Cali Kid Corals

tunze or vortech

I have never had a problem with my. Vortech so I would say go with that. But if you go with the tunzes I'm looking to get some more pumps for a new setup PM me. ;) ill take them of you hands.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Gomer said:
Low profile matters to me with any size tank I have considered. That tilts it to vortechs for me.
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That's because all your considerations have been girly man tanks ;)
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A joke, but kinda true, a longer/larger tank needs more laminar push, the Tunzes kick ass in that department.
 
LOL.. you guys are too funny! It looks like I'm going to keep the two vortech setup. So the Tunze setup will be up for sale soon. Anyone interest in it PM me before I list it. It does work best for a longer tank but not 3 feet. It was creating a semi-sand storm even at one of the lowest setting.
 
I change my vote. Get this Tunze
masterstream-shoe-tunze-1.jpg
 
I'm running an MP20 combined with a 6045 and a 6025, when I added the MP20 I noticed the little whirring sound at night even in the lower setting but does not bother me at all and nor my wife has said anything, before that the Tunze kept the tank quiet running a 6055 instead of the MP20.
I have six nanostream and really the quality was something to talk about, I sent them back to Tunze and they were "Fixed" that means replaced wholly, the thing I noticed that was awfully bad was the C clip material used. Now I have not had a single issue with the Tunze pumps
I look to future parts replacement cost too; learned that from a bad Deltec MCE 600 pump but that is a different topic.
 
Question....I am getting the Marineland 300g deep (6'x3'x27"), and thought about putting Vortechs on the back. I currently have a 150g with a vortech on either side, and it seemed like plenty of flow. I was thinking that since it is 3' deep, that there would be enough flow with 3-4 of them on the back. I think I am not going to want any directional flow, and will be doing something along the lines of a valley (such as http://www.brettsreef.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/valley-2.jpg). It is going to be nearly all softies, with at most a few of the sticks. I've never used Tunze as a comparison, but all of the complaints about the Vortechs I have never experienced (yet), and then noise issues don't particularly bother me. Thoughts?
 
h20player101 said:
Question....I am getting the Marineland 300g deep (6'x3'x27"), and thought about putting Vortechs on the back. I currently have a 150g with a vortech on either side, and it seemed like plenty of flow. I was thinking that since it is 3' deep, that there would be enough flow with 3-4 of them on the back. I think I am not going to want any directional flow, and will be doing something along the lines of a valley (such as http://www.brettsreef.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/valley-2.jpg). It is going to be nearly all softies, with at most a few of the sticks. I've never used Tunze as a comparison, but all of the complaints about the Vortechs I have never experienced (yet), and then noise issues don't particularly bother me. Thoughts?
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Sounds like a plan, just make sure there are no dead spots against the front rocks, also if anything takes a tumble it is likely to get pushed under your rock work. Otherwise I've run tanks like that in the past.
 
I have a 4' x 3' x 27" tank and I do just that, have 3 vortechs on the back wall (I had 4 but then I tossed one in my anemone tank... that I really don't want any more). They key IMO is where the vortechs are with respect to the rock placement, you absolutely can NOT do a rock wall, and in fact you most likely will want to have a free path for the water to flow to the front and you'll get plenty of circulation. In fact I have parts where corals have grown to the point of impeding flow (mine is a heavy SPS tank) and some corals have algae growth/etc on the dead skeletal parts as a result. But my rockwork was extremely open when I set the tank up and with a long pulse mode I literally made 2 rotating gyres that switched directions every minute or so, however with the fullness of the tank it is becoming a tad problematic and I will need to find a solution.
 
I am hoping that I can get the valley aquascape setup so that it directs the flow all the way to the front. Because it is going to be a mostly softies tank, I don't think I will have problems when it grows out. I would be putting clams on the front side one of the valley walls, and bubble coral on the other for low flow areas. Where did you find you had the most issues with detritus?
 
I have a few select spots where detritus picks up, usually near rocks near the back of the tank where the undertow brings most of it. However before BAYMAC I piled a bunch of tiny frags in one corner to bring but within a couple days it basically became a poo trap (yeah I saw the cylinders!) and I was actually quite amazed that a handful of sticks did that, which told me that the best way to avoid detritus is to have as little surface contact between rocks and ground. I don't buy that whole "suspended in the water column" garbage for removing gunk, I'm sure that happens with some of it but I siphon stuff out on a weekly basis or so that shows otherwise.
 
Thanks for the advice. I currently (until recent move/breakdown) siphon certain areas of both the 150g & 90g (the carpet anemone I have hides the poo underneath when full expanded), so that shouldn't be a big deal. I just don't want to have a spot on the 3' deep tank, all the way in the back, behind the gorgeous tower (hopefully) that can only be reached by Yao Ming if he broke his arm in one place for flexibility.

Also, did you have easy access to the back of the tank with the vortechs? I think I am only going to have about 6-10" before it hits the wall. When I want to clean the Vortechs, the wet side will usually pop off with the dry side staying in place. I don't want to have to go about readjusting both sides every time I clean.
 
Yeah, reaching those troubled spots can be an issue sometimes, my advice is get a hard piece of clear plastic tubing to attach to the end of the siphon hose so you don't get your armpit as wet.

As to the reaching, yeah my tank is placed so there's lots of backside access.. you will definitely want to be able to have that or else hooking up the vortechs will be too problematic.
 
I would consider doing 2 vortechs on the back and 2 on each side. That way you can take better advantage of the new modes on the ecosmart drivers.
 
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