Equipment Review and Discussion :: xp3? is that all?

[daryl]

hi there
i just purchased an xp3 for my two turtles, and its arriving next week. I was wondering though, i tend to keep many types of animals in my tank with the turtles. fiddler crabs, guppies, snails, crawfish, etc. its a nice eco system.
so my concern, is that when i install the intake and output valves of the xp3, will it be too much suction, and send my aquatic friends over the event horizon, into a mechanical filter death? or is there some way to disperse the suction?
thanks for any help

[xsavingsaturdayx]

You shouldnt have crabs, or crawfish in there..The crab can hurt your turtle.

[SpotsMama]

I've heard that if you have really tiny creatures in there, the intake will suck them up. I've had minnows in the tank, though, and they've had no problem at all withstanding the intake. There's a guard that goes over the intake and it's helpful too in keeping all but very tiny creatures from being sucked up.

The outtake creates some turbulence but Spot and the minnows seem to like swimming in it. You can adjust the outtake so it doesn't flow as hard. Of course, when that happens the intake also slows down, but then you don't get as much filtering action.

[iac637]

your turtle hasn't eatten you little friends. anything but the pleco's has gotten eatten in our tanks. the pleco in our sidenecks tank even got a chunk taken out of its fin so we moved him out.

[Hoooneylynn]

You really should be careful thought, cause your turt might eat anything you put in the tank.. how long have they been in there? someone put a pleco in there and it was in there for a while, and all of the sudden it was eaten.

[kneecole]

If you have little creatures you can pretty much bet they are going to make a home out of your XP3. Every time I take mine apart there are baby guppies and snails in it. Even with the cover on the intake tube the holes are still of decent size for things to pass through.

I've heard of people putting panty hose over the intake. That might be a good idea.

[DavidY]

Hey that's pretty cool! In the saltwater reef hobby, we call something like that a refugium. That's a special container/tank/area where small critters like that can freely breed and grow without predation. The idea is that as their population increases, they start to spill over into the main tank where they become planktonic food for the fish and other inhabitants. But I suppose the guppies and snails will only clog up the filter as they get bigger.

[daryl]

thanks for all the input guys
the pantyhose sounds good. a couple of the guppies got sucked right up!
we saved them though, so no biggie.
as for the fiddler crabs, they keep to themselves, and the same for the turtles.
so its been a little over a week since i posted this, and ive had the xp3 since
and ITS CHANGED MY LIFE!
i love it so much. the aquarium looks like a bahama resort these days, and not a daft little cesspool anymore.

whooooppeeee! no more cleaning the tank every 3 days, no more cleaning out the filter, EVERY day!

its amazing! thank you turtle forum thankyou!