Royal-Exclusiv / Vertex Cone Skimmer Club

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by drdoolittle

From what i understood, by turning the nozzle fully IN will shut off the air. Mark the top of the nozzles and that will be your starting position. Then turn the nozzle 3 full turns out and that'll be your tuning position. you could either open or close it from there to have the best result.. But , then again. I have not recieved my nozzles and this is just from what i understood. I could be totally wrong..

thank you will try it again when I get home.

maybe having 8" of water is too low, will increase that as well to see how it goes.

[bluetang<3]

Got a 150 gallon with 50 gallon sump. Med bioload 8 fish and lots of corals. Leaning to a alpha cone 170 or 200 which would be better? How do these compare to a bubble king. I know the obvious both made by royal exclusive, but for noise and performance are they on the same level?

[Allmost]

hello all,


can anyone advice what the water height should be for 200 ?

I am buying my glass baffles for sump today, and need to know the height

9" good ?

the stocking will be very heavy.

I highly appreciate it if someone could advice.

[drdoolittle]

I have my Alpha 200 set at 9. it seem to be running good. i would be interested on knowing what other people running theirs as well.

[bayoupr]

Mine is in 8.25 with the wedge pipe closed about 50-60%. I may go lower, not sure yet. I just picked it up used about two weeks ago. So I will run it like this for awhile and see how it settles in.

[notclear]

I'm running mine at 9".

Based on the skimmer manual, it states that 9"-10" is absolutely crucial for proper operation of the skimmer:

http://www.vertexaquaristik.com/Port...mmerManual.pdf

[Jeremy B.]

Alpha 200: 8.5" - 9.5" seems to be the best range, however every person's setup can be slightly different.

[GT_Jacket]

At the moment I can't get the cup off my 170. Bummer is I can't get the skimmer out from my stand with the cup on. Hopefully I will get it loose w/o breaking the adapter that holds the water adjustment tube (using for leverage).

Is there something I should be using to lubricate the o-ring in the future?

Thanks,
Brett

[Allmost]

Nice ! finally a manual lol

Im going to go with 9" then, seems to be the middle ... and I can add teeth if needed in future to increase it to 9.5".

thanks all, just a side question, how does the water level effect the skiiming efficiency ? lower = more skimmate ? or higher = more skimmate ?

reason is I will be having a very high bioload, so need to get the most out of the skimmer lol

[saltyfun]

Can anyone tell me where I can get some more of that soft clear tubing that connects the pump to the skimmer base on the 170 cone filter? Is it just silicone tubing?

[Jeremy B.]

It is indeed just silicone tubing. You should be able to find it at a plumbing supply store online. I will forewarn you that it's not cheap!

[drdoolittle]

Got my adjustble nozzles for my alpha 250 and alpha 200. It made a huge difference after tuning. Well worth the cost. Thanks Jeremy.

[Jeremy B.]

Glad to hear it, thanks!

[bayoupr]

Jeremy, what BB pump do think would be a good fit on an Alpha 200? I picked up one used and when this red dragon goes out I am looking for a cheaper alternative than the expensive red dragon parts and pumps. I do know that the rated air draw on the BB's is a little lower than advertised, at least it was on a SWC200 body that I put a BB2000 on.

[Jeremy B.]

I would think that the BB5000 would be the best fit due to the neck size on the Alpha's. The only downside would be if the 5000 flow too much water than you will get microbubbles coming out of the outlet of the skimmer.

[bayoupr]

I had that before when I ran an Askoll/Laguna on a SWC 200 body and they never made it to my display. I wanted to be sure that the 5000 wouldn't be too much to where I would'n have an control with the wedge pipe.

[liquidplumber]

Pro's and con's on the Alpha 250 cone ?
Is it worth the money ?

[Jeremy B.]

Originally Posted by liquidplumber

Pro's and con's on the Alpha 250 cone ?
Is it worth the money ?

What size tank are you putting it on?

[liquidplumber]

I have 2 - 92 gallon mixed reef tanks connected to a 100Gal lifereef sump as well as a 50 gallon fuge and a 30 gal tank filled with liverock. aprox 320 water volume and will be taking down 1 92 corner tank and adding a 125 in wall so that should bring my sytem to aprox 350 gallons total water volume. I use bio pellets, gfo and gac.

[kmu]

hi guys, I got a huge problem with my Vertex Alpha cone 250... Vertex suggest 9" to 10" of water level for the skimmer. I got a constant 9.5" of water level because its between baffles.

Well my skimmer suddenly stops producing bubbles and jets water right trough the skimmer collection cup, it makes the cap dance around and splashed water all over. The first time it did it I was right in front of the tank and unplugged the unit and plugged it and it started back up perfectly.But the second time it did it nobody was close to the tank and it splashed around 50 gallons of water inside the stand and unto the wooden floor making a mess...

