# retrofitting eclipse 3 lighting



## rygar126 (Oct 16, 2004)

hi guys im new to this group i find a lot of your forums really helpful but i have been yet to find a cheap way to retrofit my eclipse 3 hood. i want to go the install-the-kit way (1-65 watt SmartLite Retrofit Kit by Custom SeaLife. Fits eclipse 3). do the 2x65 retrofits kits fit in the eclipse 3? anyway, im really looking to do it according to this website (http://www.inlandreef.com/eclipse.html), however its based on modifying an eclipse 1 and not an eclipse 3. I just want to know what ballasts and other materials i might need. do you think i can fit 2x65 pc lights using the inlandreef way? whats the best way to go to get the maximum lighting out of my eclipse 3 hood the inexpensive way? thanks guys.


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

i asked the exact same question a week ago; did a lot of research, but still havn't found nething good...check out my thread its called lighting ideas? by thanks


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## AlgaeHater (Sep 4, 2004)

well, I can tell you first hand because I have wasted by money on the smartlite kit myself. I really would highly recommend buying an entirely new setup. I went out and spent $85 on the smartlite kit by custom sea life which was a great kit and they are also out of business. It is somewhat hard to find now. The light locations is way up front, which is really no good. There is way to much agitation in the eclipse top, so what I did was start cut fins off of the impeller. This made the filtering system suck. Also it comes with wrong light specturm bulb 1000k, you will want 6700k for your plants. Also the bulbs are square pin, which have found harder to find. Thats another $35 for the right one. I got pretty fed up with trying to make the eclipse 3 work for a planted tank. By only spending a little bit more money this is what I would do and did: sell the eclipse 3 Use the $85+$35 that you would spend on retro kit/bulb and buy yourself a 30inch coral life top it is 1 by 65Watts about $65. you could by the coralife top with 2 by 65 watt, but I have found it to be not worth the extra money. I bought this and only use one light at a time with great results. With the money that you get from selling the eclipse or fork out at first, buy yourself an eheim canister filter. I bought the eheim ecco 2234. It is a dream come true it makes the water some much cleaner. Also you will want to buy a glass top and a light timer. You dont need to buy the coralife legs. I would absolutely recommend going this route. I wish I would have, it would have saved me a lot of money and time. roud:


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

hmmm.......... does any system fit the eclipse tank well?


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

did you get the 1x 65 or 2x 65 watt coralife hood?


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## AlgaeHater (Sep 4, 2004)

I bought the 2 by 65 coralife top. Most of the time i only use one light at a time. It works fine, there is no reason two pay way more for the second light I think unless you have pressurized co2 its not worth it. What do you mean does any system fit the eclipse tank? the tank is just a 29 gallon. The smartlite kit fits very well and is easy to put in. I just wouldnt do it after having spent a bunch of money on it and then realizing the whole eclipse top is a poor design for planted tank.


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## rygar126 (Oct 16, 2004)

<The light locations is way up front, which is really no good>

what about making a reflector the way this guy did ?

any comments on the inlandreef way? also someone bought a ballast kit and everything is working fine. the pictures prove it. what do you think about overdriving lights?


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## AlgaeHater (Sep 4, 2004)

a reflector will help get the light down. Its still not that great. Compact light is much better. The smartlite kit comes with a reflector.


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

i'm gonna do this, i think it's a (fairly) affordable and effective way to improve the lighting. JBJ lighting DX-JG3 30' system (2 x 65 watt); Im gonna take off both lid covers, and install it w/ legs; looks nice and works


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## rygar126 (Oct 16, 2004)

thanks,

so youre just going to take your eclipse hood off? i thought you had an eclipse 3 which fits a 24 in. length tank. how are you going to fit that 30 in. light system on it? anyways, i looked it up on the internet and it was 200 bucks. is there a cheaper price you saw it at? what are the specs of your tank (including inhabitants: fish and plants)


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## AlgaeHater (Sep 4, 2004)

Thanks, I have heard that JBJ lighting can have problems and there warranty kinda of sucked, according to a store manager that once sold there product. I am sure some one could prove me wrong, but this is just what I have heard. Coralife is great, and Current(which took over custom sealife) is good from what I have heard. The one thing I dont like about my coralife top is that the legs which is another expense, dont allow a glass top to be opened. So either you buy the legs for $15-20 and go open top or you dont buy them and set the top on the glass. Just some more knowledge that could help you before making a decision.


