Royal-Exclusiv / Vertex Cone Skimmer Club
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
Sorry, a little long......
If I could take a moment and post my experiences w/ my new Alpha 200 and the as stated many times before awesome customer service of PA.
Had a couple of issues w/ the pump running right. It was making noise and intermittently stopping. When I contacted Jeremy at PA he was very quick to send me a return address printable shipping slip to check out the pump to make sure all was ok. Unfortunately this was on a Friday so I new I wouldn't be able to ship until Monday at the earliest.
After doing a little research online I noticed my pump was missing the little insert/nozzle piece that goes into the intake of the pump. I fooled with the water intake a little by putting my finger in front of the water intake and low and behold I was able to get the pump running right. Through a little personal inginuity (patting myself on the back) I was able to piece together a makeshift nozzle/insert out of some spare pvc parts I had laying around. I inserted the piece and after a few adjustments had a skimmer that was working awesome. Come Monday the pump no longer needed to be shipped back. I contacted Jeremy again to let him know what the problem was and he quickly responded telling me the correct nozzle/insert was on its way. Still using my homemade nozzle, the skimmer easily has produced 2 - 3x the amount of skimmate in a day then my Aqua C would produce in 3. It is truely an awesome skimmer and I can't wait to see what it does with the correct nozzle.
Jason and Jeremy at PA were there with a quick response to all emails I sent there way. What has been spoken of on here regarding their customer service is dead on. It's nice to know that when you buy a product, that the vendor will be there to stand behind it.
Thanks.
Rob
If I could take a moment and post my experiences w/ my new Alpha 200 and the as stated many times before awesome customer service of PA.
Had a couple of issues w/ the pump running right. It was making noise and intermittently stopping. When I contacted Jeremy at PA he was very quick to send me a return address printable shipping slip to check out the pump to make sure all was ok. Unfortunately this was on a Friday so I new I wouldn't be able to ship until Monday at the earliest.
After doing a little research online I noticed my pump was missing the little insert/nozzle piece that goes into the intake of the pump. I fooled with the water intake a little by putting my finger in front of the water intake and low and behold I was able to get the pump running right. Through a little personal inginuity (patting myself on the back) I was able to piece together a makeshift nozzle/insert out of some spare pvc parts I had laying around. I inserted the piece and after a few adjustments had a skimmer that was working awesome. Come Monday the pump no longer needed to be shipped back. I contacted Jeremy again to let him know what the problem was and he quickly responded telling me the correct nozzle/insert was on its way. Still using my homemade nozzle, the skimmer easily has produced 2 - 3x the amount of skimmate in a day then my Aqua C would produce in 3. It is truely an awesome skimmer and I can't wait to see what it does with the correct nozzle.
Jason and Jeremy at PA were there with a quick response to all emails I sent there way. What has been spoken of on here regarding their customer service is dead on. It's nice to know that when you buy a product, that the vendor will be there to stand behind it.
Thanks.
Rob
Beenalongtime79
New member
Any way we can actually buy one of these new pieces of plubing with the external hose connection. It would be pretty simple to switch that pipe out since you can easily remove it.
Please let us know b/c I thinka lot of people would like the new configuration!
Thanks!
John
It's been 1 week and the A250 has pulled 2.5 times what the G2 has pulled in that same time in the past. The skim is darker and the foam is dryer and thicker then anything i ever got from the G2 and the smell is nasty. The skimmer was worth every penny. I am using the shorter of the 2 tubes.
Tim
Tim
rbnice1
New member
Can we see some pics of the the skim and the skimmer in action?
gasman059
The OG mad scientist
alpha 200
alpha 200
Previous BK skimmers in this lifetime must recently a mini 200 gen 2 in my
60x30x25 more or less 250 total volume sps dominated with medium fish bioload.
I decided to give the alpha cone 200 a shot. Correct me if I'm wrong or maybe I'm nitpicking here who knows, but every BK skimmer I've owned develops this thick frothy bunched together foam head that seems inseparable, while my 200 skims right out of the box( currently at two weeks) and I don't do much maintenace or fiddling around since my SCH does its job.
I find that the foam head is not as thick as my previous units, I'm I missing something? or just that I'm getting old and the foam is what it is. THX
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alpha 200
Previous BK skimmers in this lifetime must recently a mini 200 gen 2 in my
60x30x25 more or less 250 total volume sps dominated with medium fish bioload.
I decided to give the alpha cone 200 a shot. Correct me if I'm wrong or maybe I'm nitpicking here who knows, but every BK skimmer I've owned develops this thick frothy bunched together foam head that seems inseparable, while my 200 skims right out of the box( currently at two weeks) and I don't do much maintenace or fiddling around since my SCH does its job.
I find that the foam head is not as thick as my previous units, I'm I missing something? or just that I'm getting old and the foam is what it is. THX
Thanks for the kind words Rob, I appreciate it!
John, I'm not sure if a retro kit will be offered or not. Personally, I like the venturi tube to be inside the wedge pipe, rather than external. I think it's just a nicer looking / cleaner fit. The small water trickle does not bother me. I will ask Klaus if an updated wedge pipe will be available though.
Thanks,
Jeremy
John, I'm not sure if a retro kit will be offered or not. Personally, I like the venturi tube to be inside the wedge pipe, rather than external. I think it's just a nicer looking / cleaner fit. The small water trickle does not bother me. I will ask Klaus if an updated wedge pipe will be available though.
