Tetratec 150 Yay or Nay?

Whitten · 12-09-2003, 02:33 AM

Alright here is the setup that I am putting to gether for a friend. I am in thr process of doing a FOWLR tank in a Minibow 7. In my exploration I found a novel little filter setup, and wanted to ask anyone with one about there thoughts on the product. I had looked into the TetraTec pf 150 HOB for the filtration since it had some cool features: Has the ability to add a built in heater, makes a wave effect, and has a potentially good filtration system. Now aside from all of the gadgets this thing does seems to have a few bugs from what I read, as well as being a little on the expensive side. Here is my questions:
1. Will I be better off just buying an Aqua clear or some other regular HOB?
2. What kind of 50 watt heater do you suggest to put into a and HOB?
3. Even after adding my HOb with a flow rate of 150 GPH into a 7 gallon, will I still need power heads to create more current?

I plan on having around 10 lbs of live rock, and a False Percula.

bri7795 · 12-09-2003, 03:43 AM

1. Will I be better off just buying an Aqua clear or some other regular HOB?

ANSWER: Yes

I fell into the same trap that you are about to. The tetraTec is not something that I recommend. Here is what is wrong with it. One: The wave feature is a pain in the #$@. As the water level changes, so does its function. Plus it is loud. Every few seconds you hear a loud "kerplunk". I used to set mine, walk away and find that 6 or 7 hours later that the wave function stopped working. Two: The filter is known to stop functioning from time to time and run with low water or dry. This happened to me twice after a short power blink and the heater in the filter overheated since there was no water and the tank got too cold since no heat was being introduced to it. Three: It has too large of a footprint for any tank. I used it on on my 20G and at the time it barely fit with my hood that had one strip bulb in it at the time. This filter takes up too much space and you will have problems properly fitting a hood later on. If you buy one I can hear you saying "Man, this thing is HUGE!!!". There is no way mine would fit with the PC lights on my tank now. After about 4 months I tossed mine and went with an aquaclear 200 which I like and a EBO-JAGER heater that I love.

Stay away from the aquatec and save some mula. Just because it costs more does not mean that it is a better product. I have never found someone that liked thier's. I will sell you mine for 5$ or I just might pay you to take it.[b][i] Go for an AquaClear 100 and an EBO-JAGER heater. Trust me.

bri7795 · 12-09-2003, 03:47 AM

As for the powerhead, yes I would add one with the HOB filter. Get one with about 80-100 GPH flow rate and point the out flow to the surface where the HOB is pouring into the tank. This will get some good surface agitation and make some nice random currents and that are not too strong or weak. I did this with a 5G and it worked nicely. That sould be fine. Also, change about a gallon of water a week, this will make a skimmer not needed.