Tunze Wavebox Rules !!!

[clamm]

Agree plus even with powerheads do we really move a massive amount of water at once.

Im impressed by the lateral water movement.

might be overkill in a non sps system?

And they're not all that expensive when you consider the expense of alternatives (both upfront and recurring) that can produce that kind of flow.

 

[Chuck Spyropulos]

LPS Only

Sometimes I think maybe I should and avoid all the SPS pests but......I love SPS and will be restocking in around 3 months.

The reason I sold the WB is that I have unique situation in my tank. I have two large Anemones and 4 Tunze Streams. These all tank up a lot of room and to some extent limit the new aquascape I want for my "new" tank.
The WB works incredibly well but I really needed the extra room so I can have more real estate for more SPS and LPS colonies. I am thinking of replacing the WB with a small Carlson Surge device. It will give me something to do while I am waiting for my SPS-less tank to rid itself of AEFWs. I am also redoing my lighting. I am switching back to SE MH from DE MH so that I can use the Lumenarc reflectors on the 4 250s and I am eliminating the
2 400's. This will help reduce my electric bill while maintaining adequate, and hopefully better distributed illumination for my future acro colonies.

Is Chuck not going to change to lps only??

 

[Joel A]

well here we go i'm dredging up an old one here... but a lot of people from the thread are still active or at least somewhat active on the forums.

I'm looking into a Nano Wavebox for my 75 gallon tank. Smaller than the one Chuck had obviously, and cheaper too. I'm thinking that the wave effect (although not the big swaying sea sick looking waves you see in some videos) would be really cool in my tank and i could just supplement it with a couple of other power heads.

a few concerns though..

1. is the noise factor. Are these things loud? I've heard contradicting reports... if it's not louder than my overflow or AC that's fine... but i don't want to hear it buzzing all night either.
2.this is a dumb question, but is there a way to set it so the corals under the water get the wave up and down movement, but the surface of the water doesn't sway much.. i've seen people create waves with both vortechs and waveboxes, but the waves they tend to make with them make me feel sick to my stomach and i wouldn't be able to stand watching the water level rise and fall all day like that.

Also-- what would be the advantage of a wavebox (if any) over an MP40?

 

[gonorth16]

I have a mp20 in my biocube and I can get wave almost to the rim of the tank. I think the vortech pumps are cheaper than the tunze too? will be upgrading to the mp40 when I get a bigger tank. You cant go wrong w/ the vortech pumps. also you have other settings w/ the vortech too.also my vortech is super quiet

 

[delta]

Noise if a factor depending on your overflow box placement and size of your wave.

You can make a double wave depending on tank size and this will make wave like motion but not to much surface agitation.

Personally I ditched my wavebox do to the look and real estate it takes up. I find that just using an aqua-surf on my AC3 and rotating my wave cycles I can go from a 1" wave to what ever setting I can think of with my 6100 Tunzes.I always cycled the wave box on and off anyway so I am very happy with out the wave box.
Also I have a center overflow box so the wave doesn't cause any additional sound from the wave. End overflow make alot of noise,

 

[Joel A]

hmmmm i have a HOB overflow placed in the corner... i think in my soon to come custom tank it will be a "glass holes" style overflow box... so similar to a HOB but obviously a bit higher quality and i don't have to worry about the siphon pump (aqualifter).

There are so many flow options now adays... even if we are just talking tunze..

I like the idea of 1 or 2 controllable stream 2 pumps (6055's or maybe a 6105) but then i could also do a nano wavebox and supplement it with a 6055 or multiple modded 6025's (yeah i know they aren't controllable).

What i'm trying to do as i slowly rebuild my reef tank is check issues that i have in the tank.. and check them off for good. I checked off lighting for good, and CA/AlK for good. I've got a solid skimmer, that i'm happy with (for now, but everyone up grades those sooner or later it seems) and water flow is next on the list.

I guess my question is which sounds best
2x 6055, maybe a 6025 or 2
1x 6055, 1x 6105
1x Nano Wavebox, maybe a few 6025's
(and obviously the list goes on and on with all of the different options tunze has available).

Does it seem that the new stream 2 pumps that are fully controllable kind of leave the wavebox technology in the dust?

 

[Liam]

i would be hesitant to use a wavebox with a HOB overflow,the water displacement will likely work the overflow loose.

 

[Joel A]

i would be hesitant to use a wavebox with a HOB overflow,the water displacement will likely work the overflow loose.

Hmm... didn't think about that. What do you use for flow in your new tank Liam?

 

[bigdog]

hmmmm i have a HOB overflow placed in the corner... i think in my soon to come custom tank it will be a "glass holes" style overflow box... so similar to a HOB but obviously a bit higher quality and i don't have to worry about the siphon pump (aqualifter).

