Vortech vs Tunze

Jaws · #1 12-14-2006, 06:04 PM

I've got a couple vortechs and a third one on the way. I have to say I love the powerhead but am concerned about a few other things. The Tunzes are kind of an all in one application where they come with a controller, you can angle the flow, etc. The only thing they don't have is a battery backup which i'm sure isn't far away. The problem I have with the vortech is the accessorizing you have to do. The pumps are great but if you want a battery backup then it's $200 to run one pump. If you try running two pumps off of it then I think you'll only get around 18 hours out of it. $200 is a rediculous amount of money to spend on a battery backup that only runs one pump. Correct me if I'm wrong but as far as I know, you need the battery backups in order to run the controller too. The controller is going to cost at least a few hundred dollars as well I would imagine. I've heard they're coming out with internal housing that can angle the flow better too but that's going to come at an extra cost as well. So lets say you wanted to run 4 vortechs with 4 battery backups and one controller, and lets say the controller is around $400. That's minimum $400 for each vortech, $200 for each battery backup, and $400 for the controller. That's $2800 plus tax. Now don't get me wrong, I see the advantage in the Vortech and I love mine but that's an insane amount of money to do the job that two Tunze waveboxes can do for less than half the price. I'm going to stick with the vortechs and eventually head down the contoller road but I'll tell you that I'm going to be a lot more critical of these devices if I'm going to spend that kind of money on them and I can tell you that I have to send two of mine back because of internal knocking, the housing inside the tank continuously rotating, and the external motor and internal housing not lining up properly and causing problems. I don't feel like I've got my money's worth yet.

ed99 · #2 12-15-2006, 01:07 AM

Thanks for the replies- looks like the vote was 50/50! It does give me some more information to make a decision. I don't have any substrate in the tank so flying sand shouldn't be a problem, however I'm probably wasting flow by sending it directly along the short axis of the tank.

I'm considering a Profilux type controller, but for the cost I may not use enough of the features to make it worthwhile. Having said that, having a Vortech on one end and a Tunze on the other may get the best out of each pump as long as I can control them both. I see that it can control Tunzes at multiple flow rates, can it do the same with Vortechs?

Dave C · #3 12-15-2006, 02:01 AM

Is the side of the tank that's inside the wall accessible? If not where would you hang a Vortech? I keep reading about how nice it is that the motor sits outside the tank but my tank is 3 sides viewing and I wouldn't want to see a motor with wires hanging on the side of my tank. I have four Tunze 6100s and two Tunze nano 6025s and I love them. The angling ability of the Tunzes is a necessity in my opinion, not merely an enhancement. I've got the 6100s on a 7095 controller and it's a set & forget thing. Very nice. And for backup I spent under $300 for an inverter/deep cycle battery/recharger that will power the return pumps on both of my tanks for longer then any power failure that I've ever experienced. Another benefit of Tunzes is that they have a long, long proven track record with thousands of users.

niloc16 · #4 12-15-2006, 02:48 AM

as of now there is no way to control the vortechs for different flow rates other than manual adjustment. the motor being on the outside of the tank is only nice if it is not on a viewing pane of the tank. both mine are at the one end that is not viewed through. alot of good points and input on this thread, it boils down to what toys you want to play with and what type of gadgets you want to use i guess. for control the tunzes win hands down until they come out with the controls for the vortech. in my opinion the vortechs should not have been released until the additional controllers were available such as the wave controller and what not. they also claim they have a main controller that will wirelessly run 10 pumps but has anyone seen them?

WWWD · #5 12-15-2006, 03:38 AM

Why not think about a wavebox?

ed99 · #6 12-15-2006, 04:52 AM

I've got about 3" between the one end of the tank and the wall so I will have room to attach the Vortech.

Thanks for all the posts. I agree with Colin-lots of good info on this thread as well as some of the others. In my particular case I wanted to address the fact that I didn't want the two pumps opposite of each other on the long axis since one was a viewing pane. It sounds like I can't go too far wrong either way but the Tunzes look to be the more developed product. Albert_dao has posted a video showing a couple of Vortechs on the controller in development and it looked impressive, but I haven't seen any info on when it might be available.

As for the wavemaker- I'm looking at that option as well. Since my tank is still cycling, at this stage I'm just looking to get started with more flow now with a pump that I will be happy with 6-12 months down the road.

Jaws · #7 12-15-2006, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ed99

I don't have any substrate in the tank so flying sand shouldn't be a problem, however I'm probably wasting flow by sending it directly along the short axis of the tank.

It may be an advantage having it blasting along the short axis actually. One of the biggest advantages I've seen with the Vortech and the Tunze is not only the amount of water flowing out but the amount of flow you see being sucked in the powerheads as well. If you don't have sand then blowing the stream at the front glass will help disperse the flow even more than normal and you should get a really quick out then back in turnaround circulation which should create all kinds of turbulence. You might be able to get away with only three powerheads instead of four doing it this way too. 1 powerhead should cover a 2 foot area really well if blowing from back to front. JMO. Does that make sense?

ed99 · #8 12-16-2006, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaws

It may be an advantage having it blasting along the short axis actually. One of the biggest advantages I've seen with the Vortech and the Tunze is not only the amount of water flowing out but the amount of flow you see being sucked in the powerheads as well. If you don't have sand then blowing the stream at the front glass will help disperse the flow even more than normal and you should get a really quick out then back in turnaround circulation which should create all kinds of turbulence. You might be able to get away with only three powerheads instead of four doing it this way too. 1 powerhead should cover a 2 foot area really well if blowing from back to front. JMO. Does that make sense?

Yeah, that makes sense, and there shouldn't be too much splashing around after 2 feet. That was the root of my question, especially with the Vortechs not having a swivel yet.

In the end I've picked up a Tunze 6100 to get started. Figured that leaves the most options open for future plans. I haven't had a great start though- I plugged in the Tunze and after about 5 minutes the transformer started smoking! I followed all the instructions, not that there was much to it. Anybody see this before?

Mike Olson · #9 12-16-2006, 05:22 AM

Take it back to where you bought it and get a replacement...the Tunze streams are excellent. I use a 6000 on a single controller and a 6060(no control) along with a wave box in my 180...I am looking at getting a couple of the Tunze nano streams and a multi controller to replace the 6060...I then have control of the 6000, 2-nano streams, and the wavebox with one single controller ( and moonlights)

albert_dao · #10 12-16-2006, 05:34 AM

Smoke? Weird! Bring it back to me man.