Anyone Rocking Vortechs

Poseidon

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Don't think of it as a powerhead, it is much more like the wavebox, which is actually MORE expensive. That being said... It is CRAZY expensive! The down side is that everything in the hobby is crazy expensive!
 

divecj5

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I guess my question is how the new 400 that they are coming out would work say in my BC29? I know how it works overall but since it is an all in one system and a lot of the system is based on water level, I'm assuming that you would have to drop the water level by an inch to allow for the wave mode?

I have seen a number of videos of these units and they are pretty stunning. It really reminds me of the way that the flow ebbs and flows on real reefs down in the Keys. Pretty cool. I may eventually trade in my Nanostreams and get a used Vortech. Just seems overkill for a 29 gallon :)
 

Paintguru

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Don't think of it as a powerhead, it is much more like the wavebox, which is actually MORE expensive. That being said... It is CRAZY expensive! The down side is that everything in the hobby is crazy expensive!

Ah interesting....so you can get it to act like a wavebox right out of the box so to say? I am kinda interesting in trying to create more waves in my tank (only 30"x30" though).
 

Poseidon

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Pretty close Chris, I can get a 1" wave going in my 90 with just a single pump. Now with a wave box I am sure I could get a larger wave, but that box is HUGE compared to the "wet side" of the Vortech.

Eco Tech describes an undertow on the box as well, and this is REAL! When I feed frozen, the mysis almost FLY along the bottom of the tank, and then back up to the pump. This too is quite impressive.

The pump is expensive, I will not argue that, but it also has some very cool features that normally would take either more tank space, or multiple pumps to accomplish. The flow is very wide as well, this makes for fewer sand storms, and more coverage then a single stream power head would.

If my tank were drilled in the center back, I would add another, and get a really good wave going with 2 Vortechs!
 

revhtree

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I have always wanted a vortech mostly for the novelty of it. :D For now I am rocking 2 Tunze 6100's in my 120g dialed back! LOL!
 

Paintguru

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Pretty close Chris, I can get a 1" wave going in my 90 with just a single pump. Now with a wave box I am sure I could get a larger wave, but that box is HUGE compared to the "wet side" of the Vortech.

Eco Tech describes an undertow on the box as well, and this is REAL! When I feed frozen, the mysis almost FLY along the bottom of the tank, and then back up to the pump. This too is quite impressive.

The pump is expensive, I will not argue that, but it also has some very cool features that normally would take either more tank space, or multiple pumps to accomplish. The flow is very wide as well, this makes for fewer sand storms, and more coverage then a single stream power head would.

If my tank were drilled in the center back, I would add another, and get a really good wave going with 2 Vortechs!

I'd probably start out with one and see if it was able to do what I wanted it to do. Just to confirm, you can get that one inch wave with just the pump or do you need to buy some sort of controller to get the pulsing to get the wave?
 

Poseidon

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I'd probably start out with one and see if it was able to do what I wanted it to do. Just to confirm, you can get that one inch wave with just the pump or do you need to buy some sort of controller to get the pulsing to get the wave?

1 pump, no additional purchase required. Just make sure to get "wireless" controller version.

Here are a few photos:

285857605_hEfqF-M-1.jpg


285859508_KP8h5-M-1.jpg


285860611_TkEPJ-M-1.jpg


285859910_6ZpfJ-M-1.jpg


Not my best work, but you get the idea.
 

Paintguru

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Cool. I just wonder how they function in short tanks (24-30"). I'd hate to get it and have it be a waste if it requires more distance to get the waves going.
 

Poseidon

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That I don't know... But I would think that with the way pulse mode works, you would be able to make a wave. You can adjust BOTH the speed of the propeller and the duration of the pulse.

I run mine in Reef Crest mode, and I like it.
 

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