This is a great starter aquarium. Order a book or two about having fish when you order the aquarium too and wait a week before getting fish.In years past you'd have all sorts of work with the filters and such. With the bio-wheel that comes with this tank your only work is to occasionally replace the "physical filter" and do a partial water change. That's it! The tank also comes with a beautiful light that'll really make your fish shine.
You will need some gravel too and some plants and maybe a stone or two for the fish to hide behind. The gravel and such are best picked up at your local pet store. Start out with plastic plants rather than live plants; you'll have plenty to do anyway.
In my experience things are easier if you have a heater too. The fish likes the water temperature to be constant. I've been using a 150w heater with good success in this tank.
Let the tank run with the heater for a day or two to get the temperature stable. When you add your first fish, start out with just a few small fish (actually, in a 12 gallon tank you should always only have small fish, little tetras and such -don't worry, they are beautiful) to get the bio-wheel going. Your books will explain it, but it takes some time for the biological processes to get going in the tank and keep things in balance, so the water can get poisonous quickly for your fish if you add too many. (Get a packet of test strips to test the water quality daily -it's just when you get started, later the bio-wheel will keep things steady unless you keep too many fish in the tank).
I can also recommend getting another tank, maybe a 3 gallon tank, to keep new fish in before they go in the main tank. (Of course that only works if you keep small fish, with bigger fish the 12 gallon tank would be your quarantine tank...) :-)
Good luck!
This is a fine piece of machinery that looks and runs great, for years to come.
Maintenence:
-Change the filter every 1-3 months (depending on the clenliness of your fish and the nuber you have)
-25% water change every time you change the filter or every other time (again, depending on your fish
-I also reccomend a gravel cleaner
-About once every 8 months to a year, I have to clean out the impeller housing to clean out the junk that builds up because of reduced performance.(manual shows step by step instructions on how to do this, and if you loose your manual, go to marineland.com to download one for free)
Cons-
none really, but it is quite small. Recently I have been looking at the system 6 or 12.
*I'm not sure about how it would do with salt water, as I have not tried, but reading reviews I have not heard very positive things about that.
*After having it for about 5 years, white crust started to show up on the edged of the tank lip. One more thing to clean, but what can I say? I have nothing to complain about though, because you can look at other 6 year old systems and they would look like junk, where as mine is in perfect condition(except for the little ECLIPSE marking on the front is half worn off from use!)
All in all, I have been happy with this tank from day one and I'm sure will continue to be happy with it for years to come(if I don't upgrade, that is!) and I would definetly reccomend this to anybody wanting a quick to set up, long lasting, all in one machine that looks stylish. I hope this helps!
Buy Marineland Eclipse Acrylic Aquarium System Now
Some people seem to think that this is the worst tank they've ever used and all the good reviews are merely a product of overhyped propaganda. They're welcome to think that, but don't let that deter you from the Eclipse (and Aqua-Tech) aquarium systems.I've been keeping freshwater fish since I was old enough to say "fish." I've used every tank setup with every filtration method. Until seven years ago, I always used the "beloved" standard glass tanks (20+ gallons) with the usual filters that sit on the side or back of the aquarium. When I tried out this aquarium system, I abandoned all other systems and now any new tank I add will be compared to this. So, why do I like this tank system if it's not just overhyped propaganda?
1. It's QUIET. Power Whisper (and similar type) filters are noisy. They make loud humming sounds and if you're unfortunate enough to have a pump that sits out of the water, will vibrate it's way off anything it's sitting on or just vibrate incessantly against anything it comes into contact with. The Eclipse filter and pump is so quiet that the only time I notice it's on is when I look at it. There is no splashing noise.
2. Speaking of splashing, unlike the standard power filters, this system does not splash water. Every Whisper-style filter I've had has splashed water out the back or side, no matter what I did. Even if it was only a tiny amount, you can imagine what happened after several months of sitting on top of a bookshelf. The Eclipse system is enclosed. There is no water splashing out. Escape artist fish can't escape. Shrimp can't jump out. Fiddler crabs can't climb up tubing and out of the tank. You can set it pretty much anywhere and not worry about getting things wet.
