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Unread 09/27/2013, 11:35 AM   #1551
Jeremy B.
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They are out of production for right now while Vertex moves manufacturing on them from Germany to China, however I'm pretty sure they're closing to having the Alpha's restocked back here in the US again.

@IUFan, you might be in luck, I have one single Alpha 200 left here in stock that I didn't know I had, brand new in box.


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Unread 09/27/2013, 07:38 PM   #1552
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Hi Jeremy. I trying to decide between the alpha 250 and 300. Tank is 300g, about another 125 in the sump. About 30 fish, 5-6 of which are tangs, mixed reef but mostly sps. I dose vodka and vinegar and feed heavily. Which would be better suited? Thanks.


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Unread 09/27/2013, 07:42 PM   #1553
[WDT]TardFarmer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeremy B. View Post
They are out of production for right now while Vertex moves manufacturing on them from Germany to China, however I'm pretty sure they're closing to having the Alpha's restocked back here in the US again.
RE moved production to China?


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Unread 09/28/2013, 03:51 AM   #1554
Klaus Jansen
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Quote:
Originally Posted by [WDT]TardFarmer View Post
RE moved production to China?
No, Vertex/Proline has recreated our conical skimmers behind our backs in China. The Alpha-Cones are not longer built at Royal-Exclusiv.

The Partnership is ending now.

best regards..


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Unread 09/28/2013, 05:53 AM   #1555
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I have the Vectra 200 for my Alpha 200. Go get it, working perfectly, except that there is a little skimmate residue inside the motor case after over a year's use.

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Originally Posted by khngl123 View Post
I am thinking about getting the vectra for my alpha 200, what is the lid size I should get? 200mm? Does anyone here have any experience with it/though?



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Unread 09/28/2013, 05:57 AM   #1556
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I set the water level inside the skimmer at the middle inside the straight neck.

Two ways to adjust the water level:

1. By turning the output pipe.

2. By turning the intake PVC tube at the pump.

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Originally Posted by khngl123 View Post
Thanks for the advice, Everything seem to work properly now. What is water level should be inside the skimmer and how do you adjust it?



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Unread 09/28/2013, 10:26 AM   #1557
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Klaus Jansen View Post
No, Vertex/Proline has recreated our conical skimmers behind our backs in China. The Alpha-Cones are not longer built at Royal-Exclusiv.

The Partnership is ending now.

best regards..
Wow I am sorry to hear that. I was surprised and really did not think RE would do that since you take such pride in your craftsmanship. So thank you for filling us in.

It's a shame Vertex did this, Klaus keep on making a superior product


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Unread 09/28/2013, 03:17 PM   #1558
Jeremy B.
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Correction on this! I had thought Vertex moved the production of the Alpha skimmer to their Chinese manufacturing facility, however they have not. The skimmer is still being manufactured in Germany, just no longer by Royal-Exclusiv. Sorry to Vertex for the confusion there.


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Unread 09/28/2013, 03:19 PM   #1559
Jeremy B.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hobbzz View Post
Hi Jeremy. I trying to decide between the alpha 250 and 300. Tank is 300g, about another 125 in the sump. About 30 fish, 5-6 of which are tangs, mixed reef but mostly sps. I dose vodka and vinegar and feed heavily. Which would be better suited? Thanks.
Go with the Alpha 250 unless your sump is going to be stocked with fish and coral as well. The 300 will be way too big for this system in my opinion.


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Unread 09/28/2013, 03:32 PM   #1560
IUfan
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@Jeremy.B PM'd you on the Alpha 200.


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Unread 09/28/2013, 05:44 PM   #1561
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Thanks Jeremy. Glad to hear that because on further inspection the 300 won't fit in my sump lol.


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Unread 09/28/2013, 05:46 PM   #1562
advanced reef
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Klaus Jansen View Post
No, Vertex/Proline has recreated our conical skimmers behind our backs in China. The Alpha-Cones are not longer built at Royal-Exclusiv.

