STILL LIKE YOUR-Gyre XF150 ???

[JWClark]

I think its a great pump but it hasnt held up too well with my dwarf cerith snails in the tank. they have been attracted to and as a result I have gone thru a few propellers. Its back in the box until I feel confident I got all of the DC snails out!

I worried about this when I first got mine but my dwarf ceriths seem to have thus far stayed away from the gyre--and I have 50-100 of them.

Have not had to breakdown to clean yet so can't comment on that. For what it puts out though I think it is worth it.

 

[Zwickm]

Well I placed my pre-order for the xf130. I'll let you guys know how I like it. It'll go in my standard 75g.

Has anyone seen what the minimum GPH flow rate will be for the xf130? It say's the max is ~2300gph and it looks like it can be lowered down to run at 10% which means ~230gph. Sound right? Could not find answers online for some reason....

 

[mhucasey]

Worth every penny, one low-profile pump replaced 3 Tunzes and the flow is much more diffuse.

 

[ClownBubbaJoe]

Exactly,....my point. With this new 125g we're setting up, by the time I spend money on 4-6 power heads and a wave maker, just spend that money on this one.

Just concerned about reliability.

 

[Reel North]

I bought one and replaced 2 mp40s. PE is much better and the fish are so much more active. I tried to blow the rocks off. Surprisingly there was almost nothing to remove! It's quiet and vertical at 60% in my 6 ft 150

 

[ClownBubbaJoe]

I know we can mount them in multiple ways, so what made your decision to mount it vertically ?

Does it help to direct more flow from the front of the tank to the back, making a sweeping motion rather than top of the water to the bottom ?

Hope you can get my drift ? lol

 

[jason2459]

I wanted and have it mounted vertically for a few reasons and its doing exactly what I wanted so far.


1. I don't like anything mounted on the sides of my tank for full viewing and cleaning. To do that I would have to either mount vertically like I did or horizontal on the back but would need two of them then. (Though that brace mounting idea is cool and can rig up a new brace up top with acrylic on one side and still work like a side horizontal mount with out being mounted on the glass. I may try that one day)

2. I have a box over flow up top and only one small contact point of rock along the back of my tank so I could easily get back there if I had too. I wanted to be able to take advantage of that and have the lower paddle wheel stream a current of water through there to pick up debris normal power heads couldn't touch. It has done this extremely effectively. Then the top paddle wheel in the alternating gyre on its turn is picking up debris along the front of the rocks like my power heads did ok with ( I used Tunze storm mode and those did a good job with the front of the tank but not the back).

3. I wanted the 6 hour alternating currents at the same intensities (I'm at 70% in both directions) like a tide with out blasting the bottom of the tank that the horizontal mount would do

It has done each of those things perfectly. I also notice that since its alternating directions it kind of self cleans itself in that it blows off the debris that it was collecting for the 6 hours it was sucking in. I'll still pull and vinegar bath it once a month and pull it apart fully less frequently to keep the full flow and performance up.

 

[ClownBubbaJoe]

Great information and can see your point !

 

[swk]

Love mine. Used on a 75 gallon sps tank. I still use a single mp40 on the opposite tank wall for some varied flow rates as the controller is a bit limited. I run it on constant mode at about 50 or 60%

 

[Fade2White12]

Here's a dumb question about an AA or BB configuration.

In the manual, it shows these combinations with one of the flow cages facing the opposite direction of the other - seemingly directing flow right into the glass/surface that the Gyre is mounted on. That just seems odd. Is that just an illustration error and you would face the flow cages in the same direction, or is there some reason you need to have them facing 180 degrees from each other?

EDIT: The page is question is right here.

 

[jason2459]

Here's a dumb question about an AA or BB configuration.

In the manual, it shows these combinations with one of the flow cages facing the opposite direction of the other - seemingly directing flow right into the glass/surface that the Gyre is mounted on. That just seems odd. Is that just an illustration error and you would face the flow cages in the same direction, or is there some reason you need to have them facing 180 degrees from each other?

You adjust the flow the direction you want it.

I have mine vertical mount at the back left side with a B/B combination. I have the top set so when it's in forward flow it points towards the front of the tank and a very slight slight inward angle. Then the bottom is pointed so when it's in forward flow to go right along the back of the tank to the right. So mine is almost like a 90* angle.


So, the top you see the forward out flow and the bottom what you see would be the intake when it's in forward flow. I adjusted the top a little more inward from when I took this picture.

 

[adamyaws]

I've been very happy with mine. I originally had it mounted on a standard 90. Now I have it on a 150XH (48x24x30.) It's mounted horizontally just a couple of inches below the surface and is running nearly silently at 60%. The only time you can hear it is if you crank it up to 80%+.

