Royal-Exclusiv / Vertex Cone Skimmer Club

[skippyreef]

You do not have to run ozone into both pumps if you do not want to. It just makes sense to set both pumps up that way, especially if it's going on a 1000gal system that could potentially be using a big ozonzier, etc.

The red and grey nozzle are fully removeable. Stick your finger in there and pull it out. It it doesn't come out, then pull off the entire venturi / nozzle assembly from the white pump head and push it out the front from the back side.

With the nozzle in the pump the air to water ratio is increased correct (smaller amount of water being mixed in with more air)

I only have a 350 gallon system LOL but I will go ahead and set both pumps up with Ozone. I have a splitter I can use ti run it form the ozonizer to both pumps.

 

[corywilson]

The 170 upgrade is at my house, but I'm stuck at work! Ill post some impressions later tonight.

 

[crab0000]

Mine should be there by the time I get home. I may not install mine yet since I just got the skimmer dialed in perfectly.

 

[kvmn]

Yes, I am 110% sure of this. If you'd like, send me your pump and I'll hook it up on my Alpha 250 and test it for you.

did you look at my picture above?
the longer nozzle will full more air then shorter nozzle,,
huhmmm? this is weir
my number is otherway around,,i will try another meter before send in thanks

 

[Jeremy B.]

You are the only person who has experienced this. There has to be a flaw in the testing somewhere. I would go back and run those tests again and make sure you have the correct nozzles in place.

 

[bobibob]

Can you help me please?

Can you help me please?

??/

 

[corywilson]

got the 170 upgrade on my skimmer. currently skimmer is at 9.75'', volute unscrewed 9 times, and wedge pipe about 50% closed. foam head is sitting right at the base of the cup and seems rock solid. i'll update once it runs for a few hours.

jeremy - klaus mentioned he saw the best results in about 10'' of water, did he mention how far his volute was unscrewed?

 

[Klaus Jansen]

Corywilson...

i tested the new Volute/nozzle Design in 25-28 cm waterlevel (10 " ) the best Performance, for my tank was 900-950 Liter Airintake and the screw was 2,5 Turns out. Please noticed : my saltwater-Testtank.

Please starting for found the best Perormance for your Tank :

> disconnecting the Hoses from the Silencer...
> closed the white srew completed....
> full closed, the waterinjekting is to less and the Pump begining surching and pulsation...
> starting with half Turns and heard, what the Pump is doing...
> after one or one and an half, the surching is stoping and the waterinjektion go higher...
> please opening the screw how long, as Micorbubbles comming out.....
> after Microbubbles comming out, close the screw a little bit..

Thats the best performance for your Tank. Please notice :...after Plugin the new Update, the Time for wait for the new adjustment, is one Day. The first Day, all the Parts are fresh and destroyed the Foam.

For Measurements : .... the Dwyers are not the best Equipment for make a good Measurement. We have any Dwyers here. The Backpressure, of the ball inside the Cone, is to high and the Pipe inside the Cone is to small. So the Measurement is wrong. The Equipment what we use, is an electrical Airflowmeter with 0 % backpressure. This Measurement is exactly.... the diffenrence for cheap Airflowmeters, is possible go wrong 50 % and more.....

For testing a good or bad Airflowmeter : .... please using a wattmeter and look, what the energyconsuption is doing : .... go the wattage more as 2 watt higher, after plug in a Airflowmeter, forget the measurement : ... he go wrong. A good Airflowmeter dont change the energyconsuption. 5 Watt more energyconsuption destroyed the Pumpperformance. The Airflow go significant down and the waterflow go high... If the connectors on the Airflowmeters are smaller, as the Silicontubes, what we using ( 9 mm inside) forget the measurements. A restriceted inlet, destroyed the Pumpperformance. For a Quickmeasurement with Airflowmeters, here in our Factory ( with the orange Cone) have 20 mm (!! ) inlet..... A good Airflowmeter in Europe, cost 200-300.- Euro. A electrical Airflowmeter cost 1500.- Euro....
Thats the Reason, we dont using serial Airflowmeters on our Skimmers.

Hope it helps.....

regards... Klaus

 

[kfick]

The dwyer meters and similiar types are NOT entirely accurate for measuring skimmers air draw. When RE puts out the numbers they are from measurments with a different type of air measurement device/meter that is more suited for the purpose. If one cares to search through the thread, Klaus states what device he uses to test his skimmers and derive the air draw numbers.

If you are comparing numbers with Jeremy, then that is fine, for reference purposes, IF you are using the same MODEL (not just brand but brand AND model) meter that he is using. Just like I stated, my RMA and my RMC will take two different measurments of the same skimmer. My RMA has smaller intakes, through port and output than the RMC and restricts the flow much more. Both meters restrict the skimmer pumps air intake, (the RMC has 3/8" threaded intakes and still restricts the flow). ... it is perfectly logical that NEITHER will give a truly accurate measurement. But they are perfectly fine for my own reference or reference against another same brand and model meter. But I wouldnt take a measurement with my RMA and expect it accurately match that of someone elses RMC or RMB or another brand and model of air flow meter.

