Powerhead (maybe tunze)/wavemaker

MisterMonopoly · Nov 8, 2019

Hello everyone,

I want to purchase a good quality powerhead/wavemaker. My tank is about 200 gallons and little over 5 feet long. The tanks acrylic is 3/4inch and then theres a blue hard plastic thats also a few mm thick (the tank is old school 3 sides opaque blue with the front being clear acrylic). About 4 years ago I had a max gyre that worked for a 2 years then catastrophically broke. It was a complete pain to clean and the company was of no help.

I’ve read that Tunze makes great high quality german powerheads. I was thinking of either getting the Turbelle Stream 6065 or 6085. Will these magnetically stick to my tanks acrylic? Some websites say they work only for acrylic up to 1/2inch while other says 3/4inch. Like I mentioned before, the tanks acrylic is a bit thicker than 3/4 inch so a 1/2inch magnetic maximum will probably slide right off.

Any other suggestions for powerheads or wavemakers?

I also have a few large puffers and triggers and am afraid that they’ll chew through the electric cable. My old grey trigger took a chunk out of the maxgyre cable. Any suggestions on how to prevent them from getting electrocuted or prevent them from biting the cable?

Thank you!

Tamberav · Nov 8, 2019

What about taking some silicone airline and slitting through one side and covering the wire?

ca1ore · Nov 8, 2019

It's been some years since I used Tunze, but I believe they make stronger magnet sets that you can use for their pumps. You'd have to search. I'm currently using the vortech MP60 on 1" walls, and had used the Neptune WAV previously, so those will both hold.

jda · Nov 8, 2019

3/4 is no issue for Tunze magnets with the larger pumps. Those two that you listed are not large enough for that tank. 6105 or larger (6155 or 62XX) are probably more appropriately sized.

Tunze are low voltage DC. If your fish did chew through them, they will not get electrocuted - the controller should sense this and shut down... they do when snails climb in there and they just make an audible buzz until you fix it. Send a not to Roger Vitko with Tunze - he is in the states and is very helpful and is a better source for all of this.

I once had a Guinea Flow and Golden Puffer pair that would chew through glass heaters and would eventually eat through the PVC standpipes in the tank - I had to use Aluminum after this. They would turn live rock into reef grade sand. I know how much this can suck.

MisterMonopoly · Nov 9, 2019

Thank you for the advice!

DeniseAndy · Nov 9, 2019

I have a thick acrylic tank and my tunzes are fine. I have two Steam 3's that I like and a 6155 High Flow. The High Flow pumps a lot of water. I use it alone durning night hours and low flow times. I have nems, leathers, clams, and lps mostly in my 210 7ft long tank.
My old tunzes ran for 12 years without fail. Just began to rattle and beginning to break after 13 to 14 years, so this year moving to newer models.

ReefHog · Nov 9, 2019

FYI, fragtastic reef has all Tunze wave makers on Black Friday sale right now. I think like 15 or 20% off.

Blue Spot Octopus · Nov 9, 2019

I hope it i not too late but Tunze is on sale right now or you can wait for the black Friday sale.

MisterMonopoly · Nov 12, 2019

Thank you for the advice!
I’m debating whether to get the Tunze 6105 or 6155. I don’t need the amount of power the 6155 puts out but my glass is a bit thicker than 0.75 inch. Will the 6105 hold? The tunze website says the 6105 is rated for 0.59 inch thickness and the 6155 is rated for 0.79 inches. Anyone had any luck sticking the 6105 to thicker glass? It’ll save me $120 and I won’t need to get an unnecessarily strong powerhead.