Tunze advice

[SFish]

So I have a 55 gallon tank and I want to turn it into a reef tank. I'm going to set up a 20 gallon sump as well. My tank is glass by the way. I like the idea of wave makers. I'm trying to come up with something that doesn't stand out that much. I hate how power heads are big and stick out. What would you recommend?

Thanks

 

[SFish]

Wow nothing I guess

 

[rvitko]

You can use our DC powerheads to produce a wave, you would need 2 and a suitable controller. The 6055 or 6095 would work for your tank, the 7092 or 7096 controllers could handle the wave control. The main point of the wavebox (6208 would be the suitable size) is that by combining the pulse of the pump with the displacement of the box, less power is used, so one pump can basically make the wave that 3 would.

 

[SFish]

I like the wave box but I was told I would still need power heads. Is this true? I don't want a wave box plus two power heads. I want to get stuff out of the DT not put more into it.

 

[SFish]

Forgot

Would a wave box mess with my over flow? Also would it beat the crap out of the side walls of my tank?

 

[rvitko]

It is not the wavebox that requires supplemental flow but wave flow in general, regardless of how you accomplish it. A wave lacks direction, think of being at any beach, you kick up sand, if no current is present it washes back and forth and basically falls back in the same place. You need a directional current as the base and the wave is a great addition, one carries detritus away and brings food and oxygen, the other suspends food and waste and gets flow to every nook and cranny.

If the overflow is in a corner, you will have a shorter wave, it will spill into the overflow and loose some height, you will also have noise from the surges and dumping into the overflow.

Any wave or surge stresses the seams, the weight is shifting, a 3/4" wave on a 55 has a volume of .77 gallons, that is about 6.5 lbs slamming against each side as it oscillates, so yes, the tank life is shorter and it needs to be a good tank on a level stand, but that is not unique to the wavebox, any way of producing a wave or surge will have the same result.

You should have a good base flow of a directional current, you could use one 6055 for that and the wavebox for the wave. The 6055 will need its own controller or they could share a 7096.

 

[SFish]

Is there a way to set the over flow up so you don't get the noise? Will the over flow still be effective?

 

[rvitko]

Is this a built in overflow or hang on the back?

 

[SFish]

Hang on the back

 

[rvitko]

That is a risky set up, it could lose prime unless you move the overflow to the middle, the wave when set correctly will be like a seesaw, only the ends see a level change, if you get it tune properly so the middle in constant and the overflow is centered, it will work without any issues.

 

[SFish]

Let me ask this then if I set up two power heads as a wave maker then do I need a 3rd one for water flow?

 

[rvitko]

Yes, it has to do with the type of flow, how it is generated does not change that. Their are only a few circumstances I would do wave only and that is anemone tanks and non photosynthetic filter feeders. You are welcome to try it, some people have good results, but it is not what I would recommend.

 

[SFish]

Ok
Thanks