Quote:
Originally posted by jnarowe
Skip the Tunze skimmer dude. You can get better skimmers made in the US for less money and much better performance. You already have the best 2 or 3 mentioned above. I would never by the DOC over a Volcano or an ATB. And that skimmer with the red plastic is over-rated and over-priced, IMO.
As far as the Tunze pumps go, I have been talking to Roger about this for the last few days. For your size tank, I would seriously consider the 6301 or building in wave boxes. He said something interesting the other day. He said that the stock Tunze wavebox, on a 96" tank, would provide 15,000 gph in net flow. That's a lot of flow for very little electricity. In my discussions with him regarding a "wave tank", he also mentioned 2 other things.
1. The tank should be built oout of panes that are one size up from standard acceptable sizes. So instead of 1.25", it would be 1.5" etc.
2. He also stated explicitly that they do not recommend wave boxes as the sole flow producers due to the fact that they don't neccessarily move detritus to the overflows. The best way for me to describe this, is that the water in the center of the tank doesn't move very much.
I would think that in your case, using the built-in wave box, much like Hahn is describing, plus a pressure rated pump on a CL with Penductors would be the best combination. Maybe a couple of strategically placed Tunze rocks too.
I would shy away from the OM units. I know many people use them, but I have seen a lot of discussion about them jambing etc. and I personally don't trust moving parts like that. try to think about things from a maint. standpoint...I like to limit the work I have to do. One other area to investigate would be the WavySeas.
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Thanks for all the info. The reason I was looking at the Tunze skimmer was because of the cost. This tank is going to cost me a mint and if I can save a couple of grand on the skimmer then why not. The Tunze biggest Tunze skimmer costs about $2200. That's a lot cheaper than a custom Volcano (almost half), although I would rather have the Volcano skimmer.
As far as wav boxes go there are 2 factors here.
1. I don't like the way they look; there is just something wrong with having a big bulky box sitting in our tank (although I do like the idea of a wave making system)
2. I asked my builder about going with 1" thick glass for my tank, and the price is way out of my range (it went up by almost 50%) and as you know tanks like this aren’t cheap to start with.
I have also heard about some OM units locking up, but I really like the idea of the unit. On my last tank (much smaller at 220 Gallons) I had Penductors and never cold get the flow right, in some places the flow was so great that if a fish swam in front of it the fish would be blown over (it was kind of funny) and in other areas of the tank the flow was almost non existent. I think you may be right though, maybe the perfect combo would be 4 or 8 Tunzes and 6 or 8 Penductors.
As for the WavySeas, like I said before I want to hide as much as I can, so the thought of a WavySea hanging down with a Tunze on it is really not idea, at least for me. It might be the best solution, but this time I think form will win over function.
On a side not I will be ordering my tank on the 5th, so I really need to figure out what it is I am going to do. Thanks for all your input I really do appreciate it.
I don't know anything about these skimmers, who makes them?