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## NaughtyCashew (Oct 5, 2004)

Bleh, I am with everyone else on this one. Scrap the eclipse and get a better lighting system. Retrofitting the eclipse setup seems to be way more hassle (and expense) than its worth. After struggling w/ my eclipse 12 reef I am finally giving up and going with the coralife light (and a standard aquarium). I have one on my 20G Tall and it is amazing!


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## otherwise (Oct 28, 2003)

I have an Eclipse 3.

(1) Purchase (a) clamp light and (b) 19W Daylight spiral bulb from home improvement store (i.e. Lowes and Home Depot).
(2) Replace clamp light's bulb with the new 19W Daylight bulb.
(3) Remove the canopy from the Eclipse tank.
(4) Clamp the clamp light onto the back of the Eclipse tank.

Voila: high light setup. Total cost: $14.

For the filter, I use an Aquaclear mini. For the clamp light, I bought the 5"-diameter model and replace its clamp with the one from the 8"-diameter model. Home Depot lets you choose clamp handles.


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## rygar126 (Oct 16, 2004)

yeah, you guys are convincing me to go your route. i wish i did more research on the eclipse hood before i bought it. it just looks nice. also, the filtration system sucks. the water just glides over the carbon filter trapping no debris whatsoever. im looking at a little bit over 3 wpg and i have a 30 gallon tank. any recommendations on what lighting and filtration system i should get.

algaehater, so what are the advantages to the legs on the light strip?

otherwise, im not too sure i know where to clamp the light? i have a black background covering the back of my tank so no light can go thru that way. also, those lights only have 3000K spectrum which from i hear is not the right spectrum for these plants. but im a plant newbie so please correct me if im wrong. what are you tank specs(kinds of plants, fish, wpg, etc.) and how are your plants doing?


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## otherwise (Oct 28, 2003)

Ok, so I completely misunderstood this thread. You have a 30 gallon tank and NOT a 3 gallon tank. I have the Eclipse 3 System which is a 3 gallon tank. :icon_redf

Please ignore my previous post.


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## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

rygar126 said:


> thanks,
> 
> so youre just going to take your eclipse hood off? i thought you had an eclipse 3 which fits a 24 in. length tank. how are you going to fit that 30 in. light system on it? anyways, i looked it up on the internet and it was 200 bucks. is there a cheaper price you saw it at? what are the specs of your tank (including inhabitants: fish and plants)


The Eclipse III system fits a 30" tank.


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## rygar126 (Oct 16, 2004)

yeah....i just figured that out last night when i went to the eclipse homepage. gee i feel dumb :icon_redf


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

the system is kinda expensive, but i ordered it with a lot of plants at Aquariumplant.com, so shipping is less and its overnight. I have 2 golden angels (nearly fully grown), about 8 cardinals, 2 ottos and one SAE. After christmas, the tank should be aged enough for 3 Discus. I'm going to take out the Angels and give them to my friend then. However, Is it possible to keep the Angels with the Discus, or would they constantly be competing? Plants are Echinodorus Bleheri, Echinodorus tennelus, Echin. Cordifolious, Baby tears, crypt. wendtii, crypt. crispatula, myriophyllum (green), Vallisneria Spiralis, Diplidis Diandra, Anubias Nana, Java Fern & Moss on driftwood, and Tiger Lotus. looks awesome.


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## AlgaeHater (Sep 4, 2004)

There is not much of an advantage to the coralife legs. It just depends on if you want an open top tank. If you go open top, then you will want to buy the legs. If you want a glass top then dont buy the legs and let the light sit on the top of the tank. 