The Partnership is ending now.

best regards..
Be factual, vertex always owned their molds for Alpha cones, this skimmer is far from a copy and any alpha will put a B.K. To shame in performance and price,
The alphas are indeed made in Germany, with a quality pump.
Salutations


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Unread 09/28/2013, 06:01 PM   #1563
Jeremy B.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by advanced reef View Post
Be factual, vertex always owned their molds for Alpha cones, this skimmer is far from a copy and any alpha will put a B.K. To shame in performance and price,
The alphas are indeed made in Germany, with a quality pump.
Salutations
If you look above you will see that I corrected it where they are manufactured. On top of that, I am personally well aware of the Alpha's performance considering I dialed in both the Alpha 250 and the Alpha 170 for Vertex / Royal-Exclusiv after the original release of them, and had them make the appropriate adjustments and revisions to the skimmers. I believe the skimmer that was being referred to is the wine glass body shaped skimmer that BK calls a Double Cone, and Vertex calls the Omega. Both are great skimmers, and perform very well.

In my personal opinion the Alpha's are very capable skimmers, and some of the best performers on the market, period. As for putting a BK to shame (your words, not mine), I don't think I would go that far, considering they were originally built and developed by BK. Good try though.

On top of that, I still don't think a skimmer in our industry performs as good as a BK Super Marin (other than a dialed in beckett skimmer), period, but I think both the Alpha and Double Cone are VERY close to that. You would be hard pressed to find much of a difference between the three of them in my opinion.

For everyone posting to this thread, please keep it on track for what it is, an Alpha skimmer owner's thread.



Last edited by Jeremy B.; 09/28/2013 at 06:08 PM.
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Unread 09/30/2013, 05:59 AM   #1564
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Just sent you another PM. Will pick up today if that works with you.


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Unread 10/01/2013, 10:46 AM   #1565
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Love the new skimmer! Thanks Jeremy for your help.

Just realized that my water level is 10.3" it's supposed to be 9.5 for this skimmer, is the extra .8" going to create any issues? Should I just get some 1/2" egg crate and place under the skimmer to raise it up?

So far it's skimming really wet, I've got the output all the way open and the intake nozzle almost closed. Is this the break in stage?


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Unread 10/02/2013, 07:36 AM   #1566
Jeremy B.
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Just leave it where it's at for now. It's going crazy during the break-in process, just let it overflow back into your sump and it will run it's course.


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Unread 10/02/2013, 10:03 AM   #1567
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeremy B. View Post
If you look above you will see that I corrected it where they are manufactured. On top of that, I am personally well aware of the Alpha's performance considering I dialed in both the Alpha 250 and the Alpha 170 for Vertex / Royal-Exclusiv after the original release of them, and had them make the appropriate adjustments and revisions to the skimmers. I believe the skimmer that was being referred to is the wine glass body shaped skimmer that BK calls a Double Cone, and Vertex calls the Omega. Both are great skimmers, and perform very well.

In my personal opinion the Alpha's are very capable skimmers, and some of the best performers on the market, period. As for putting a BK to shame (your words, not mine), I don't think I would go that far, considering they were originally built and developed by BK. Good try though.

On top of that, I still don't think a skimmer in our industry performs as good as a BK Super Marin (other than a dialed in beckett skimmer), period, but I think both the Alpha and Double Cone are VERY close to that. You would be hard pressed to find much of a difference between the three of them in my opinion.

For everyone posting to this thread, please keep it on track for what it is, an Alpha skimmer owner's thread.
Directed at Klaus Jeremy.
Not to totally hijack your thread, but the alpha cones were a Vertex design from the onset. the molds are also owned by Vertex.
Ive also had supermarins and some of the more expensive Bk, i still stand by comment of the Cone design being superior in all aspects.