3. It keeps the water clear. In standard systems, I had constant problems with cloudy water. I was always changing the water, adding clearing chemicals, everything I could. Nothing worked for very long. It drove me insane. The ONLY time my water got cloudy in this tank was when the temperature reached 90 degrees in the house (AC was out) and the goldfish started stressing. As soon as they had cooled back down, the water cleared and has been clear ever since.
4. Easy to set up and use. You plug it in and go. No hooking up pumps and filters, no worrying about tubing. I don't know why the other reviewer said you can only feed the fish from the top panel; I've always been able to easily change the filter through there. Just takes a few seconds.
5. Easy to maintain. All I need is some aquarium salt, bowl buddies, and nitraban and my tank will run for months before I need a full water change. In fact, with regular filter changes (once a month), I only need a 25% water change once a month. And when I do a full water change, the parts come out easily, go back easily, and it's light enough to carry outside or to the bathtub to drain and wash down.
6. The lighting is bright and illuminates the entire tank clearly. The only downside is the lights tend to heat the tank a bit, but it has no impact on tropical fish. It's only a problem to coldwater fish (like goldfish) when the room temperature reaches 85 or above, but then the room temperature is already the problem.
Only cons I have are the motor assembly and getting parts. It would be nice if it wasn't sealed together, in case I needed to fix a part and is a pain to clean ONLY IF I'M NOT DOING REGULAR TANK MAINTENANCE. Getting replacement parts is kind of a pain since it's an all-or-nothing thing, but so far, I haven't had one of these break on me (and I have several for the past 7 years).
Yes, the hood and lid can be annoying to deal with, but no more or less annoying than any other standard tank hood I've worked with.
Yes, the lights are integrated and the tank goes "dark" when it's removed, but that's why I usually turn the lights on in the dining room when I clean the tank. A magnetic cleaner doesn't even require the hood to be completely removed and I've found it to be the best option for quick algae cleaning.
Yes, the water isn't going "through" the filter, but the filter is actually working. If it didn't, all that gunk that builds up wouldn't be on the filter and would just go back into the water.
Yes, the biowheel sometimes stops. However, I've discovered it only stops when I turn the power off or I've neglected to change the filter for months (which happened only once because I was out of town). If you properly maintain your tank, as you should every tank, then the wheel won't stop.
I absolutely recommend this tank to beginners and anyone who wants an easy tank to maintain. It's simple to set up, easy to maintain, easy to clean, quiet, and can be placed just about anywhere.
Standard systems may be cheaper if you build it yourself, but I'd rather pay a few extra bucks to pick up a box that has everything I need in it. Aquarium snobs might say I'm not a true "enthusiast," but unlike them, I'd rather spend my time enjoying the fish than maintaining my tank.
Read Best Reviews of Marineland Eclipse Acrylic Aquarium System Here
I think this is an Excellent Small to Midrange Aquarium set. I've been using this aquarium for 3 years now and am very pleased with it.It is an acrylic tank not glass, so that's the first factor to consider. The difference is that it will be lighter than a glass tank but acrylic can get all scratched up when you're trying to do stuff like scrape algae off just be careful to not scrub so hard or use abrasive cleaners that can scratch or smoke up the acrylic.
I think that 12 gallons is a perfect size for a small area. You can have one larger fish in there, or several small ones. The 12 gallon size gives you a good amount of space so you have more options on what kind and how many fish you want to keep in there.
The hinged lid houses the filtration and lighting system while keeping the aquarium covered so that things don't inadvertently fall in, or critters getting out. I think a good lid is very important for a fish tank, sometimes things drop in, sometimes critters try to get out...and if you want eels they are notorious escape artists, so you really need to seal up the top of the tank. This lid makes it easier to do so.
