Eclipse 12 Saltwater System

[HooKooDooKu]

I'm interested in starting a saltwater tank. The only thing I'm interested in is a percula clown fish (yes because my 2yo likes watching "Finding Nemo", but no, we are not getting a fish just because he likes Nemo).

I've never cared for an aquarium before, but I like a challenge and am good at learning. (I figure if I can learn to plant and care for 20 hybrid tea roses, I can learn to care for a saltwater aquarium).

I found an Eclipse 12 Saltwater kit for about $150 and wondered if it would be a good kit to start with. It would be about like starting with the nano cube (same volume) but the shape of the Eclipse 12 is better for me. Once cycled, I would eventually plan to have a small amount of live rock, the percula, and perhaps two more "friends".

Any feedback?

[DaveBeaty]

As an old freshwater guy with ten months of salt under my belt, here are my thoughts.

the Eclipse system is very nice because the light and filter are built in. The drawback is there is no way to add a protein skimmer later. I would either stick with fish only (that is how I went with my first salt tank) or add the live rock (10 to 15 pounds) and wait for the tank to finish cycling before getting the clown (Percula is a good clown choice, reportedly they need less space than an Ocellarus clownfish). The tank is so small you can use reverse osmosis water from a coin operated dispenser to make the salt water ( the best way to go to dampen the nigh inevitable algae problem from using a full spectrum fluorescent light). The "buddies" I would suggest would be a cleaner shrimp and a couple of nerite snails. Only one more fish, either another percula clown, a cardinalfish, or (my favorite) a goby, will fit in this tank.
What I can see the eclipse 12 being GREAT for is a decorative quarantine/hospital tank.

[HooKooDooKu]

Eclipse 12 as a quarantine tank... hmmm, sounds like a great reason to start with this tank and then if/when I upgrade to say a 55 gallon tank, I can still have a great use for the 12.

[lando]

I agree. The Eclipse 12 is a nice all-in-one tank, but it does not allow you to custamize it to your liking. It is a fairly limited system. You may be better off just buying a 29gal and adding what you like. It will give you much more versatility down the road.

[cmor1701d]

Agreed. I use Eclipse 12 as a QT tank. Put the filter is in the overflow for a few days before getting a new arrival and it's bio-loaded. Of course the light switch in mine just died the other day... It's two years old and out of warranty.