Royal-Exclusiv / Vertex Cone Skimmer Club

Just got my 170 today. Man she is purdy. I really can see where all the money goes into. There seems to be a lot of love and passion put into these skimmers. Thanks Jeremy for your help. I am looking forward to putting the upgrade kit on it tom. Jeremy was very propt and sent it right after I talked to him. I had some epoxy residue left over from my tank. The skimmer went nuts. Can't really tell where the water level is at the moment due to all the foam caused by the epoxy. lol. I really didn't see much surging, at the beginning it did, but I havn't seen it since it has been on for an hour. For a while there I thought I was crazy for spending $600 for a skimmer, but when I saw that the price jumped back up, and I saw the build quality and the best pump on the market, I felt pretty good about it.
 
How many of you have the upgrade kit on your alphas? You cannot screw the white piece all the way back to the pump or the prop touches and won't spin. I loosened each screw about 6-7 turns and have to have the volute open a little bit or else that touches the prop as well. So, do these above settings seem alright?

I forgot there was this thread to post in. :)
 
I just read your post reefobsession. My 170 came today as well and it doesn't skim anything. The bubbles stay at the sump water level.

It doesn't sound like you put the upgrade kit on yet. I have and maybe I need to go back to the original one? Not much of an upgrade if mine doesn't do anything and yours works out of the box. :lol:
 
t5Nitro said:
How many of you have the upgrade kit on your alphas? You cannot screw the white piece all the way back to the pump or the prop touches and won't spin. I loosened each screw about 6-7 turns and have to have the volute open a little bit or else that touches the prop as well. So, do these above settings seem alright?

I forgot there was this thread to post in. :)
Click to expand...

Did you install the upgrade impeller with the new volute?
 
Yes. 8 hours in and the bubbles are only 1/2" above sump water level. I might just have to go back to the original and hope it works if nothing better happens in 24 hours.

DSC02329.jpg


DSC02330.jpg
 
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From the pictures it appear your sump depth is only 6" - 6.5" if that. The skimmer needs to run in 8.5" - 9.5" of water. Make this change and you will see a drastic difference. :)
 
Hey guys and gals, I just put the new upgrade kit on it today. It seems to be working just fine. I set the level at right at the grey colar and let it sit. I come home and it is overflowing a little bit. So I thought I would just turn the venturi out a little. This helped. Then about 5 minutes later the water level rose all the way up to the middle of the neck. Is this because there was some epoxy residue from yesreday left in the sump. I would think by now that the skimmer would have this cleared out. What do you guys think?
Water level is at 8.5" the water level is right above the T for the drain. The valve is all the way open. It has been running for 24 hours. As you can see in the pics, the bubble size is very variable.
Here are some pics
DSC01066.jpg

DSC01065.jpg

Neck
DSC01064.jpg

Collection cup
DSC01063.jpg
 
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Hey Jeremy, could you please tell me how to get one of these upgrade kits. I had one of the first shipments of the alpha 200's and can't really run the skimmer with the smaller volute. Thanks! John
 
rufio173 said:
Hey Jeremy, could you please tell me how to get one of these upgrade kits. I had one of the first shipments of the alpha 200's and can't really run the skimmer with the smaller volute. Thanks! John
Click to expand...

There is no upgrade kit for the 200. They work great as is. And came with 2 different Volute to use.

Why can you not use the smaller volute? I use it and it works great!
 
rbnice1 said:
There is no upgrade kit for the 200. They work great as is. And came with 2 different Volute to use.

Why can you not use the smaller volute? I use it and it works great!
Click to expand...

Burping occurs... what happens is that due to the increased constriction from the smaller volute, the pump is unable to pull enough water/air and the pump actually hiccups. This is a problem especially when you try to push up the air/water interface a little higher in the skimmer, the increased backpressure exacerbates the issue. It's not a huge issue, but I thought that there was something in the works on it.

Cheers,
John
 
Jeremy B. said:
From the pictures it appear your sump depth is only 6" - 6.5" if that. The skimmer needs to run in 8.5" - 9.5" of water. Make this change and you will see a drastic difference. :)
Click to expand...

Yes, its due to the neck size. you have to run it in much deeper water in order to get them to perform. ;)
 
John,

The only users that I know of with the Alpha 200 that have had the smaller gray nozzle work for them are the ones who have a huge bioload, with a ton of dissolved organics. If your tank is fairly clean I have experienced the small gray nozzle on the Alpha 200 being almost useless. I would recommend using the red short nozzle for the Alpha 200.

Thanks,
Jeremy
 
Me: "Can I join the Vertex Alpha club?"

Bouncer: "Let me see your membership!"

Me: "Okay here it is: BOOOOM!!!" :dance:

(Thanks Premium Aquatics and DHL. US to the Netherlands in 3 days :bounce3:)

Still one question tho: What is the blue highlighted tube for? I have no idea.

_DBF4835-15.jpg
 
The Alpha 250 does not have the extra hole in it to move the pump. Only a few came over like this, and the latest batch does not have them, nor did the first batch, and quite a few inbetween.
 
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