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Unread 10/02/2013, 10:40 AM   #1568
Jeremy B.
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Directed at Klaus Jeremy.
Not to totally hijack your thread, but the alpha cones were a Vertex design from the onset. the molds are also owned by Vertex.
Ive also had supermarins and some of the more expensive Bk, i still stand by comment of the Cone design being superior in all aspects.
Your information is completely inaccurate. The cone body existed from Royal-Exclusiv in late 2007 or early 2008, before Vertex even existed as a company actually. The original info about them surfaced on ultimatereef.net back then. At the time Proline was distributing all of the BK skimmers here in North America.

Proline wanted to get their own product line going thus the company Vertex was founded. It made perfect sense for Proline / Vertex to invest the money into the molds for the body of the Alpha skimmer since they were already working with Royal-Exclusiv. The entire skimmer was not only manufactured, but also fully designed by Klaus at Royal-Exclusiv, not Jason and Shane (at the time) from Proline / Vertex. This was when the body pictures surfaced back in February 2009.

This will be the last post about who produced what, when, and where. Please put the thread back on topic now. Thanks.


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Unread 10/05/2013, 02:45 PM   #1569
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Hey Jeremy, so will there be any changes in the vertex alpha series? I was interested in buying a alpha 200 but am unsure now with the changes they are going through.


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Unread 10/07/2013, 08:01 AM   #1570
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Hi guys. Is there a way to tell if an Alpha 250 has been made before the changes with the transition? Any distinguishing features like colors of gaskets or volutes etc etc? How long ago did the changes take place? More than three years? I haven't been having much luck searching.

Jeremy - Do you have any Alpha 250's left in stock? They aren't on your site so I'm guessing no. If not, do you have a time frame yet? Thanks.


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Unread 10/07/2013, 08:19 AM   #1571
Jeremy B.
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I can't comment on the new Alpha's, as I won't be getting them, but I can help with the Royal-Exclusiv built Alpha skimmers. All Royal-Exclusiv built Alpha's will have "Royal-Exclusiv" on the lid of the skimmer cup. I don't believe any Vertex built Alpha's have made it into North America yet, so any Alpha out there as of now is a Royal-Exclusiv built model.


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Unread 10/07/2013, 08:54 AM   #1572
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Any way to tell if a 250 was made before the revisions you mentioned just a few posts ago? Also will you continue to carry parts for the Royal Exclusive built Alpha skimmers, or do you know of any of their plans to change that? Thanks Jeremy.


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Last edited by hobbzz; 10/07/2013 at 09:07 AM.
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Unread 10/07/2013, 09:33 AM   #1573
Jeremy B.
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Any way to tell if a 250 was made before the revisions you mentioned just a few posts ago? Also will you continue to carry parts for the Royal Exclusive built Alpha skimmers, or do you know of any of their plans to change that? Thanks Jeremy.
There are no original batch skimmers out there that still have the first nozzle they shipped with. We sold the entire first batch, and everyone we sent the skimmers to got an updated nozzle back in 2010. Note this is not the adjustable nozzle, but the original red nozzle, which I actually prefer over the adjustable nozzle. If you have a non-adjustable screw nozzle pull out the red pipe that's inside it and measure it, it should read 47mm in length.


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Unread 10/09/2013, 10:35 AM   #1574
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Hey Jeremy, still overflowing a lot, in the manual it instructs to open the intake nozzle 2-4 turns from fully closed. I've interpreted that as 2 turns = 720° & 4 turns = 1440°.

So I'm at 720°, have I misinterpreted this?


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Unread 10/09/2013, 12:24 PM   #1575
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Hey Jeremy, still overflowing a lot, in the manual it instructs to open the intake nozzle 2-4 turns from fully closed. I've interpreted that as 2 turns = 720° & 4 turns = 1440°.

So I'm at 720°, have I misinterpreted this?
Your interpretation is correct. I mark my adjustable volutes with a sharpe pen so I can see how much I am turning. As for your overflowing, try lowering your sump level or raising your skimmer .5" to 1". 10" is very high in my opinion & will make it very difficult to find the sweet spot. Do this after opening the volute more to see if it will stabilize but 10" depth will make my Alpha 300 go nuts!


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