On another note. The store where I bought my 2 by 65watt 30" coralife top hooked me up with the salt water hood(red box). He then swapped out the wrong bulbs for the right bulbs for a planted tank (6700k). He could have just sold me the freshwater top (green box) which comes with the 6700k's in it, but the 30" freshwater hood has both lights right next to each other (side by side). On the salt water hood the lights are staggered to cover the ends of each side of the tank. So he helped my out which was something I would have never know about. Although the extra 1 inch the lights covers on either side really isnt going to make much of a difference. This is only true about the 30" top I am told.


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## rygar126 (Oct 16, 2004)

i finally found out what im going to do. knowing puffers and reading about orange chromides i found that they might ruin plants. with this in mind i figure i'll just get a cheap upgrade and see how plants do. if the plants do well then i'll go all out with the lighting (buy a new hood and filter), if the plants get ruined then i'll just stick with with the retro. so heres the plan. 
i've only found eclipse 2 retrokits that only come with a max of 1 36w pc. so i went to a lfs and measured if i can fit 2 36w pcs in there. it would be a snug fit. i took apart my hood via the inlandreef website and found out that all i need is a ballast that supports pc lighting. i called up a couple lighting stores and asked them if they had an electronic ballast that supports 2 36w compact fluorescents for an aquarium. he said that he has the straight pin connectors and the clips for them as well. sooo. hes going to give it to me for around 30 bucks. all i need is the reflector and the powercord. the reflector i heard is going to be very important because it will prevent the plastic base from possibly melting and shed some light in the back where its needed. so with the bulbs it will probably be around 80 bucks. compare this to 140 for the 14" Power Compact with one 32 watt bulb eclipse retro and 90 for the coralife 24" 2x36w light strip (note: you would have to buy a new filter if you buy the coralife which is added expenses). this way is cheaper and better than any eclipse retrofits. all in all i went from 30w to 72w. i still think it would be better not getting the eclipse hood at all but i gotta work with what i got. tell me what you guys think


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## EricSilver (Feb 23, 2004)

I just ordered the 65 watt SmartLite Retrofit Kit by Custom SeaLife today. I'll let you all know how easily it installs, and how it performs. 

The 25 extra wats should make my plants quite happy, but should still not require me to use CO2, I presume.


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

Hows the retrofited tank doing with plants? How is the lighting towards the back of the tank with the retrofit? Update pic? 


I have an eclipse 1 on a 10 gal that i'm pretty happy with although i knew it wasn't the best setup to create a nice planted setup. Couple tweaks here and there along with retrofiting the light and it turned out into a really nice setup for a planted tank. 


Just want to mention that a Sponge from a Fluval 404 will fit in your Eclipse 3 and can be sandwiched onto an empty plasic frame from the cartrige with fiber floss to make a better, reuseable cartrige.


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## skids (Mar 22, 2004)

I used the Smartlite 1x32W kit on an Eclipse 2 hood (same size as 3, but intended for one light set only) I find it lights a 30gal tall just fine. I bought the 1x65W one and had to take it back to Albany Aq. Putting more than 32W in is supposed to have melting issues so you need to cut in a fan. I didn't have to cut, sand or force anything to work. The 1x65W doesn't work in the E2 hood without using a dremel to cut interior vanes out and a hack saw to shorten the reflector to make it fit. I was going to swap the standard blue/white bulb combo but really like the colors it brings out in Cardinal Tetra so I just left it. Makes the blue line on them really glow. Anubias, java fern, amazon sword and 1 crypt are growing fine for 6 months now, just slowly since it is a low light/ no CO2 tank. I add Excel for carbon. 1wpg may not sound like much but with the reflector included it looks like broad daylight is hitting the gravel even through 18" of water.


