Marineland Eclipse

1. Marineland Eclipse Aquarium Size

If you are new to Betta fish keeping and want to buy your first tank, you will probably come across Marineland Eclipse. They have tanks in several sizes which are very affordable and great for a starter aquarium. You may be tempted to get a really small one, like Marineland Eclipse 2 or Marineland Eclipse 3, but I would advise against it.

First of all, your Betta will not be too thrilled! Remember, the absolute minimum is 1 gallon of water per 1 inch of adult fish and Bettas are about 2 to 3 inches when all grown up. And you want it to be comfortable, not just barely making it, I assume. So go with Marineland Eclipse 5 at a minimum.

Just so you know, Marineland Eclipse doesn't just come in small sizes. They also make large aquariums.

Once you decide on the size, and assuming you are considering Marineland Eclipse 5, you will have several choices of style.

Marineland Eclipse 5 gallon Products:

2. Marineland Eclipse Material

Marineland Eclipse aquariums are made with acrylic – a good choice when convenience and weight are important. If you want this tank in a child's room, an acrylic tank which doesn't break will be better than glass.

3. Marineland Eclipse Ease of Set up

If you are new to this hobby, you will want something that is simple and quick to set up. You will have enough to think about with your fish, so the easier the tank set up, the better. Marineland Eclipse aquariums are very simple in that regard. They are geared to people with little experience in fish keeping. When you read their customer reviews, which I would recommend that you do before any purchase, this point comes up very often as a big plus. Many people are happy to find easy–to–follow instructions and simple day–to–day maintenance.

The main reason for the simplicity of operation is the Marineland Eclipse top–mounted system which puts lighting, filtration and maintenance all in one place. This makes Marineland Eclipse probably the easiest system on the market.

4. Marineland Eclipse Appearance

There are so many styles in aquariums these days! You have a very wide range of choices, from the basic to very fancy ones. Marineland Eclipse falls right in the middle. It's a no–design, which is both attractive and functional, without being overly trendy. A nice feature of their hex design is the panoramic viewing area which many people really enjoy.

5. Marineland Eclipse Price

Marineland Eclipse pricing is very competitive. Compared with Fluval Edge, for example, you are looking to pay a half for Marineland Eclipse when purchasing a 6 gallon tank. Prices in the range of $40 and $60 for a 5 gallon tank are within everybody's reach. Part of the reason for the affordability is the fact that Marineland Eclipse comes with a bio–wheel filter and mini–compact fluorescent lighting system. You don't have to buy those component separately.

6. Marineland Eclipse filters

People have reported problems with Marineland Eclipse filters on their two gallon tanks.The filters are too strong for Bettas. If you are having the same problem, you may want to try a couple of things:

• Obtain some filter floss and put a tiny bit of it in the following two spots:
  Spot #1: The hole from which the water flows onto the filter media (blue cartridge). Do not overdo it so as not to burn the motor, you want water to still come out.
  Spot #2: the two holes under the bio wheel where the water flows out of the filter and into the tank. Insert some filter floss there as well, but shape it to be thin and long (like a thick string). Enter from the outside of the filter through the one hole gong inside the filter (near the bio wheel) and back out the other hole (like a horse shoe). Pull on the ends to make sure the floss is as thin as possible inside the filter area (so the bio wheel is still able to turn).

• You can remove the bio wheel and replace it with a bunch of floss in that cavity. However, the filter will then back up and water will start overflowing. You also lose the benefit of the bio wheel, which you don't want to do.

• If your tank has a lot of plants it will diffuse water flow and help somewhat too. The only problem with this solution is that these tanks are small to begin with, so crowding it with too many decorations seems like not a great idea. Bettas are also notorious for getting stuck inside rock holes etc...so be careful with those.

• Custom made Plexiglas separations to fit these tanks. The partitions have some holes drilled in them. One partition goes up near the filter outtake and the water flows in the part of the tank that is inhabited, so your betta is on the OTHER side of the partition. The drawback of this method is that you lose about 25% of tank space. It will however successfully diffuse the water movement and will not affect the filter, which can be still running full blast (best filtration).

ATTENTION: Do not put anything inside the intake tube, because it will get sucked into the propeller and damage the motor.

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