Eclipse Parts?

[gregjsmith]

I recently acquired a aquarium with a eclipse hood. It had the lights in it but none of the filter parts. Is it worth trying to find the parts to rebuild or should I just trash it and go with a standard hood?

[An t-iasg]

Welcome to Aquarium Advice!

Here's a link for Marineland parts: http://www.marineland.com/products/c...on_eclipse.asp

Click on your hood size on the right, and then click on the circled number of the individual parts that you need. A new page will come up with the price and if it's in stock. You could see how much you'd need to spend to get all your missing parts.

Otherwise, you'd have to get another type of filter, lights, and a cover separately. Some hoods have a light built into them, and other types of lights sit over a glass top.

What type of lighting do you need? Is the Eclipse light adequate for your needs? If so, and the replacement parts aren't too expensive, I would rebuild the Eclipse hood. If you want to upgrade the light someday, you might want to think about getting another type of hood or lighting. I have read that you can't retrofit the Eclipse hoods for a lighting upgrade very easily.

[gregjsmith]

I'm going to go with a freshwater set up but I haven't done anything with it yet. I have a canister filter from an old aquarium but Im thinking I like the whole built in set up of the Eclipse.

[Alshain]

My personal experience with eclipse filters is that they are not worth it. I have an eclipse 12 but all of them are similar. There is a flaw in the design and that is that it drops water onto the filter media from above while the media sits horizontally in the tray. Essentially, you have a foot long filter instert and only the first 3 inches of it get used during normal operation. My reccomendation is to get a filter with a vertical standing insert like AquaClear, or use your canister, that would work too.

[gregjsmith]

I've decided to get a regular hood for this thing, thanks for your guys help.

[An t-iasg]

That's probably what I would do. My personal favorite is a canister filter and lights that sit over a glass top. What kind of canister do you have?