After reading this thread, I might turn it vertical and put it in the back corner near the corner overflow.

I'm super happy with it and would do it again!

 

[ClownBubbaJoe]

Love mine. Used on a 75 gallon sps tank. I still use a single mp40 on the opposite tank wall for some varied flow rates as the controller is a bit limited. I run it on constant mode at about 50 or 60%

Really, on a 75g the tank still needs a power head for circulation with the 150 ?

 

[tom obrecht]

Well mine has been up and running a couple days now and I have mixed feelings. The flow is certainly different than anything I have previous run in clouding Tunze, Vortecs, surge tanks, maxi jets(modified) ect. The one thing I like is the tremendous undertow. The first thing I don't like is the tremendous undertow! I currently have a finer sand that is now on everything! Have to blow corals off and who wants to do that on a daily basis. My suggestion would be to get a heavier substrate before setting one of these up. The unit is fairly quiet up until 50%. Past that it is personally annoying to me. Don't get me wrong this things moves ALOT of water in a very unique way. I have not fiddled with it much due to time restraints but it does need some tuning to fit each need which is probably a good thing. I'm more a plug and play guy that likes to fiddle a bit but more much. Time will tell but I'm not selling my Tunzes anytime soon!

 

[d2mini]

I posted this in the other Gyre thread.
I still don't know how i feel about the flow in my 7' tank.
It seems strong in some areas and dead in others. It's one think to have an empty tank and see the flow pattern with beads, but in reality, with 7' of rock structure... i'm not feeling it yet. I need another for the other side of my tank, but I have real reservations about getting one.
And we still have no real controller or battery backup.
The build quality seems questionable, too.
After seeing others attempt to clean it, I'm not looking forward to it.

At the same time, I don't really want the mickey mouse ears of the vortechs and my 60's weren't exactly silent. Especially while pulsing. Plus I'd like to be able to point them where i want.
Tunze 6105's maybe?

So i'm currently at a crossroads as to how I want to handle the flow in my tank.
All i know is, i just can't bring myself to buy a second gyre right now, and the money has nothing to do with it.
But I really need more flow.
Might have to throw an mp60 back on for now.

 

[ClownBubbaJoe]

Dennis,
You bring up some valid points.
I'll try to find the YouTube video of a aquarist that has a 7 ft or longer tank, and even though he's getting great flow, he's buying another, and you might also. I'm sure if I had a tank longer thank than my 6ft 125g, I'd expect to buy two.

I also was in a store and the MP-60 was loud, but even though their prices have come down because of the grye, I still think I would buy the grye. I believe all of their products are over priced.

Quality with any product is very important to me !
With just my wife's 29g BioCube, I tried the Cadlights PLS-50 and the Tunze nano 9001, and I was not,.....impressed !

So I bought the Aquamax HOB skimmer and I'm extremely,.........impressed !

Like you, easy Cleaning is also important, the Cadlights inner reaction chamber is inaccessible to clean, so it's black and can't see in, and the micro-bubbles are terrible !
JUNK !

The Aquamax has no,........bubbles.

Anyway, I hate buying products that do not live up to the advertising hype, so that's why I'm doing so much evaluating, with not the company, but realtime aquarist's.


Like I mentioned, I'll look for that video and paste it here for you.
Kevin

 

[swhobbie1]

Ive read somewhere that they need to fully cleaned every 6 months, or the flow really slows down.. Any one take one of these apart before. Seemed like it was a process to do so..

I am interested in hearing more about this too... do you have to take it apart? Can I just put it in a bucket of vinegar ? I want to get the 130 but if I have to take the thing apart to clean it I think I will go with a MP10 instead.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

It's the best pump available, period. It's going to be hard to beat the gyre. Flow is diffuse, but strong. Or it's weak flow, if you dial it down and put on reverse flow.

Mine is noisy at high speed, but at low flow you cannot hear a thing.

What I really want is Apex controllability! This alone is why I got it.

This pump destroys the competition.

 

[Brando457]

Keep in mind this is the first generation of the pump, were vortechs gen 1 that great?

I am VERY excited to see how gen 2 / gen 3 pan out. I have a XF150 on my 180g tank and I am more than happy with it for now. I wish it had a night mode, but besides that am in love.

 

[ClownBubbaJoe]

"This pump destroys the competition" lol ! cool. :beer:

Yep, I'm also questioning the cleaning. Can anyone elaborate more ?
What the H## if I can't re-assemble ? :headwally: