Mar 30, 2005)

It was actually really easy to do, much easier than I though.
What I did was put the ballast on the back of the hood on the outside.
It still gets quite warm in there though, so I usually leave the little flap above the filter area open and it keeps the tank around 80 degrees.
The only tool I used was some wire cutters and a drill.
Here are some pictures I took of it just now, if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them.
http://daniel.xmhosting.com/pics/tank/lighting/


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## capricorn77 (May 6, 2005)

Hi DJK,
Thanks for the great pictures! That really does give a good overall sense of how you replaced it. 
I greatly appreciate it, and I'm sure everyone on the forum is happy to see some visual examples. 
I do have a question though...do you have any sort of cover, glass or acrylic, between the CF bulb and the water? Isn't it safer to have some sort of cover between the bulb and the water? 

Thanks again though, I really like the pictures! roud:


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## DJK (Mar 30, 2005)

No I have no cover.
I haven't had any troubles with the bulb or anything getting wet. I keep the water level about an inch or so below the frame at the top. I did slow down the water flow by taking out the bio-wheel and filter and just putting some filter floss in the area the bio-wheel was in. So that might have helped with the splashing a little.


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## capricorn77 (May 6, 2005)

Ahh, got it. 
Thanks for the speedy reply! 
I just set up my eclipse system 3 today. 
Haven't changed out the bulb yet. I just planted 3 anubia nana var. petite(?), some java moss, and 5 bunches of dwarf hairgrass (I think that's what they are). I think I also have a few micro-swords in there as well. 
I'll try and take some pictures and post in a bit...if I can find my digital camera... :icon_roll 

Thanks again!


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## capricorn77 (May 6, 2005)

Oops! Should have read this post in more detail before I bought some dwarf hairgrass! :icon_conf 

Thanks for the tip jdeverter...unfortunately, stupid me :icon_roll didn't read everything through and just went ahead and bought some dwarf hairgrass.
We'll, let's see what happens with it. The room does get quite a bit of ambient sunlight during the day...hmmm, maybe it might survive?


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