Well this isn't a full review, but I thought I would post this just to give some people an idea of how it works and what I like and don't like so far. The setup is simple. I have a 72" long tank and the sides are 18". I put two 6055s on each end of the tank pointed at each other for a total of four powerheads.

First lets start with the Tunze 6055s. I have been having some serious problems with the Tunze 6045s. One broke the arm that holds the powerhead, one has broken two of the small clips that holds the arm to the magnet and one burned out a motor. After those problems, I was pretty soured on the Nanostreams, but Tunze customer support turned me around (at least for now). They replace the pump and sent me new bracket arms for each pump even the ones that hadn't broke. The new arms are supposed to be much more flexible and don't have the problems of the old ones. The 6055s are much like the 6045s and the 6025s. Size and appearance are identical.

Getting to it now are the 6055 cons:

The front shroud isn't as secure as it should be and isn't as secure the 6025 and 6045s at least on the four that I was sent. All of them poped off during shipping. I got three on really well, but a forth may need to be replaced.
The controller cable connection isn't very secure. They should include a locking mechanism since the cable can pop out quite easily
Price... I paid around $190 each but you can probably expect to pay around $230 unless you get them on special.The 6055 pros:

The cable from the pump to the controller/power plug is VERY long. The specs list it around 16' which probably includes the power cable, but I would guess it is 10' plus and another 4' plus of cord on the powr supply. At any rate makes running the cable easy.
The flow. I wasn't all that impressed with the 6045 as the Koralia 4 was noticably stronger flow, but this one supposedly puts out 1,453gph. It is a noticeable improvement from the 6045. Currently I am only running them at 80% and I may have to slow down a bit more.
The support. I have used Tunze support now three times (on the 6045s but believe it is the same no matter the product they sell). They are prompt, effecient and take care of business with virtually no hassle. I have been very impressed.
Can be used on either the AquaSurf or a Tunze controller.
Same pros as the 6025 and 6045. They look nice, are small for a powerhead, nice dispersed flow and they don't consume many watts (18w for the 6055).Now to the AquaSurf Cons:

Programming it is complex. It took me a few minutes to figure out how it worked. It probably isn't as bad when you have one or two since some examples are provided, but four in my configuration took a bit of reading.
The price. It is $200 which isn't bad IMO, but it isn't cheap either. It is still around $70 cheaper than Tunze 7095 Multicontroller though.AquaSurf Pros:

Programming it is complex! OK that is a negative, but the complexity gives you A LOT of freedom on dialing it in. You can dial it by time of day allowing for a very custom flow including sunrise, midday, sunset, evening and more if you like. You can synchronize and oscillate. You can put the pumps into feed mode easily. Like many programming languages the flexibility is impressive.
Powerhead precision. You can alternate the powerheads from 0.1 seconds to 99 seconds. Few controllers I know allow you to type it straight in. You can also contol each pumps percentage flow when on and off as well as each ones off/on/off cycle.
Installation is very easy. If you are familiar with other Neptune products, you will be right at home. You may want to flip a couple jumpers (but I doubt it), otherwise you just plug and go.
Support. Neptune has a history of putting out solid products that work. When they break rarely have I heard a problem with getting something fixed under warranty.Well that is where I am after a few hours of installation and figuring out how to program them. The flow in my tank is at least twice what it was with 1 Koralia 4 and 2 Tunze 6045s pointing in the same direction in my tank. I haven't quite got the wave action working yet, but I haven't really spent a lot of time working with the delays.

I will report more as I learn and discover more. Feel free to comment, ask questions or crack jokes.

NOTE: For full disclosure, I do some side work (unpaid) for Neptune from time to time helping with their new Windows/PC software. I did get my AquaSurf basically for free. I don't think that colors my judgement all that much, but thought you should be aware just in case.

A programer having difficulty programing the Aquasurf...where does that leave people like me? :(

It wasn't difficult so much as I had to sit down and figure out what each command did. It makes sense once you do it, but beforehand it isn't real clear how everything works together.

