[Delphinus]

This wouldn't be an external wavebox. A wavebox has to be enclosed so that the only way water gets in or out is through the pump. An external wavebox is a great idea because it doesn't really matter where you put it, the idea is you're just displacing water in and out of the tank.

An external stream just because we don't like the looks of them isn't the same beast at all. The whole advantage a Stream has over a Vortech is that you can aim the Stream. Otherwise the Vortech wins out in terms of controllability, and in fact they are so controllable that for some people they trump the aimability of Streams. If you think they cannot replicate the flow of a Stream then I think something is wrong with the way it's setup. So to me this idea is saying, well, I like the Tunze better but I will never ever ever want to change the way it's pointed or where it's physically located. And sure, you could size it up but sometimes it's not a volume issue but a location issue. AND you're taking a chance that the future of Stream design will always be compatible with the size of hole you've got. Say for example you want to sell the tank in a couple of years, I myself wouldn't want to buy the tank if I had to look for 3 or 4 year old Streams to use for them because the current design has changed. Or looking at having to patch the hole or something.

Let's be clear, the idea will work just fine but it just seems strange to me to go to this extra effort to deliberately limit your future options with it just so you can say it looks a little better.