The filtration system is one of the best that I've owned. I can't believe how clean it keeps the tank. I only change out the water every 6 months or so, but not because I can see gunk in the tank, but because I know that I should. Actually, I think I'm supposed to clean it more...but the unit runs so perfectly, I just don't see the need...and if I don't see the need, I don't really do it...so the excellent filtration system can be a good or bad thing. My tank is just always so crystal clear, it's wonderful to have such an easy tank to keep up. People are always asking me how I keep my tank looking so clean and perfect, and it's great to know that I don't have to do anything at all! lol, just make sure that the filtration system is plugged in. Of course, I do have to clean the Eclipse carbon filter out every couple of months. That does collect up quite a bit of "gunk". I just rinse out all the gunk and put the cleaned filter back in. After about 6 times of doing this, the filter gets pretty beat up, so I'll replace it. The replacement cartridges are not expensive.
The lighting is great and sufficient to light up the entire tank including some space around it. It's cool to have it in a dark room and have this as the sole lighting. It can act as a night light or whatnot. After 3 years of daily use, I have not had to replace the bulb either.
You have to supply your own gravel, plants, accessories, and of course the fish. I would highly recommend this aquarium. It's a compact unit for being 12 gallons, the filtration system works perfectly, the light is great, and the panoramic view really showcases your fish well. I have no complaints on this tank whatsoever and would recommend it to anyone.
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When I was in middle school, I was an avid tropical fish fan. I raised and bred all sorts of fish from easy to take care of goldfish to more challenging angel fish. That was years ago, but my fascination for tropicals has never really left me. I wanted to start up a small tank with a few fish, just for the fun of it, but without much of the hassle. I saw the Eclipse System package and tried one out. Here are my impressions of the kit.The whole system is a complete package that contains all the necessary equipment that you'll need to get you started in keeping tropicals as pets. The kit includes the actual tank (which is plexiglass), the pump, filter, hood and light. The gravel and other accessories, you provide. Marineland boasts that the biofilter is able to eliminate much of the toxic buildup that occurs when you keep fish, thus providing a carefree, minimal amount of maintainence. Is it true? Yes and no.
Regardless of which filtration system you use, it takes about a month or more before beneficial bacterial builds up in the tank. These little critters are what is behind keeping the fish wastes under control. I found that the Eclipse system can do this, but only if you are very careful in keeping only a few fish in the tank. (Don't believe the photo on the box which seems to have 15-20 fish in the tank. In real life, they all would be dead if they were crowded this way.)
Added to this, the condition of your tank water is very, very volatile because the tank is so small. Overfeed your fish, or having a fish that is dead and hidden will reek havoc on your tank and most likely kill or make all your fish ill. The magnetic impeller motor can overheat and burn out easily if your water level becomes too low. The water moving through the motor also serves as a medium to cool it down. But what this means is your tank water will tend to heat up. During the summer months, this will be a very hard thing to control. The filter uses pre-assembled filter packs that are rather expensive and not very effective in trapping particles and debris.
The tank is made out of acrylic plastic, so the tank is very easy to scratch and mar. My tank had a hairline crack at the bottom and continued to grow bigger throughout the use of the tank. My fish, while alive, do not seem as healthy as they could be if they were in a larger tank. Although the Eclipse System is convenient, at least for the first few months of operation, the water quality, health of fish, and fragile tank material all outweigh it's positives. If algae starts to take hold of your aquarium, the algae is extremely hard to remove from the sides of the tank, if not impossible.
If you are truly interested in keeping fish as a hobby, it would be much better to spend it on a conventional glass tank with the filter of your choice. Retailers such as PetSmart sell 10 gallon kits that include everything you need to start an aquarium at a much more reasonable price. Marineland sells a larger version of the Eclipse, which is a twelve gallon model, but considering the price of the kit, it is way overpriced for what you could spend for a comparable standard setup. For my money, I will stick to the standard tank setup. Yes, initially, it is a little more hassle to setup, but in the long run, it will be the better choice in keeping you and your fish happy.
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