Eclipse Six Reef Tank??

[sdaccord03]

I have set out on a mission to turn my little old Eclipse Six (six gallon w/ built-in filter, carbon, and bio-wheel).

Two questions. One concerns the bio-wheel. Should I take it out? I want to keep some invertebrates (low-lighting things like anemones) and some damsels and a clownfish maybe. Lots of live rock too. If the bio-wheel adds nitrates, then should I get rid of it and just use the live rock as biological filtration?

Another question is about one damsel. I bought 6 of them figuring a couple would die off and speed up the maturation process. This one damsel seems to be taking over the tank and the other fish hide. Should I get rid of the big guy or just let nature take its course. Most of the other fish seem to be eating just fine. Thanks in advance for any help.

JW

 

[Brad]

I'm not sure about damsels in particular, but in many fish it is normal for one member of a group to become the dominant one and take on different behaviour...even different sex.

If you remove that one, it's likely that another will step into that role and begin behaving the same way.

 

[XXFirefighter]

I found that my damsels were too aggressive for that small of a tank. I have a solo one now and he's allot happier in the tank. I wish I went Chromis in the nano...

As for yoru situation, I'd let nature do it's thing...
Make sure you have enough hermits in the tank to clean up ...
Keep up with weekly water changes as well..

 

[Lindsikins00]

(low-lighting things like anemones)

Anemones actually need a lot of light, I can't remember the number of watt bulb that eclipse has, but it is probably not enough

 

[Nate C]

Even if you add enough life it is not a good idea to keep an anemone in a Nano.

Nano's are cool (don't get me wrong) but require a significantly greater effort to keep your water parameters stable.

Anemones likewise require pristine water quality, and stable conditions. Anyone's chances of success (expert or not) are going to be seriously hampered within such a small tank.

Some good inverts for a Nano would be Xenia, Mushrooms, Green Star Polyps, some rics, and other SPS.

Not trying to rain on your parade, but had to throw in my 2c.

Nate