Can an eclipse hood be modified to attach a protein skimmer?

[bkiniowa]

I have a 30 gallon Sea Clear acrylic tank with an Eclipse hood that I want to convert to a salt-water tank. The Eclipse hood doesn't have any cut-outs so I am going to have to modify it somehow in order to use a protein skimmer. Has anyone done this?

[electrikat]

Have you considered drilling and using a sump? Since your tank is acrylic it would be fairly easy. Also with that small of a tank, if you had sufficient lr and filtration, you would not absolutely have to have a skimmer. It would be nice though.

[bkiniowa]

Thanks. I do plan on having quite a bit of live rock. The Eclipse system uses a Bio-Wheel. Seems to work okay with fresh-water but I don't have any experience with it in saltwater yet. I thought the protein skimmer would help with aeration. Could you explain how to connect the sump?

[electrikat]

The bio wheel is going to cause nitrate problems after awhile. You should probably get rid of it. The sump hook up will depend on if you drill or use an overflow. I'm sure there are people with more exp than I on that subject.