That said, and not to re-open old issues but the 200 that you returned measured as Jeremy expected and was working perfectly when Jeremy tested it. The meter he used measured the air draw that he was typically measuring with properly performing Alpha 200's which was, if memory serves, several hundred LPH over what yo reported here on the forum. And the pump was not surging. He would never have offered it for sale in this thread and re-sold it if it did not perform as it should.

--------------------------------------------------

kvmn ... I dont know if removing the ozone tube will change the numbers you measure on the main air line. You stated that you were measuring 300 LPM, or whatever it was, through the ozone tube so I figured it was worth a shot to remove it and measure just the main air line since it seems logical that they could be sharing the air to some degree.

I would agree. Also, if your foam head doesn't stay at exactly the same height when you throw your meter on, it is defiantely restricting. I would think you would see a huge difference of 300lph pretty easily. 1 SCFH should make a noticable difference. My RMB doesn't affect my foam head at all over open tubing. Heck, the fitting on my meter is bigger than my tubing.

 

[sphil876p]

Registering my membership to the Alpha club

Registering my membership to the Alpha club

I purchased an Alpha 200 at MACNA :bounce3: Not from PA, but this appears to be the only Alpha skimmer club on RC..............................
I have approx. 140 gal of total water volume, but will be upgrading my DT to a 120 which will bring the total to approx 240 gal....
Have been running the skimmer in 9 inches of water with the red intake pipe that came installed. I guess that I have a moderate-light bio-load, A few fish and some coral. I have not been able to get the skimmer to run stable, but have been changing the water levels in my sump frequently. I have a Dwyer air meter, and it pegs the max at 25 lpm, so I dont know how much it is really pulling. If I should be running it with the grey nozzle, let me know.....

 

[Jeremy B.]

sphil876p, you will be chasing your tail constantly trying to get this skimmer dialed in if your sump level keeps fluctuating. This is not just with the Alpha's, but with just about every other internal skimmer anymore these days. Only the old EuroReef style internal skimmer with the stand pipe on them had hardly any fluctuation when the sump level changed. Get your constant running sump level fixed, then you'll find your skimmer is much easier to dial in, set it and forget it!

 

[bobibob]

alp

 

[Wd40]

Hey Jeremy just wondering you have your 170 sitting at 8.5" I think you told me.
How many times did you unscrew the nozzle...
Im sitting at 9 inches and unscrewed it twice. Foam looks awesome, got some bubbles coming out but i know it needs to break in..

 

[Jeremy B.]

I honestly am not sure where I am at right now. I set it visually, rather than counting. I'll check and post back here over the weekend, or first thing Monday morning at the latest.

 

[mcbaes72]

Jeremy - I received the Alpha 200 yesterday (store demo). It was very well packaged, was a good workout cutting open the box and carefully unwrapping the skimmer and pump...haha. Anyway, set it up this morning after modifying my sump to occupy this huge skimmer (it's bigger in person, pics don't do it justice on the size). When I plugged it in, it overflowed the collection cup a couple of times at 9" water depth w/ it running wide open. But afterwards, it slowed down to where only foam waste was collecting at 8 3/4" w/ valve half open. That's where I'm gonna keep it.

I'm glad I pulled the trigger on the Alpha 200 vs. XP2000...no regrets. Anyway, might as well share pics on it's first day. The waste is a very bright green, tank was skimmerless since Mar '09, chaeto macro removed when I modified the sump. Tight fit, but it's working fine...

For comparison, here's my old ETSS 600 I sold on eBay before I went skimmerless for a few months...

And here's my FOWLR tank, an older pic, but it pretty much looks the same...

 

[mcbaes72]

Here's one more pic after running for a little over a day now. Anyone know why the skimmate would be bright green? On my previous skimmer, the waste was med. to dark brown in color. Not sure if it matters, just wondering. Thanks.

 

[Big_D]

Did you dose any supplements? Every now and then I dose Kent's Essential Elements which results in a purple tinted foam head for a day or so.





D

 

[robthorn]

hey mcbaes going skimmerless for months probably has some buildup of who knows what in there. I would say green would contain some algea. No offense meant but your water is probably dirty from no skimmer. It will most likely change as your tank cleans up again.

 

[mcbaes72]

Big D - Since it's only FOWLR, I don't dose any supplements other than: 1) weekly 5% sw changes, but this will slow down now that I have a skimmer again; 2) Prime + tap for water top off. I used to have chaeto macro, but won't use it any longer (no more more), maybe some excess of that was removed by the skimmer.

robthorn - Yeah, I figured a bunch of skimmate would produce after months of going skimmerless w/ only chaeto macro for filtration. So, you may be right about you opinion about it containing some algae in the waste. I plan on emptying the cup and see if there's any more bright green waste collected or if it changes to brown waste during the week.

 

[robthorn]

Do you run carbon by chance? It may be the camera's white balance but in the photo the water has color to it. yellowish I guess you would call it. I am talking about the top photo of your sump from the side with the vertex in it. I may have the wrong word but maybe there are tannins from the algea which carbon should help remove.