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BPK REEF
02/27/2017, 08:12 PM
I built a 500 gallon frag tank with a 100 gallon sump and installed a Vertex Alpha 300 protein skimmer in the system. The book says to keep the water level in the sum 8-9 inches deep and I've done that yet the skimmer hasn't really reached its max potential. Would like to solicit input from people with more experience than I on this unit as it never fills the collection cup with bubbles and waste only wet skim if I bring the water level above 8 -9 inches. Have recently disassembled all the pumps and cleaned them and the results are still the same.
It's a super nice tank with a heavy load of fish and corals so I'm surprised that this high end skimmer hasn't worked as well as the Vertex 130 I have on a smaller tank.
Input anyone?


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tkeracer619
02/27/2017, 09:39 PM
How long has the tank been setup? How long has the skimmer been running on it?

Last time I used an alpha 300 it rocked!

BPK REEF
02/27/2017, 10:13 PM
Year and a half. Wondering if the skimmer is too big for the system?


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biecacka
02/28/2017, 08:32 AM
how many fish are in the system? Slief states that on an average you can count for a 1/2 fish per gallon to make a heavy bioload. So that would put you at 250 inches of fish or 20+feet. that is a TON of fish but equally important is how you feed them. If the load is low and you feed lightly then you can't expect much. These skimmers are VERY conservative in their ratings. I have a Double Cone 200 on my 240 with 30 fish in it and it struggles to stay busy :lol:

Corey

BPK REEF
02/28/2017, 08:47 AM
I have 28 fish and feed them Larry's Reef supply (drained with RO water) twice a day. Perhaps this big skimmer is struggling to stay busy, it never fills the collection cup with bubbles like skimmers I have on other tanks do.


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ksicard
02/28/2017, 12:16 PM
I recently had an experience with buying an expensive skimmer that was to large for my system and it sounds like what you are describing is the case as well. My skimmer would rarely skim despite having an decent bioload and my nitrates were always around 12-15ppm. I bought a properly sized skimmer that was much smaller and it dropped my nitrates to 5ppm after a week. For me it was a huge difference, your viable options would be to increase your fish load or possibly switch out your skimmer for a smaller model or brand.

Hopefully you get it figured out!

biecacka
03/01/2017, 08:18 AM
i believe it is struggling. I have the same number of fish in my 240 gallon with a MUCH smaller skimmer and I could stand to feed more. See if you can run it in deeper water. If not run the water level higher in the skimmer, it will produce a more wet skim, but it is better than nothing. I am sure over time you will grow into that skimmer with more fish and more feedings.

corey

BPK REEF
03/01/2017, 09:02 AM
Good am,
My nitrates have been at zero in this tank for a long time so I guess the combination of this skimmer, the Chaeto and Red Sea Pro water changes have been doing a good Jon and the fish and corals are happy. I've just always been disappointed by the skimmer thinking that if it's not coughing up lots of green waste than it's not working well. Could be it's a relatively high quality water with not that much waste in it.
Here is a photo this am of the bubble column with the top off.


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BPK REEF
03/01/2017, 09:03 AM
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170301/172ba05034b7f00d9887c0b380113669.jpg


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slief
03/01/2017, 11:07 AM
I have 28 fish and feed them Larry's Reef supply (drained with RO water) twice a day. Perhaps this big skimmer is struggling to stay busy, it never fills the collection cup with bubbles like skimmers I have on other tanks do.


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You don't have anywhere near enough load for that skimmer to be consistent. I ran an Alpha 300 for a couple years on my 500 gallon display that had upwards of 60 fish in it at the time of which several were large tangs. It was never consistent unless I ran it really wet and dealt with the regular overflows. In the end, I ended up selling it and buying a more appropriately sized skimmer (SM250) which was one of my better decisions. The Alphas are really sensitive skimmers and very fussy. They have a very large neck diameter and require a very heavy load. They are also very under rated. You will need upwards of 150" or so worth of fish to even keep it remotely consistent.

That said, I would suggest 9"-9.5" of water depth and open both nozzles 1.5" from fully closed. It helps to mark the nozzles with a sharpie pen so you have a reference for where you are at. Take notes too so you know what changes occur when you make an adjustment. You may need to fine tune one of the nozzles further but that will be a good starting point. if you make an adjustment, only turn the nozzle a fraction of a turn at a time and allow the skimmer several hours to settle back in due to the oils in your skin effecting the surface tension of the water. Gloves can help mitigate that some and speed of the time for the skimmer to settle back in. You are using the nozzle settings to get the most dense foam possible give your load. Keep in mind that the waste/DOCs/proteins in the water are what allow the bubbles to bind together to create foam. Without enough DOC's, you will never get a thick foam head. Instead you will get faster moving bubbles that then to burst at the surface. What ends up happening is that the skimmer will produce well for a day or two until the DOC's are reduced and then it will idle along for several days or more until the organics/DOC's build back up. Then it will skim again and the cycle will repeat. Not exactly ideal when it comes to maintaining consistent water quality. If you run it really wet by raising the water level up in the skimmer so that the line where bubbles turn to foam is well above the white collar where the neck threads to the body, the skimmer will be a bit more consistent because you are reducing the amount of neck volume which in turn reduces the amount of foam needed to fill the neck. The problem then is that the skimmer will tend to overflow really easily. Any restriction in the air line or excess DOC's or sock changes or bacterial changes can result in an overflow which can get messy and frustrating.

biecacka
03/01/2017, 11:15 AM
Thanks for chiming in, I knew you would sooner or later. I thought the same thing you just said, but obviously mine didn't come out that eloquent :lol:

corey

BPK REEF
03/03/2017, 07:54 PM
That's good advice, better than what the Vertex rep from California had to say.
I've kept fewer fish so the existing ones will have more space and the water quality will be primo and that's worked out well. Thanks!


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BPK REEF
03/03/2017, 07:55 PM
I actually ran a exhaust line out of the house for the skimmer because of its inconsistency with over flows.


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