Tunze Wavebox, worth the investment?

[fkshiu]

I think mine has been worth it, but I picked it up in an equipment trade instead of buying new.

The swaying of the polyps alone justifies the purchase - it's positively hypnotic. The box is easily hidden by my rockwork. People looking at the tank usually don't even notice it unless I point it out to them.

What you've got to remember is that the wavebox is meant as supplemental flow. You still need powerheads/closed-loop. One other positive side effect that you may not know about is that the wavebox does a great job suspending detritus in the water column where it eventually goes down the overflow and into the filtersock. I've noticed that there's a lot less crud build up in and around the live rock and sandbed.

The whole shortening tank life thing is pretty much Tunze covering its butt legally. Roger Vitko has explained that the wavebox will cut a couple of years off a professionally built tank's life. In other words, you'll get around 15-17 years out of a tank rather than 20. Most people move onto another tank or re-silicone long before then. And that's only with the wavebox running 24/7. I only have mine alternating every 15 minutes on and off during daylight hours plus I've got it on a less powerful transformer further lessening any strain on the tank.