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Trido

A pair of Vortech MP40s vs. a pair of Tunze 6105s

Rating: 2 votes, 4.00 average.
7 Comments
by
Trido
, 02-09-2010 at 10:19 PM (7740 Views)
I did a search today and every comparison or poll I could find was from early "09". I'd like to get a more recent opinion from my peers regarding the two.

For comparison, Im going to use two of each for a six foot tank.

First, cost
Vortech MP40s $840
Tunze 6105s with the new 7096 multi controller $813

Flow
Vortech's 3200 each = 6400GPH
Tunze's 3434 each = 6868GPH

Electricity consumption / full speed

Vortech's 28W each = 56KWH
Tunze's 45 each = 90KWH

Appearance

The vortech has equal parts outside and inside the tank
The tunzes are inside the tank except a small magnet outside of the glass

At this point I can only compare with my experiences
Noise

Vortechs vs Tunze
Currently I have four tunze nano's, a MJ mod and a vortech MP20 running on my tank. The MP20 is the only powerhead I can hear from across the room when it ramps up. Really, its the only one I hear at all. Keep in mind, my tank is almost dead silent due to a remote tank room.
I do have a friend that runs tunze 6305's and they can also be heard when running full speed. Frankly, at 7925GPH, I'm not surprised that I can hear the water moving.

Customer service
I've only heard good things about Tunze's customer service and pretty much the same about vortechs. I've had two experiences with Vortech. One was fine and the rep even gave me a pointer to extend the bearing life which was extremely helpful. My first experience was not so perfect IMO. Everything was fine, but I didnt get the response I would expect after just spending $300. I''m sure it was and isolated case.

Here's a nice little write up comparisont that I found.
The Tunzes put out a "stream", while the Vortechs truly create multi-directional flow. When you place a Tunze 6200 cover on a 6100 pump, you start to get the type of flow pattern that a Vortech produces, but the Vortech still has a more broad flow pattern. For my size aquarium, and the broader spread of "flow", I prefer the Vortech. However, the Vortech is not as powerful as a Tunze and is significantly louder even in modes other than "pulse". The Tunzes are also obviously much larger and severly detract from the "clean" look of Elos which I've spent thousands of dollars on! Finally, a Vortech is more energy efficient and does not directly heat up the aquarium water as much as a Tunze. The design of Elos aquariums makes for a very quiet environment and two Vortech 's in "pulse" mode can become distrubing. In other constant modes, the vortechs produce a humming noise but resonates at a frequency that get's irritating. The tunzes resonate at a lower frequency which is less noticable.


Im sure I missed something.
Give me your opinions please.

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Updated 02-09-2010 at 10:44 PM by Trido

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Comments

  1. melev's Avatar
    After seeing your tank in person, and knowing how absolutely quiet you want it to be, I have to imagine you'll only be happy with Tunze. I still can't believe how quiet your reef is. Mine is closer in sound to yours when my return pump is off, which only happens 30 minutes daily during the feeding period.

    To me, the more I see of the reef means the less I see of equipment. I don't want to look at any type of powerhead in my tank, clean or dirty. The Vortechs blend in far better for me and I am very pleased with the four I have on my tank. Three of them are in the tank room, and one is on the kitchen side, audible from my living room. I don't run it at 100%, and it is in a steady Reefcrest mode. The tiny sound I do hear is nothing. My return pump makes the tank sound like a babbling brook, so the pump isn't anything to be distracted by.

    I prefer to hear my tank runnning an the surface agitation is significant as you may have noticed from my recent pictures posted. When I can't hear the tank, that let's me know there's a problem leading to a quick investigation.
  2. Trido's Avatar
    I just did a fairly extensive search on RC, the biggest concerns seem to be noise, flow and looks. I really like the looks and flow of the vortechs. I guess I'll have to do some soul searching, or ask my wife, if the noise out weighs having the tunzes in the display tank. I all really boils down to levels of a quiet living room in my case.
  3. melev's Avatar
    If you have them on the back wall and the right wall, that would keep them all contained in your fishroom. I don't think the sound would be notable unless you had them in wave mode.
  4. Pescaiolo's Avatar
    Using the MP40W on my tank I can say that it is a louder than the Tunzes and the Seios. I think its because the motor is on the outside. Me personally I'd go with the Vortechs. They take up less space in the tank, they use less energy and the motor being on the outside you won't have to waste extra energy to keep the tank cool. Another plus of the vortech is no stray voltage going through the tank because all the electronics are outside the tank. I have used all sorts of powerheads in my tanks with all sorts of gizmos and attachments to get a more chaotic flow with less pumps. The Vortech is the only pump that has given me the flow I want with minimal intrusion in my display.
  5. Servo's Avatar
    You can't beat Tunze's ability to direct the flow output as well. Once your tank grows out, it is a nice feature. I have 2 6100's, a 6200, 2 waveboxes and a nanostream. Certainly satisfied. I've dealt with Roger on 4 different occasion to address problems and I've had botique service.
    Updated 02-12-2010 at 12:30 PM by Servo (addendum)
  6. melev's Avatar
    meh.

    Just kidding, sort of. I've never seen the need to direct flow in my reef tanks, other than the return nozzles. I've used Maxijets and Tunzes and tried to orient the flow where I felt it should be, but once they were positioned I never moved them again. Same with the Vortechs.

    Roger was very good in responding to any repairs I needed, every single time. Tim at Ecotech has done so as well. Either is a reputable company to deal with.
  7. govertical19's Avatar
    I have never had a Tunze pump so I can not say much about them. I have one MP40 in my tank now and I love it, one day I will get more hopefully. I will say when the thing ramps up you can definitely hear it. My tank is in the basement and currently I have it set to reef crest, but at first I had it set on a long pulse from max speed to min and man every minute or so you could hear it speed up through the floor into my bedroom. I also do love the fact that it is not to much of a eyesore.