Vertex Omega 130 skimmer

[shawngt2]

Originally Posted by ECFENCING

My sump is set at 8" depth. I had a stand for it made out of egg-crate when I first had the skimmer. It seemed to run well for me at 7" depth.

I got rid of the egg crate since I was going to build a nice acrylic one or have one made but never got around to it.

After reading some of the posts here the air restriction worked a bit better but I would say it was almost the same as having it in a lower 7" water height. The bubbles start to break at the bottom of the collection cup so yes there are micro-bubbles in the neck area.

The restriction is no more than a TLF phoshan reactor valve and some tubing. In 8" of water without the restriction the skimmer overflows at least for me.

This is the method I am trying for.. Forget about the wedge pipe and air restriction and instead fine tune the height of the skimmer via stand. I do agree 7" does seem to be a sweet spot for me as well and maybe even 6.75" may produce a better skimmate. A little early to tell right now and will keep you guys posted on my progress.

[bobssecrtsn]

Originally Posted by shawngt2

I decided yesterday (since I will go on vacation for a week) to revert back to my Hydor Performer 405 skimmer for reliability reasons. But, my Vertex was setup very similar to yours. 7" depth, volute closed, but wedge pipe fully open. I was getting about 1cm tea coloured skim in a day so used one layer of egg crate to lift and the head dropped WAY down and would come back up. So I went back to 7in all the same settings but the foam level would not return to where it was before. The damn thing is so finicky and sensitive that even if you move it and have everything back to where it was, completely different reaction..

When I get back I will give it a go, set it at same settings and leave it for a week. If two wet of skim, I will increase the height once more and leave that another week and see what that gets me. I might then resort to the air valve restriction, but would rather leave this thing stock. If you need to restrict the valve for this thing to work properly, then Vertex failed at designing this skimmer IMHO.

So with the last nerve I have of this skimmer, I threw a 1/4 tube with a knot to restrict the air, and This thing is 100% better, for once it's built a foam head for over 24 hours and water level has not moved since, I am now away from my skimmer but I took a webcam photo.

But sorry to say, this skimmer needs the restricted air, they didn't design this skimmer throughly

[shred5]

Originally Posted by bobssecrtsn

So with the last nerve I have of this skimmer, I threw a 1/4 tube with a knot to restrict the air, and This thing is 100% better, for once it's built a foam head for over 24 hours and water level has not moved since, I am now away from my skimmer but I took a webcam photo.

But sorry to say, this skimmer needs the restricted air, they didn't design this skimmer throughly

It aint only this skimmer there are allot I have ran into that are the same.. It is like I said they all should have away to adjust the air to fine tune them not just raising and lowering the water level. Could be something as easy as a pointed pin hat screws into the input on the silencer..

Anyone that has a skimmer that overflows, in most cases restricting the air will work.

I have heard of a few using the Two Little fishies valves on some skimmers.

[jameshr]

I recently got a vertex omega 130 for my Red Sea Reefer 170 and from day 1 I couldn't get the skimmer to work properly and stop overflowing. I realized that the skimmer needed time to break in and so after I had given it a good rinse out, I left It running for over a week, but even after a week it still overflowed. I then tried a vinegar bath, restricting air, an extremely thorough clean and even raising the skimmer from its original depth of 8 inches. Bear in mind that the gate valve has been fully open the whole time. Still no success. All of this time I had been running lots of carbon in my tank because I know how some chemicals can make a skimmer behave. Anyway, I emailed vertex to explain my situation and a week later and still no reply...I have now given up on vertex and will be getting a reef octopus instead, a brand I have used before and was very happy with.

[Ron99]

That's too bad. I have an Omega 150 that I've been using for a couple years and I'm pretty happy with it. But the 130 has been more problematic for people.

Sadly, Vertex is going downhill I think. They lost or let go of all their North American staff including the warranty and service department and then packed up and moved their operations to California because they felt they might get cheaper labour there. Not sure if they sorted out the QC problems at the factories in China and Germany either.

[morty]

Increasingly, my impression of Vertex is that they are more about glitz and wow factor, and less about careful R&D. IIRC they were sort of splintered off from Royal Exclusiv, and IMO something was definitely lost when Klaus was no longer designing their skimmers. I've had issues with other products of theirs, where they start to fail over time, presumably because they were insufficiently tested for long-term functionality.

(And, I had an unhappy experience with their customer support, where they claimed the failure of a component was MY fault, when it was clearly a faulty design issue.)

[gobble]

So after reading 17 pages the Vertex 130 (or the 150) would be a poor choice for a Reefer 250? I'm having a hard time finding the right skimmer for the 8" sump depth.

[FlyingFishSKYw]

After reading the successes vs head aches, I'm not sure this skimmer is a good buy. I've had mine running for about three weeks. It took a week to stop overflowing, now I'm trying to dial it in... I can't seem to get it to form a good head of foam at the right level. The last few days it's been in the n neck of the collection cup, but I can't get it to go higher. It's sitting in 7.75" of water. I'm trying the air restriction trick now. I'll just wait and see....

If this doesn't work, I'm pulling the trigger on a Lifereef.


(The ozone inlet is capped at the pump)








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[reeftivo]

if you are concerned about $ on LR, check out and see if there are any of the Reef Dynamics INS80S (with sicce) left. $175 includes shipping and they skim, skim skim. pm me if you want the company info.
reefdynamics ins80s.jpg

[Pablos RSM 450]

Of the skimmers I have owned the Vertex has been the most difficult to adjust and most prone to overflow just when you think you finaly dialed it in. I am currently running the life reef and it is pretty good but it has been the most expensive skimmer I have owned.

