Thanks again Mike.

I think I will really have to think about it all.

The advantage to me of the Wavebox is that it will give exactly the flow I want to add and its in the tank (not half in half out).

The advantage of the Vortech's is that they are smaller.

Actually the only reason I am even still considering the Vortechs is because I think the Wavbox would be ugly but then again the vortechs may even look worse :neutral:

If the vortechs are close to the surface you only have a short distance for the cord to go up into your hood (perhaps with some modification?)

If you go with a wave box and don't care for the wave action down the road you are somewhat stuck with it. With the vortechs aside from wave action they have the other modes - Reef Crest, Lagoon that are really good for flow.

Yeah I figured I could get the cords into my canopy quickly but its still going to look pretty bad because that end of the tank is in the middle of my living room. If the tank were against a wall, it wouldn't matter to me.

I agree too that the Vortechs are so versatile and that is a huge advantage.

The big disadvantage of them to me is the price and "loudness". I have heard them at full speed and as said above, its ridiculous how loud they are. To me anyways...I have built this system to be dead quiet.

Just seems to me that maybe my original idea of the wavebox is actually the best option or I should say compromise. Either way I have to put something "ugly" in that end of the tank...I think that maybe as long as its IN the tank, it will be fine.

This thread has been very helpful though in getting me to really think about this whole thing instead of running out and buying one of them right away.

It might not look so bad once IN your tank and has a chance to get a little coraline on it... I dunno. I hear ya though.

I think your right.

The plan is to have nice enough fish and corals that you would never even notice the thing. I think I have bigger problems if you look at the tank and notice a black box before the livestock ;)

I have decided to go with the 6212 Wavebox. Thanks everyone and I will post pics once I get it running!

+1

wavebox really fades into the reef setting once it gets a little dirty....

I haven't read the whole thread but considering you're concerned about noise I thought I would mention:

There's a distinct possibility that regardless of whether you choose a Vortech or Wave Box you may run into the problem of noise from your overflow box surging a bit as the wave height crests over the overflow.

I have a Vortech but haven't used a Wave Box so I can't comment the propensity for creating a surging sound in the overflow. I'm not a huge fan of Tunze in general though considering I've had to replace 3 Tunze 6025s in the last year (and the brackets several times) and over the weekend I just found that one of the magnet holders had a leak in the epoxy coating leading to the magnet swelling and rusting for God only knows how long. At this point I'm confident saying I will never buy another Tunze product.

Yes I have addressed the overflow problem kind of...It is a herbie, so dead quiet and I want to keep it that way. I know someone who has a very similar tank, overflow and also a wavebox. He gave me some advice that I think will work. Water noise doesn't bother me anyways, its just buzzing noise that does. With the herbie, the drain will not make noise at all even if the level in the overflow changes a bit. The water entering the overflow will make a bit of noise I think but I have already tested that out to see if its loud and as long as its no more than an 1" or so, it still silent.

I have had great experiences with Tunze products over the years. I have had to replace impellers a few times but they did so free. Not really a big deal. For me I don't think I would ever buy another Koralia product! But thats another price bracket...a bit different. If I had your experiences with Tunze stuff, I probably wouldn't buy form them again either.

FWIW, I have heard a fair amount of problems with the Vortechs. Although I think that was the older generation and their customer service seems second to none. I just don't want to pay over $1000 for something that is still not quite going to give me the effect I am looking for. I really want to get that undertow effect all the way behind the rocks on the other side of the tank :D