Vortech in a smallish cube

[kwirky]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Thanks for the new video Sean.

It looks like a great unit. For sure it looks like you wouldn't need anything else for flow in your tank.

So, if each unit comes with a controller of its own, how does one determine which one is the "base unit" when you have multiple units?

I do love the stealthy aspect of it. See, what Drew said about the waveboxes not being aimable is why I was thinking it was a question of "Vortech versus wavebox" not "Vortech versus streams". But this is clearly more versatile than a wavebox on its own AND it's cheaper than a wavebox.

there's a holding of buttons combination you enter to change the pumps between master and slave and then sync/antisync.

As for making real waves with the single unit I don't know how it'd work on a larger tank with only one. But wavemaking is a gimick I think compared to random water flow. Reefs don't experience "waves," they experience the random water flow swirling around the corals n such. I think areas in nature that have actual waves are those macroalgae reefs. I saw one mimicked at the vancouver aquarium a while ago that was probably using one of those gravity powered wavemakers you can DIY. It had macroalgae waving back & forth, no coral.

buying two vortechs would be more expensive than a wavebox but I predict it'd provide better flow than a single wavebox. When looking at a wavebox in action it seemed like the water wasn't really getting anywhere, just back & forth. The reef crest random mode or lagoon random mode would get the water places.

And waves aren't good for the tank, structurally. A wavebox and a vortech are capable of making extreme waves like you see in youtube videos. I asked gary (the contractor who built my tank) about using a wavemaker and he immediatly gave me a big fat no . Aghast is how I could describe his answer lol. He said even if the tank were built with 10mm glass he'd rather it not be done. He said lots of random turbulent flow would be ok on the tank.

those are the reasons I was comparing it to the streams on a controller rather than a wavebox. Or even a stream on a wavysea. That'd be the ultimate but the most expensive (and bulkiest) I believe.

Wai's has a wavebox setup if you're in calgary and want to see one in action yourself. I was nowhere near impressed with as I am with the vortech. I saw another one in action at a reefer's house like a year ago. He had it cranked up crazy high and lots of his corals reacted poorly to it.