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## EricSilver (Feb 23, 2004)

supaoopa said:


> Hows the retrofited tank doing with plants? How is the lighting towards the back of the tank with the retrofit? Update pic?
> 
> 
> Just want to mention that a Sponge from a Fluval 404 will fit in your Eclipse 3 and can be sandwiched onto an empty plasic frame from the cartrige with fiber floss to make a better, reuseable cartrige.


I ordered the kit on Friday, and it should arrive by Wednesday. My current plants (see my signature) do fine with the 40W, 6700K bulb I have now, and I expect them to do better with the Blue/White 65W bulb that comes with the retrofit. I am hoping I will now be able to grow a microsword carpet. With my current 40 watts, I was able to keep it alive, but it did not spread. I hope to do better with the brighter lights. 

Thanks for the info on the Fluval. I am currently using doubled-up cut-outs of the blue Marineland fiber.


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## mjc (Jan 11, 2005)

FWIW, I put the Custom Sea Life 2x65w retrofit in my Eclipse III a few weeks ago. I picked it up on Ebay for about $40. Installing it was pretty much a piece of cake.

I replaced the 10,000/actint bulb with a 10,000/6700 bulb. It's amzing how much the reflector spreads the light around. I'm surprised the Eclipse didn't have one to begin with. It's still brighter in the front, but there is a considerable increase in the amount of light hitting the back. It doesn't seem to be getting too hot, I kept my eye on it the first few days.


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## EricSilver (Feb 23, 2004)

mjc said:


> I replaced the 10,000/actint bulb with a 10,000/6700 bulb. It's amzing how much the reflector spreads the light around. I'm surprised the Eclipse didn't have one to begin with. It's still brighter in the front, but there is a considerable increase in the amount of light hitting the back. It doesn't seem to be getting too hot, I kept my eye on it the first few days.


This is good to know. I hope it is brighter at the ends as well, since my plants at he ends of my tank currently bend towards the center.


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## EricSilver (Feb 23, 2004)

The retrofit kit arrived yesterday and I was able to install it easily. I am officially in the "adequate light" club, and no longer feel the Eclipse 3 is limited. roud: 

The kit came with a 65W "Smart Bulb" -- a 50/50 10000K/Actinic which turns everything a dreadful blue that washes out all color in the tank. I immediately ordered the 6700K, which should arrive in a day or two. (FYI: I ordered from ThatPetPlace.com and the experience was very good.) 

I plan to do a massive pruning this weekend to eliminate about 2/3 of my plant mass, and then see how they recover and thrive under the new lights.


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## mjc (Jan 11, 2005)

It's a good feeling isn't it? Switching the bulbs will be a huge difference. Then just sell the smart bulb to someone with a marine tank.

I think doing the retrofit officially qualifies you as an electrician.


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## EricSilver (Feb 23, 2004)

mjc said:


> It's a good feeling isn't it? Switching the bulbs will be a huge difference. Then just sell the smart bulb to someone with a marine tank.
> 
> I think doing the retrofit officially qualifies you as an electrician.


It certainly is. And I can't wait for the new bulbs to arrive this weekend. That blue is really awful. :icon_frow


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## EricSilver (Feb 23, 2004)

Well, the new 6700K bulb arrived two days ago. (Was a coralife -- are they good??) The difference is night and day, and I can see my fish and plant colors again. :icon_bigg 

Also, it looks like I finally have enough light for a carpet. After switching the lights, my microsword clumps began sending out runners -- after just one day.


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## EricSilver (Feb 23, 2004)

EricSilver said:


> I just ordered the 65 watt SmartLite Retrofit Kit by Custom SeaLife today. I'll let you all know how easily it installs, and how it performs.


I thought I would follow-up on this. 

I understand why the above retrofit kit was on sale ($39.00), and why Custom SeaLife went out of business. My ballast burned out after 9 months, and was evidently defective from the start since I burned through three PC bulbs in one year -- bulbs that are supposed to last 18 months. Otherwise, the kit itself was great. 

I replaced the ballast with a new one by Universal Lighting (UniversalBallast.com), which I bought on EBay for $13.00. I also needed to replace the Eclipse hood switch with a rocker switch from Radio Shack which fit the hole perfectly. (The original Eclipse switch was destroyed in a short circuit after I incorrectly rewired it.) 