There are so many flow options now adays... even if we are just talking tunze..

I like the idea of 1 or 2 controllable stream 2 pumps (6055's or maybe a 6105) but then i could also do a nano wavebox and supplement it with a 6055 or multiple modded 6025's (yeah i know they aren't controllable).

What i'm trying to do as i slowly rebuild my reef tank is check issues that i have in the tank.. and check them off for good. I checked off lighting for good, and CA/AlK for good. I've got a solid skimmer, that i'm happy with (for now, but everyone up grades those sooner or later it seems) and water flow is next on the list.

I guess my question is which sounds best
2x 6055, maybe a 6025 or 2
1x 6055, 1x 6105
1x Nano Wavebox, maybe a few 6025's
(and obviously the list goes on and on with all of the different options tunze has available).

Does it seem that the new stream 2 pumps that are fully controllable kind of leave the wavebox technology in the dust?

i have 3 6025s moded in my 58 gallon all sps with a quiet 1 4 return an still want more flow

 

[Reefried]

joel F'it and get a vortech, its not that LOUD. it only becomes really loud in "pulse" or wave mode, the 3 constant modes are quiet as a mouse..........I know its in your bed room.....but how-many of us actually sleep with a 100 galls of running saltwater in our house anyways

 

[Liam]

Hmm... didn't think about that. What do you use for flow in your new tank Liam?

3 vortechs

 

[Joel A]

hmm well one of the reasons i was leaning Tunze was the ability to control them all from a central location on an aquacontroller...

but aside from having a slightly larger in tank footprint there's no real drawbacks to Tunze's over vortech is there?

I mean a tunze 6105 and controller is the same price range as an MP40, so what should make me want the Vortech more than the Tunze?

 

[delta]

IME Tunze customer service is unmatched, so I always lean towards Tunze.

Vortex time will tell, they seem like great pump & they have a nice flow pattern. I wouldn't want them in anything but a in the wall tank as you cannont change the angle of the pump.

 

[stevenp]

hmm well one of the reasons i was leaning Tunze was the ability to control them all from a central location on an aquacontroller...

but aside from having a slightly larger in tank footprint there's no real drawbacks to Tunze's over vortech is there?

I mean a tunze 6105 and controller is the same price range as an MP40, so what should make me want the Vortech more than the Tunze?

Depends on what you're looking for, they're both good products and people seem to either like one or the other.

I'm a Tunze man myself

I've tried both and IMO Tunze's are much better quality. I'm runing (2) of the new 6105's on a 7095 controller and they crank. MP-40's just felt like they were built cheap and I hated the look of them hanging on the outside of my tank.

On the other hand, the MP-40's seem to have a broader flow and can make a better wave than the 6105's. I still prefer the flow pattern of the 6105's though.

If you end up going Tunze, I highly recommend 6105's over 6055's. I've tried the 6055's as well and the 6105's are built MUCH better.

 

[Joel A]

well my original thoughts on the wavebox were that there are different types of current on tropical reefs.

There is the constant wave like motion that obviously flows over a reef, but then there are also linear currents. In our reef tanks we tend to use all linear flow, but no "wave" like flow. My thoughts were that a reef crest had not only high intensity water flow, but high intensity wave action, as well as linear flow. Is this wrong? And if it's not wrong, then shouldn't every reef be trying to replicate both wave action and linear flow?

People seem to strive on "random" flow... but in the ocean over the course of a day isn't the flow that corals get more or less consistent? Of course there are external variables, but generally speaking... flow that a certain coral would receive on a given day is rather consistent i would think?


So basically, my thoughts on the wavebox were that it would be a good idea to replicate a reef as closely as possible (in regards to flow at least) and provide both that "wave" action as well as linear flow.

 

[Reefried]

hmm well one of the reasons i was leaning Tunze was the ability to control them all from a central location on an aquacontroller...

but aside from having a slightly larger in tank footprint there's no real drawbacks to Tunze's over vortech is there?

I mean a tunze 6105 and controller is the same price range as an MP40, so what should make me want the Vortech more than the Tunze?

Joel, I think you would need two of whichever one you decide to go with....your re-build has been great so far!!...good luck on picking a powerhead...you know where i stand

 

[Joel A]

Joel, I think you would need two of whichever one you decide to go with....your re-build has been great so far!!...good luck on picking a powerhead...you know where i stand

yeah, but do i know where i stand ?

It's tough, i really like the idea of both of them...

 

[Liam]

The other thing to consider with a wavebox which i did not like when i ran one was the motion it created looked way to mechanical IMO,the back forth did not look natural.I used it in a 90 which is also 4 feet.
It may be ok in a larger tank when you can use a lot of extra tunze/vortech flow to break it up but i don't think you can do that in a small tank.