Tunze 6200's in a 6'x6'x30" semi cube? Wavebox?

[sonofgaladriel]

Hello,
Well, I'm pretty sold on using all Tunze for my next reef. You just can't beat the gph per watt ratio these things provide!
I will be setting up a 6'x6'x30"tall, approximately 673 gallon, semi cube tank. It will be 4 sided viewing which makes hiding these Tunze especially important. This will be very similar to my current 240 gallon semi cube that can be seen in the 'large reef tank' and 'SPS' forums.
It will be predominately an SPS reef and I would like to get around 30 x turnover, or more, for it.
I was considering 6 6200's or possibly 4 6200's and 2 wavebox's.
However, I have heard that the wavebox may not work well in square tanks. Could someone explain why this is?
Also, I could use some suggestions on placement for the 6200's. I want to hide them so I'm thinking of building a false overflow box to mount these. As great as these pumps are, I do not want to see them at all.
Any opinions and suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks.

 

[rvitko]

The wavebox works on resonance and without the rectangular shape for the wave to travel in, the effect is lost to a large extent. I would think the 4 6200 alone would give you your 30* turnover.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Thank you for the quick reply!
Could these 4 6200's be placed mid level, (about 15" or so from the top/bottom) pointing straight across the tank, and still get good flow all around the tank? Maybe staggering them to get lower and higher would be better?
Any tips to maximize their function would be very much appreciated.
Thanks again!

 

[rvitko]

The height wouldn't concern me so much, In this case I think the flow will largely depend on rock layout, I would place all four on the same side, preferably a side with the least obstruction of live rock. I would use Interval 2 mode so all 4 are running at once.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

None on the opposite side? Rockscape will be relatively low but with some pillars in the middles offset.
If funds are there when the time comes, I could go with 4 on one side and 2 on the opposite. Will these move water at the bottom level if they are mounted up high, closer to 26" or so?
Thanks again for all the suggestions.

 

[rvitko]

The flow is about 30" in diameter so height just isn't an issue. 2 on the other side would be great but I was making my suggestions based on the aesthetics issues of 4 sided viewing. One thing you could do is make a cap that covers the top say 6" of the water column to hide the pumps.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Thank you Roger! A cap around the top to hide the streams is out. This will be a canopy less design and completely open top like this, only bigger:

 

[rvitko]

It could still be done. Basically it is a short cap completely open, just imaging like a crown molding to match the wood work. A friend did this to hide some T-5 Actinics around the tank and it was really neat, just 4" tall and you could still see the light pendants and it didn't affect the heat dissipation.