For Alpha Cone 200 owners

[Rodrigo_BG]

How much room I should leave in my sump to fit an alpha 200 not so tight?

Is it 20" x 12" enough space?

 

[rbnice1]

yup.....


Mines in 12x15 but its tight.

 

[Rodrigo_BG]

thank you

 

[Rotknee]

yup.....


Mines in 12x15 but its tight.

Did you have to mod the skimmer in anyway?

I have a Alpha 200 on the way and I'm going to put it into my ADHI 45, which has a skimmer section of about ~12x15.

Any pics rbnice1?

 

[Jeremy B.]

Yep, it will be tight, but it's doable. Let us know how it goes!

 

[cobra9]

rbnice1 has been banned but I have seen his set-up.

He had to trim the rubber that attaches the pump to the skimmer.

 

[Jeremy B.]

Trimming the silicone coupling that connects the pump to the body can save you around 1" - 1.5" total, so that could be helpful for you.

 

[Rotknee]

Thanks for the help. I had plenty of space after I trimmed ~.75 inches of the silicone.

It is sitting in 9" of water on a custom made acrylic table. Right now the foam peaks at the base of the cup as pictured below. Is this too high? If so, how do I adjust the water level with the Alpha 200?

Note, I have it running now with "two turns open" from the closed positioned as I was advised to do previously.

Here are a couple of click-able pics

 

[Rotknee]

I think I found my answer based upon Jeremy's quote from the Vertex Cone Skimmer Club thread.

I'll take this opportunity to say "Wow" I'm very impressed with this skimmer.

• It is super quiet. I could hear the bubbles over the pump when I first turned it on. The Red Dragon 1500 is far superior to the Sicce PSK-2500 skimmer pump.
  
• The unit is built like a tank...very solid construction
  
• In nine inches of water and two turns out, it is working like champ so far.
  
• There is no manual to read! As a matter of fact we have a human manual...aka Jeremy. You can't beat that!:dance:

A couple things could be happening. You're adjusting the water level too high (at the time of adjustment it probably looks ok), but as the foam head builds, the water level also comes up some, and bam, you overflow. Set the skimmer in exactly 9" of water, and adjust the actual water level inside the skimmer to where it's right inbetween the collar and the bottom of the collection cup. Then let it go for at least 48hrs before making anymore adjustments. If this is still causing it to overflow, then make 1/16th of a turn open on the wedge pipe, and let it set for at least 2hrs before making another 1/16th turn if need be.

If the wedge pipe is wide open and the skimmer still overflows then it's setting too deep in the sump, or the skimmer is reacting with something in the system that is causing it to overflow.

 

[Jeremy B.]

Looks great, keep us posted on how it goes!