I also switched to a 55W bulb from the 65W since the plants never seemed to benefit from the extra light of the 65W, and also because the 55W bulbs are an inch longer than the 65W (22" vs 21") giving me more coverage. 

Although I needed to replace the ballast, this was still a good, affordable deal.


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## Guest (Feb 17, 2008)

Hey so what did you guys find to be the best thing to do? I have the 29 gallon eclipse system. I want to swap out the hood altogether. I want to add new (high output lights) and a canister filter instead of the bio-filter. How can I buy a new top for this system? What are my options? Am I going to go broke doing it?
Help!


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

It's too late now may, but check out my response where you can get the 65w Custom Sealife Eclipse 3 retrofit kit for $35 and you can get an excellent 8800K bulb for it for $10.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/g...scussion/59632-eclipse-lid-bio-wheel-bad.html


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## Guest (Feb 19, 2008)

I actually ended up buying that light set up. We'll see how it goes!
Thanks


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Did you get the 8800K bulb as well?

I hope it goes well. 

Good luck!


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## Guest (Feb 23, 2008)

Well actually I just went with the light that it came with. Should I go to my LFS and buy a new bulb when it comes? I'm thinking of returning it and getting the 2x65 coralife kit. Do you think it is worth it? Will I see much more plant growth?


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## EricSilver (Feb 23, 2004)

rick4him said:


> Should I go to my LFS and buy a new bulb when it comes? I'm thinking of returning it and getting the 2x65 coralife kit. Do you think it is worth it? Will I see much more plant growth?


If you get a new bulb, order online. Your LFS would probably be way overpriced. 

130W over a 29 gal sounds blinding. You will definitely need CO2. And sunglasses.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

rick4him said:


> Well actually I just went with the light that it came with....


The bulb that comes with it is a 50/50 actinic/10,000K saltwater bulb. Basically, only 1/2 of the bulb is usable for growing plants and that's the 10,000K part.

It's basically the same kit that the Dr's are selling. Current used to be Custom Sealife. You can read about it and the bulb that comes with it: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+9656+12775&pcatid=12775

That 8800K bulb was at a great price too. Many people like it.

Oh well.


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## Guest (Feb 23, 2008)

I actually really wanted that bulb, but when I tried to order it they said you had to order 10 at a time. That's no good! I only need one. I would love to have that bulb. Do you know I place where I can get just one of that bulb?

Also is this what you have on your tank? If so how is it working out?


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## Guest (Feb 23, 2008)

I just looked at that link you posted. It looks like you have to do some wiring...is this right? I thought it was as simple as unscrewing what is there, and screwing this in. I didn't know you had to mess with wiring. I have no idea how to do something like this...


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## EricSilver (Feb 23, 2004)

rick4him said:


> I just looked at that link you posted. It looks like you have to do some wiring...is this right? I thought it was as simple as unscrewing what is there, and screwing this in. I didn't know you had to mess with wiring. I have no idea how to do something like this...


It's very easy. Nothing more complex than cutting and splicing wires -- which are color coded so you won't make mistakes.


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## Guest (Feb 23, 2008)

Did you do it ?


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## EricSilver (Feb 23, 2004)

rick4him said:


> Did you do it ?


Yes. Then, a few months later, replaced the ballast, which was more complicated. 

Also, the ad says something about a remote switch, which is misleading. The kit uses your exisiting Eclipse switch.


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## Guest (Feb 23, 2008)

why did you have to replace the ballast?

Also how is the tank doing with the 55 w you have on it? You growing much live plants? Any floor plants? Like grass looking things?


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## EricSilver (Feb 23, 2004)

rick4him said:


> why did you have to replace the ballast?
> 
> Also how is the tank doing with the 55 w you have on it? You growing much live plants? Any floor plants? Like grass looking things?


