Tired of the cheap chinese circulation pumps on my current 65 gallon display tank, I ordered a Maxspect Gyre XF130 from my local fish store (Reef Shac).
The plan is to use the 130 on my current tank and maybe pick up a second one when I setup the 125. The 125 is only 5 ft wide so 1 of the 130's wouldnt really do the job from left to right. but put one at each end and point them at each other and they will create a nice flow when they collide in the center.
The packaging was very nice, nice heavy cardboard outer box (hard to open), then a matte black tin with the actual pump. There was a second light duty cardboard box with the power cord beside the tin...but you can only fit and pad so much.
It came with spare parts to swap out during cleanings, rotors, cages, motor bits. The controller has a clip on the back that you can mount to your stand and freely remove the controller to fiddle with it. Overall very high quality stuff.
The pump itself has 2 rubber magnet mounts to completely destroy noise from vibration. And it came with 2 spares. The magnets are pretty potent too. Testing it out at Reef Shac we mounted it on 3/4" glass and it held up (though it didnt take much force at that thickness to dislodge it).
From reviews on the internet, I expected to have to run it on low and not be able to crank it up any higher without blowing everything over in my tank. Granted most reviews are for the 150. The 130 set to 100% will blow some sand around. 70% at steady stream has a nice strong current in my tank with only the return pump as additional flow.
It has several different modes (I still need to read the manual to learn the ins and outs). Pulse mode created waves in my tank...and the age of the tank made me uncomfortable with leaving it in that mode. Backwards is markedly less powerful and I have no idea what the point of forward/backward is at the moment.
Overall I'm fairly pleased with my purchase, and its just another step towards getting that 125 up and running.
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