closed loop or tunze streams?

[steevareno]

I'm setting up a 150gallon reef, not sure which everyone prefers or which is more costly. What does everyone have for circulation?

 

[this is me]

i would definitely go with tunze. more startup cost but its really worth it.
in a 150 I would do two 6100 with multi-controller. Maybe even a wavebox.
I have a 6000 in my little 37gal.

 

[steevareno]

where is a good place to buy those? How much for 2 6100's w a controller?

 

[this is me]

http://marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=TZTS24
I think they have it in stock. I had to wait about a month for mine.
I know its expensive...

 

[denvig]

Check with our sponsors some have great prices on Tunze's.

 

[nunofs]

I was all for closed-loops because I hate the look of powerheads/pumps in the tank, but I'm slowly changing my opinion towards favoring the Tunzes... if you add up all the money you need to get the plumbing of a closed-loop right (the full-union ballvalves are budget-killers), plus an OceansMotions device to alternate flow, plus a decent pump, I think it'll quickly be very close in price to a Tunze setup... and that's just start-up costs, because the Tunzes use much less power and are much cheaper to run...

Nuno

 

[steevareno]

$800? For $120 i could get 2 seios 1500 and have them pointed at each other on opposite ends to create chaotic water movement, right?

 

[this is me]

plus you dont have to go through the headeache of plumbing a closed loop. It's messsy.
Tunze is plug and play.

 

[Moe_K]

Do a search for peoples' opinions of the Seios. Check both here and RC.

Someday there may be a cheap alternative to Tunze, but that's not today.

 

[this is me]

$800? For $120 i could get 2 seios 1500 and have them pointed at each other on opposite ends to create chaotic water movement, right?

lol!
seios are pretty good pump but you cant control the speed and the pumps are notorious for not starting up agian when the power goes out.
Like you, i thought the same thing when I looked at the prices of the tunze and the seios. So i bought a seios 620 to try it out and it was in the water for about 5 minutes, I didnt like it. Sold that and got myself a nice set up of the tunze.
You should call up one of our sponsor to see if they have it set up at their store and take a look. Before I bought the tunze, I went to Seacreature in Providence and looked at the pump in action. After about 15 minutes of talking to John about the set up at the store, I told him to order one for me and I had to wait for more than a month.
You'll never see any of these in the used/for sale section!

 

[gurumasta]

dont have much knowledge on this subject but i do know that i dont want to spend all that dough on tunze so i think im gonna go this route.

http://marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idProduct=RS3611

 

[steevareno]

yeah, if my tank wasn't so big, i'd try that. Might bite the bullet and get the tunze. The 6000 w controller is $300. I'm going to add penductors to the returns too which point out from the center. They are supposed to multiply the output from the return pump by 4! seaswirl is also an option to. I spent $750 on lighting, might as well spend $500 or so on ciculation since this is going to be an all sps tank.

 

[this is me]

I'm not a tunze spokeperson or whatever
but if you doing all sps tank. It's definitely cheaper in the long run to get a tunze.
Like I said, take a trip down to a lfs that has a tunze set up and see it in action.
Lighting and Circulation are the most important items in an all-out sps system.

 

[steevareno]

thanks for all the info, much appreciated!

 

[denvig]

yeah, if my tank wasn't so big, i'd try that. Might bite the bullet and get the tunze. The 6000 w controller is $300. I'm going to add penductors to the returns too which point out from the center. They are supposed to multiply the output from the return pump by 4! seaswirl is also an option to. I spent $750 on lighting, might as well spend $500 or so on ciculation since this is going to be an all sps tank.

One 6000 will not do a 150 gal tank. You would need a min of two 6100s IMO.
I have one 6000 along with two MaxiJet 1200s on a wave maker plus the return (800gph+/-) on my 110 gal (5 feet long) and its no enough. I will be adding a second 6000 and hopefully remove the Maxi's soon.

 

[SteveDola]

I have 2 6000 with controller in my 75 and the flow is incredible! The best part about it is that Ive been able to create low flow areas for specific corals and yet still have the strong current for the other more flow demanding corals. If you can get past the look of 2 rather large powerheads in the tank (shouldnt be hard in a 150) and their cost then there so many more advantages to Tunze streams over closed loop. The controller on the Tunze is impressive; all different patterns of motion and phases. Once you get down to it...the cost isnt that much more either. For a SPS dominant tank I wouldnt bother with a closed loop. If you think im nutz, just ask the SPS Forum on RC.

 

[steevareno]

thanks for all the advice!

 

[Ba19Ma88]

I like the Tunze myself