[ksed]

Open the wedge pipe all the way.

[FlyingFishSKYw]

Originally Posted by ksed

Open the wedge pipe all the way.

Did that.... and it erupted in a frothy wet mess!


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[Pablos RSM 450]

Originally Posted by FlyingFishSKYw

Did that.... and it erupted in a frothy wet mess!


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I cut my losses an put mine on craigslist for $200. That was 2 skimmers ago.

[FlyingFishSKYw]

I'm done with this skimmer.
Life Reef is on the way and the Vertex will be up for sale soon...


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[Dmantz1]

I've had my 130 running in 7" of water with the wedge pipe 90% closed and volute open a turn and a half. No overflow issues.

[Aslam Abraham]

Guy's was considerring buying this skimmer for my 200 litre cube running zeovit, just finished the cycle.
After reading this thread abit worried, presently running sro xp 2000 cone.

[Aslam Abraham]

Originally Posted by Aslam Abraham

Guy's was considerring buying this skimmer for my 200 litre cube running zeovit, just finished the cycle.
After reading this thread abit worried, presently running sro xp 2000 cone.

So I went ahead and bought the skimmer.
Get home yesterday to find the skimmer not working.
On closer inspection, I have found the ceramic shaft broken.
Skimmers exactly a week old,waiting on a new impellar.

[00101]

So for anyone who hasn't tried choking the air back you can do so pretty easily without even having to buy anything! (Though you'll probably be happier with a valve) The silicone air intake on mine has a fair amount of slack, so you can tie an overhand knot in that and then tighten or loosen it to provide more or less air. For the first time ever I was getting dark, pitch black skimate out this thing instead of green tea or nothing.

I've since replaced the knot with a Hayward PVC needle valve for finer and more reliable adjustment, however.

[Ikserk]

Originally Posted by 00101

So for anyone who hasn't tried choking the air back you can do so pretty easily without even having to buy anything! (Though you'll probably be happier with a valve) The silicone air intake on mine has a fair amount of slack, so you can tie an overhand knot in that and then tighten or loosen it to provide more or less air. For the first time ever I was getting dark, pitch black skimate out this thing instead of green tea or nothing.

I've since replaced the knot with a Hayward PVC needle valve for finer and more reliable adjustment, however.

Could you provide a URL for the valve you used?

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[00101]

Originally Posted by Ikserk

Could you provide a URL for the valve you used?

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I used a 3/8" pvc needle valve. Regular 3/8" MIP x 3/8" barbs from the hardware store fit the tubing and valve fine. I got a Hayward brand one, though this is probably super overkill, especially for the $55 retail, but you can find new old stock cheaper at a certain online auction site.

I decided to go this route since a needle valve will give you much finer control with less backlash than a ball valve, though I have no doubts you can get fine results with one as others in this thread have done. Hell, like I said I got decent results just tying a knot in the line.

[Ikserk]

Originally Posted by 00101

I used a 3/8" pvc needle valve. Regular 3/8" MIP x 3/8" barbs from the hardware store fit the tubing and valve fine. I got a Hayward brand one, though this is probably super overkill, especially for the $55 retail, but you can find new old stock cheaper at a certain online auction site.

I decided to go this route since a needle valve will give you much finer control with less backlash than a ball valve, though I have no doubts you can get fine results with one as others in this thread have done. Hell, like I said I got decent results just tying a knot in the line.

Thanks for the detail!

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[Rakie]

Reading through this thread (and others) I see there are two very strong camps for this skimmer.

Half of the people say it's hard to fine tune, but once it's there, it puts everything sans Deltec & Bubble King to shame.

The other half say it's hard to fine tune, and it's junk.

I'm breaking mine in, it's in 7" of water in a 45g cube, 60g total system. It looks really promising, I will very likely raise it 1/2" in increments and see how changes affect the skimmer, until raising it causes problems. This is basically a Titration period

[Lsufan]

I found the most important thing to get it to skim consistently is the depth. For the first 3 months I had mine I had to run it in 6" to 6 1/2" of water or it would overflow every couple days. Now I run it at 7" & it is still pretty consistent. I know mine took a total of about 3 months to start skimming consistent & quit overflowing every few days. I did do the air mod & it helped a little to but water depth was the most critical. It definitely was frustrating at first but I'm now glad I stuck it out because it is a good skimmer, it just took forever to break in completely to where it was consistent & wouldn't overflow every couple days

[jonwright]

Ran mine on a 50 gal. Once I got it dialed in (and no air restriction) it runs OK. One time the needle wheel horked up. Called Vertex and talked to Albert for a bit, they overnighted me another one with little hassle. Plus he reminded me that if you run these in a small sump (I do) with the outlet close to the sump wall (it is) and with the drain rushing over the pump inlet (yup) it can get tough to dial in as these will affect variably the water height etc. So I did the best I could with positioning it and so far so good.

I really think folks generally don't understand the volute adjustment (the instructions are crap for this) and how to decide what to tweak and where.

That being said it's very, very quiet which is really nice. Once it's set up and you have it fine tuned it works pretty well IMO.

That being said I also have a LifeReef on my 155. While it's a LOT louder than the 130, it also has not required the messin' the Vertex has. So if you are a tweaker this would probably be a fine skimmer, especially if you find a good deal on it.