Oh as for figuring it out for non-programmers. Just ask me... now that I understand the command structure and heirarchy setting up another one is easy.

Update: Well running 4 might be WAY overkill. I figured two would not be enough but 4 seem to be blasting the tank all over the place. My poor galaxia looks like it is going to blow away.

Update: Well running 4 might be WAY overkill. I figured two would not be enough but 4 seem to be blasting the tank all over the place. My poor galaxia looks like it is going to blow away.

Are you running all four at the same time? I would think you would do two on each side and then use a long cycle (Jake effect) with only two on at a time?

I have two 6055's and two K4's and want to add two more 6055's. :crazy:

4 Total with 2 on each side. I wanted to try and get the bounce going between 4 and see if I liked it. I got a good deal on the pumps so I figure if I have too many I can sell them for what I have in them. As of now, 4 is overkill... seemingly way overkill.

Thanks Cameron.

So, as a user of both the 7095 and Aquasurf, which is better in your opinion. Can you do more things with one or the other?

cam do you think that the flow coud be two linear? haave you tride changing the location of the ph's ,i just dosnt sound like its that much more flow dude ...well keep us updated

AquaSurf is just too cool. If you like plug and play, the multicontroller is slick but if you want custom flow I haven't seen the AquaSurfs equal and that includes the wireless Vortech.

Victor... when all four are on and synchronized putting them at 30 percent then 80 percent alternating actually blows polyps off my galaxia. 4 is way too much for my tank in that configuration. My clown got caught in the current at the bottom of the tank and it blew it across the bottom practically from one end to another.

2 on only one side only a bit light, but I haven't hit the right frequency yet so it could be more than enough. I am thinking about putting three on one side and rotating the speed at around .8 seconds to see what happens. I think that might be the magic setup for my tank.

AquaSurf is just too cool. If you like plug and play, the multicontroller is slick but if you want custom flow I haven't seen the AquaSurfs equal and that includes the wireless Vortech.

Victor... when all four are on and synchronized putting them at 30 percent then 80 percent alternating actually blows polyps off my galaxia. 4 is way too much for my tank in that configuration. My clown got caught in the current at the bottom of the tank and it blew it across the bottom practically from one end to another.




Cameron,

Great review! I have had one for about a month now, and have to agree on all of your points. A few other observations:

-Tunze will replace all of those old clips. I just PM'd Rojer on ReefCentral and he had them out the next day for all of my pumps. Better support than I have had from some other vendors.

-On the 6055, the pump is no longer hard-wired to the wall-mount box (as it was with the 6100) so you can take it to another room to clean it. That was (is) a pet peeve of mine.

-Stepping on the cord has been my main mode of breaking the clips.

On the AquaSurf

-Programming is interesting, however I think their examples are pretty good, and will cover a lot of folks needs.

-One particular feature that is not mentioned often is that using the AquaSurf you can work out the "feed mode" much better than with the Tunze 7095. The 7095 has a feed mode, but it has no user settings, and it gives NO indication of when it is engaged and when it is not.

As to your flow issue: I don't understand it myself, but I have found that over time and tuning of the pump directions that the "excessive flow" thing goes away. It may be that the pump efficiency drops a little, or that all of the sand that is going to move does and then quits being a problem, etc. but the problem really solved itself in my case.


-Mike

On the AquaSurf

-One particular feature that is not mentioned often is that using the AquaSurf you can work out the "feed mode" much better than with the Tunze 7095. The 7095 has a feed mode, but it has no user settings, and it gives NO indication of when it is engaged and when it is not.


-Mike


You can tell the feed mode is on by the Lights that are normally blinking green to tell you the % the pump is running will be off. Then in 8-10 minutes they will resume. I do wish that it was programmable for maybe 10/15/20 minutes but for the most part its not a big deal.