beachsidereefer
Active Member
So after much research and watching just about every youtube video I took the plunge and bought a XF150. I have a 200g 48x33x30 and for water movement I have a closed loop system that pulls water from the center of the tank and then pushes it out two vertical PVC pipes in the back by the overflow box which is mounted in the middle plus a Tuenze powerhead mounted on one side. These were controlled by my RKE so they alternated and overlapped run times throughout the day. One thing I noticed that always bothered me is these two systems never did a good job of blowing the detritus off the bottom and getting it to the top of the tank so the overflow could capture it for removal by a micron sock in the sump. During my water changes I noticed I was vacuuming up lots of detritus and in order to keep my rocks clean, once I week I would blow them off using a powerhead mounted to a broom handle. The rocks always seemed to capture a lot of crap and a few months back the evil GHA started to appear. I'm not a expert but my thoughts where I have a nutrient export problem because so much stuff was settling in the tank and not making it to the filter.
Looking at the videos it appeared that a XF150 could do the trick in moving more water and more importantly, moving water across the sand bed to lift the detritus off the bottom and suspend it into the water column. I've been in the hobby long enough to be wary of the newest fad or latest amazing equipment that get released around Christmas time each year. So after a couple of months of reading really positive reviews on the forums I took the plunge and ordered a XF150 from marinedepot.com. It arrived and I installed it on one side of the tank so it blows across the width of the tank and hooked it up to my RKE and programed it to run in alternating mode at 80% power forward and 100% power in reverse and 20 minutes on/ 10 minutes off during the day light cycle.
The first thing I noticed was this thing moves a lot and I mean A LOT of water!!!! So much so that I quickly dialed the forward speed down to 60% because I thought my fat, out of shape Tangs were going to have a heart attack trying to swim against 80% current! The next thing I noticed was the water column was totally full of detritus and the water currently bouncing off the far side was doing straight down the far wall and raking across the sand bed. It was pretty amazing to see so much stuff rising off the sand bed and now making it's way up to the overflow. I quickly realized that the Tuenze powerhead is no longer needed and I'm not sure I really need the closed loop system but needless to say I'd have to drain the tank to properly remove it. The rocks were also giving up detritus that had settled on them and basically my tank was cloudy for the next 4 hours as all this stuff slow filtered out via the micron sock. I still think I'll need to blow the rocks off using the powerhead/ broom handle because I have BRS Pukani rocks with deep crevices but maybe I'll have to do it less often.
so to sum it up.... best $300.00 bucks I've ever spent on a new gadget for the tank! If you are sitting on the sidelines wondering if it's really worth it then I hope my review helps in your decision making process.
If I were to do it again I'd probably order two XF130s and set them up on opposite sides so my RKE could alternate back and forth using pulse mode every 1-2 minutes. Willing to bet that set up would provide killer wave type action and would keep my Pukani rocks super clean.
[h=2][/h]
Looking at the videos it appeared that a XF150 could do the trick in moving more water and more importantly, moving water across the sand bed to lift the detritus off the bottom and suspend it into the water column. I've been in the hobby long enough to be wary of the newest fad or latest amazing equipment that get released around Christmas time each year. So after a couple of months of reading really positive reviews on the forums I took the plunge and ordered a XF150 from marinedepot.com. It arrived and I installed it on one side of the tank so it blows across the width of the tank and hooked it up to my RKE and programed it to run in alternating mode at 80% power forward and 100% power in reverse and 20 minutes on/ 10 minutes off during the day light cycle.
The first thing I noticed was this thing moves a lot and I mean A LOT of water!!!! So much so that I quickly dialed the forward speed down to 60% because I thought my fat, out of shape Tangs were going to have a heart attack trying to swim against 80% current! The next thing I noticed was the water column was totally full of detritus and the water currently bouncing off the far side was doing straight down the far wall and raking across the sand bed. It was pretty amazing to see so much stuff rising off the sand bed and now making it's way up to the overflow. I quickly realized that the Tuenze powerhead is no longer needed and I'm not sure I really need the closed loop system but needless to say I'd have to drain the tank to properly remove it. The rocks were also giving up detritus that had settled on them and basically my tank was cloudy for the next 4 hours as all this stuff slow filtered out via the micron sock. I still think I'll need to blow the rocks off using the powerhead/ broom handle because I have BRS Pukani rocks with deep crevices but maybe I'll have to do it less often.
so to sum it up.... best $300.00 bucks I've ever spent on a new gadget for the tank! If you are sitting on the sidelines wondering if it's really worth it then I hope my review helps in your decision making process.
If I were to do it again I'd probably order two XF130s and set them up on opposite sides so my RKE could alternate back and forth using pulse mode every 1-2 minutes. Willing to bet that set up would provide killer wave type action and would keep my Pukani rocks super clean.
[h=2][/h]