This is a 1 month old Vertex Alpha cone, what could be causing the trouble?

I did some test today to try to replicate the problem, the skimmer has a constant water level of 9.5" and I raise the water level to 10" it jets water right trough the collection cup... If I close the valve a little bit it does it also.

Im afraid to turn it on!!!!

[liquidplumber]

That is a nice sump set up you have there, sounds like your intake may have been partially closed but I'm not familiar with this skimmer I know my wm150 start to do that when salt builds up on the air intake tube but never popped the top off. I am surprised no one else has responded here yet especially if these skimmers are supposed to be the cream of the crop. Any tech support from the seller or manufacture via email or phone?
A little of subject but what type of light is that on the fuge section?

[Jeremy B.]

Either something was added to the tank that caused the skimmer to react that way, or the air inlet is restricted somewhere causing the water level in the skimmer to shoot up and overflow.

[kmu]

Originally Posted by kmu

hi guys, I got a huge problem with my Vertex Alpha cone 250... Vertex suggest 9" to 10" of water level for the skimmer. I got a constant 9.5" of water level because its between baffles.

Well my skimmer suddenly stops producing bubbles and jets water right trough the skimmer collection cup, it makes the cap dance around and splashed water all over. The first time it did it I was right in front of the tank and unplugged the unit and plugged it and it started back up perfectly.But the second time it did it nobody was close to the tank and it splashed around 50 gallons of water inside the stand and unto the wooden floor making a mess...

This is a 1 month old Vertex Alpha cone, what could be causing the trouble?

I did some test today to try to replicate the problem, the skimmer has a constant water level of 9.5" and I raise the water level to 10" it jets water right trough the collection cup... If I close the valve a little bit it does it also.

Im afraid to turn it on!!!!

Originally Posted by Jeremy B.

Either something was added to the tank that caused the skimmer to react that way, or the air inlet is restricted somewhere causing the water level in the skimmer to shoot up and overflow.

Ok, I havent added anything to my tank, it just suddendly does it with no apparent reason. So no dosing, feeding, large water level changes in the skimmer area...

Well after reading most of the replies on this thread I might have figured out what my problem could be, please tell me what you guys think because Im risking of damaging my office wooden floor and dont know what else in the case it could overflow all night or something like that.

I had the volute white thing on the red dragon powerhead closed all the way in leaving it open for the most water possible and least bubble production, making me close the output valve up to 70% or 80% to get the water level in between the skimmer body and lowest part of the collection cup.

Now this volute closed all the way and output valve closed almost all the way also makes the water level inside the output valve too high giving it very little play room and distance between the water level inside the valve and the air inlet for the pump. Now with the water level too high inside the output valve any hiccup on the pump, skimmer body or I any other reason could make the pump suck water in trough the airline hose and make it go nuts shooting a large water volume trough the skimmer with absolutely no bubbles at all...

Could this be my problem

Now I have the white volute opened about 3 to 4 turns and the output valve opened around 50%, the water level inside the body is around 3.5" from the top of the skimmer body.

[Jeremy B.]

That would certainly create the issue that you're having. I would keep it where you have it now and you should be fine. If it still overflows then lower the operating water level inside the skimmer down by 1".

[kmu]

Originally Posted by kmu

Ok, I havent added anything to my tank, it just suddendly does it with no apparent reason. So no dosing, feeding, large water level changes in the skimmer area...

Well after reading most of the replies on this thread I might have figured out what my problem could be, please tell me what you guys think because Im risking of damaging my office wooden floor and dont know what else in the case it could overflow all night or something like that.

I had the volute white thing on the red dragon powerhead closed all the way in leaving it open for the most water possible and least bubble production, making me close the output valve up to 70% or 80% to get the water level in between the skimmer body and lowest part of the collection cup.

Now this volute closed all the way and output valve closed almost all the way also makes the water level inside the output valve too high giving it very little play room and distance between the water level inside the valve and the air inlet for the pump. Now with the water level too high inside the output valve any hiccup on the pump, skimmer body or I any other reason could make the pump suck water in trough the airline hose and make it go nuts shooting a large water volume trough the skimmer with absolutely no bubbles at all...

Could this be my problem

Now I have the white volute opened about 3 to 4 turns and the output valve opened around 50%, the water level inside the body is around 3.5" from the top of the skimmer body.

Originally Posted by Jeremy B.

That would certainly create the issue that you're having. I would keep it where you have it now and you should be fine. If it still overflows then lower the operating water level inside the skimmer down by 1".

Here is a picture of how the problem is/was...

With the volute opened in between 3 to 4 turns and the output valve open around 45% I have a constant water level of around 3.5" below the skimmer neck and the foam barely makes it to the top of the neck and maybe 1" to 2" into the neck of the collection cup.

Should I leave it like that, would the foam production increase?