Hi I've tried everything from sand ,cat litter ,peat,sphagnum,top soil, and african violet soil. Flourite ,laterite,all sizes of gravel with different compositions to no substrate at all. Undergravel, plenum, heavy water movement to no movement at all.heating cables with and without reverse flow filters. Talk about trial and error lol. What else is there ?? The remarkable thing about all the experimentation is that all these methods work and have serious drawbacks in long term management. IMO the most important thing is LIGHT. proper color,intensity and duration.Next comes water chemistry right elements at in the right amounts at the right time. A good algae management system started as soon as you add water to the tank. You won't stop it but you can keep it in check. Right now ,in the 150 I'm using top soil with a light coating of small gravel and sand. I'm also using natural sunlight and growing only rooted plants. An area near the filter intake is covered with fracted acrylic due to the 1200 gph water movement. So far it has been my most successful tank. I've actually got Lace plants through the dormant period and produced viable seed. No luck with seedling as yet Water changes are at 100 percent per week with rainwater. Might also mention that this tank is conected to two ponds so there is a total of 1500 gallons of water. I could also add that I've had very long lived 10 gallon tanks using cat litter and flourescent light lol. Bring on the contentious discussion !!!! lol gary

The furnace model number with the XR16 is an XC80. Very similar to the XV80 but communicating. Must be a mistake. TCONT803 is a fine thermostat to use with the XR16 air conditioner and furnace. Overall, I do not agree with the equipment matchups proposed with the furnaces and air conditioners. Oversized furnace on both systems, and oversized coil to achieve marginal efficiency gains on the XR16 system. I realize you may not understand all the implications of oversized equipment, but it is a big deal for comfort, efficiency and reliability. All things considered I still recommend the heat pump system. This post was edited by ryanhughes on Wed, Apr 24, 13 at 13:54

@john how Define "good". Do they provide soft water? Yes, like any other ion exchange water softer that is properly sized and set up, it will provide soft water. The aren't doing anything that makes the water "more soft". Is it more reliable than other softeners? They are probably more reliable than very low-end water softeners, but very reliable softeners are readily available built with industry standard parts for (Fleck control valves, for example) for not much money. Does it provide better value? Value driven customers can probably do better by ordering a Fleck based softer online from Amazon. Do they provide better service? There's a large network of Culligan dealers who can install and service a water softener. If you need that level of service and want a national brand name, they probably aren't a bad choice. Local water treatment companies can also do a very good job, without the cost of a national brand. So, what sets them apart? Water softening is a commodity business - there's no secret sauce. There's no water softer that's going to make your water "more soft". There are some gimmicks out there - such as twin tanks and units that don't require electricity - that don't provide any real tangible benefits. Some of the hardware is better than others. But there is industry standard, highly reliable and highly serviceable hardware available for moderate cost. They have a memorable brand and a dealer network.

For heat focused towards the middle of a pan for residential stove, there are two sample videos on youtube that demonstrate the subject. First one is from trevor@eurostoves who compares a dual ring sealed burner with a modified one with a seal cap removed. Trevor shows that the modified one boils water more rapidly. Another video is in dutch, an advertisement video for the gas hob that I have. At 2.36 mark, Chef Réne demonstrates an effect of focusing heat towards the middle of round bottom wok versus heat from outer ring. Spec-wise, inner wok ring is rated only at 3kw (~10k BTU) while the outer ring is rated at 6kw (~21k BTU) comparable to the outer ring from Wolf in the above video as well as many other 5" dual ring wok burners on the market. What he shows is that water boils more vigorously when heat using inner ring, and water barely boils when outer ring is used. I have these Asko/ATAG hobs in my kitchen and can attest wok cooking with round bottom wok is better when using more focused heat inner ring flame compared with using larger, higher rated heat output outer ring flame. Food sears quicker, water evaporates faster. Despite saying that, it is still a residential stove where portion control is critical. It won't handle large amount of food being dumped into the wok. However, when cooking with the right amount of food, generally around 2-4 serving size for multiple plates meal, there is a good amount of wok her to be had from this hob. Cooking with flat induction hob with round bottom wok and wok ring adapter also works similarly to a degree in that heat is more focused towards the bottom of the wok. One critical element is to find the right combination of wok shape and adapter ring such that the bottom does not sit too close nor too far from the induction surface. When it is too close, heat control can be a bit more difficult.