The ballast had to be replaced because it burned out. I apparently had a faulty one. 

55W is just fine. I use it because the bulbs are an inch longer than the 65W. See my signature for my plant list. I have no grassy plants now, but at one time I had microswords which survived well, and grew slowly. 

The color temperature of the lights is most important. I saw your comments about 8800K bulbs, and I am currently using 6700K, but my best results were actually with the original Eclipse bulbs, which were about 5500K.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

rick4him said:


> I just looked at that link you posted. It looks like you have to do some wiring...is this right? I thought it was as simple as unscrewing what is there, and screwing this in. I didn't know you had to mess with wiring. I have no idea how to do something like this...


I used an AHSupply kit for my Eclipse which did require doing some wiring. It was simple for me and I've never done any wiring before.

I didn't use the Custom Sealife/Current kit.

That's a bummer about ordering 10 bulbs. I guess that's a whole case.


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## Guest (Feb 23, 2008)

So if you had to do it all over again would you buy this system? I could also buy a 2x65 watt coralife system? Do you think it's worth the extra money doing that? Do you think it would be night and day difference if I went with the coralife 2x65, or do you think it would just be so/so?


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

rick4him said:


> So if you had to do it all over again would you buy this system? I could also buy a 2x65 watt coralife system? Do you think it's worth the extra money doing that? Do you think it would be night and day difference if I went with the coralife 2x65, or do you think it would just be so/so?


To be honest, I really didn't benefit by doing the retrofit. I have the Eclipse 1 TL which isn't available any more. It came with 2x15w lighting and the AHSupply kit was 36w or only 6w more. The reflector made the AHSupply kit much brighter than the stock lighting that uses a whiteframe for the reflector. I had to buy a single bulb base to do the retrofit. I still have the stock frame. I not using the Eclipse any more. It's boxed up in the closet.

This is what I really recommend and it's only $19 more than the $156 30" Freshwater Aqualight. It's the 30" 2x65w Orbit fixture. The only hitch is that you have to replace the front dual actic bulb with a plant friendly 55w/65w square pin bulb. There's 6700K, Colormax/6700K, dual daylight 6700K/10,000K, 8800K and 10,000K bulbs available.
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...302x65wattpowercompactstriplightw2lunarlights
http://www.current-usa.com/orbit.html

The Orbits are a much better fixture with a wider reflector than the Aqualights. I have 2 of the Orbits and I also have 2 of the Aqualights. The only edge that the Aqualights have over the Orbits is the optional flip-up (adjustable) legs. Otherwise the Orbits are much better. The Orbits come with legs, but you have to buy legs for the Aqualights.

The 30" Orbit is $170 at: http://www.championlighting.com/home.php?cat=579
They also have the Current 6700K, dual daylight 6700K/10,000K and 10,000K bulbs for a few pennies less too: http://www.championlighting.com/home.php?cat=568


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## Guest (Feb 23, 2008)

And you think that is better then going with the 2x65 Coralife unit?


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Absolutely.

Here's the "+" features:
much better reflector
comes with white moon lights
comes with legs
comes in a black color instead of the metallic beigh color of the Aqualights

Here's the "-" features:
the actinic bulb(s) needs to be switched
can't use the GE 9325K, AGA 8000K and AHSupply 7800K straight pin bulbs unless you have an adapter
it costs a little more
fan makes a tiny bit of noise
flip up legs aren't available

TriCityTropicals.com sells refurbished Orbits too and they'll swap out the actinic bulb for a bulb of your choice for $5.


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## Guest (Feb 23, 2008)

What good are the moon lights? Do people really leave them on all night?


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

The moon lights are somewhat like tiny night lights in the aquarium. The Orbits have white moon lights.

Beside allowing you to see in the aquarium at night, they allow the fish and critters to see to when they get spooked and need to hide. If you have open top tanks, they help by reducing DBF (death by floor). Current also offers some more moon lights in white, blue and red.

Coralife has some fixtures that come with blue moon lights and there's also optional moon lights too.


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