Thanks,
Jeremy
I still havent experienced any water trickling out of that hole that wasnt easily stopped. I would think that the newer wedgepipe with the fitting rather than the thru-hole would be made available as a replacement part. Personally, I wouldnt bother with buying one as I have no issues or complaints either about the original design, but it would make sense that the part would eventually be available for purchase ... NOT as a warranty update/replacement for the "old style" thru hole wedgepipe but as a regular replacement part, available for purchase.
deepblue hr
New member
Hi to all,
Since yesterday i am proud owner of alpha cone 250 and I am very happy with it. Product quality and performance wise is top but I really miss manuals. Can anyone give me link where I can download them for pump and skimmer itself.
Ps.
Jeremy, it has been really worth to wait so long for this great skimmer :celeb2:.
Greetings from, Zagreb, Croatia
Since yesterday i am proud owner of alpha cone 250 and I am very happy with it. Product quality and performance wise is top but I really miss manuals. Can anyone give me link where I can download them for pump and skimmer itself.
Ps.
Jeremy, it has been really worth to wait so long for this great skimmer :celeb2:.
Greetings from, Zagreb, Croatia
mcbaes72
-Aidan's Daddy.
Jeremy - I noticed the water trickle, too. Although I made the water trickle stop by positioning the hose a little downward and is up against the skimmer body. The hose is very flexible, so it stays in that position and no more trickle.
BTW, is that water excess directly from the pump or from the skimmer body? Just wondering, thanks.
The water trickle is from the skimmers outflow backing up in the wedgepipe above the level of the airline hole ... so it is from the skimmer body itself, not directly from the pump. It would make sense that the more the wedgepipe is closed the more water will trickle out that hole (or the more the water would have a tendency to trickle from the hole) as the water level will be higher in the wedgepipe.
Reefobsession
New member
Seems my 170 is just starting to break in after a week. Does anyone else feel like they have to keep the valve almost completely closed in order for the skimmer to have th eright water level? Mine is in 9 to 9.5" of water.
Another question I have is should I only have it running for half a day? It is on a 72 with a 15 gallon sump. I am going to upgrade to a 120 in the future, so I didn't want to buy another skimmer in that time.
Another question I have is should I only have it running for half a day? It is on a 72 with a 15 gallon sump. I am going to upgrade to a 120 in the future, so I didn't want to buy another skimmer in that time.
I have a new 180 gal. display, w/40 gal sump, 200lbs LR, 200lbs LS, and need a skimmer. Actually I have a brand new one(Hurricone Cat-2), but had a problem and sent it overnight(another $$) to David(the owner) of Coralvue 31 days ago and still have not received squat from this guy. The tank has been cycling for 2 1/2 weeks and all readings are zero. Question../ which Alpha is going to work the best for me 200 or 250? Planning alot of fish, so let's call it a heavy load. I have been told 200 and 250, CONFUSED..
Thanks to anyone and everyone throwing input my way..!
Thanks to anyone and everyone throwing input my way..!
Reefobsession
New member
The amount the wedge pipe is closed is determined by the water level of the sump that the skimmer is setting in. There is no difference between running the wedge pipe closed versus running it wide open, or even half closed. If you are almost completely closed you could go up to 10" of sump depth and this will allow you to open the wedge pipe a little more if you choose to do so.
As far as how frequently you run it, I would keep it on 24hrs a day. I run a 170 on my 75gal tank with 20gal sump, and it pulls all the time. The only time there isn't a foam head on it is when I feed.
The Alpha 200 would be just fine for you. The 250 would be a little overkill for that system in my opinion. The photos do not do these skimmers justice in actual size. To give you an idea, I run a 250 on a 450 - 500gal system, and it handles it with no problem at all.
mcbaes72
-Aidan's Daddy.
Thanks for the response. I closed the wedgepipe about 75%-80%, so your explanation makes sense.
Orr2003
New member
Need some help with an issue I am having with my Alpha 300.
I have the skimmer setting in 10" of water inside my sump. Sump is a 100g rubbermaid stock tank. The skimmer is dialed in perfect and skims like a champ until the power goes out. When the power goes out my DT back siphons a couple inches of water into the sump which puts the skimmer in about 12" or 13" of water. When the power comes back on it takes a minute for my main return pump (Dart) to prime itself and begin to pump water back to the DT. But the skimmer pumps come back on instantly. When this happens the skimmer overflows due to being in to much water.
So without putting in a check valve or adding another siphon break how can I keep this from happening. My only thought and I dont know if you can do it or how to do it would be to program my AC3 controller to delay the skimmer pumps from starting after a power outage.
Can this be done?
Anyone have any other suggestions?
Thanks
Orr
I have the skimmer setting in 10" of water inside my sump. Sump is a 100g rubbermaid stock tank. The skimmer is dialed in perfect and skims like a champ until the power goes out. When the power goes out my DT back siphons a couple inches of water into the sump which puts the skimmer in about 12" or 13" of water. When the power comes back on it takes a minute for my main return pump (Dart) to prime itself and begin to pump water back to the DT. But the skimmer pumps come back on instantly. When this happens the skimmer overflows due to being in to much water.
So without putting in a check valve or adding another siphon break how can I keep this from happening. My only thought and I dont know if you can do it or how to do it would be to program my AC3 controller to delay the skimmer pumps from starting after a power outage.
Can this be done?
Anyone have any other suggestions?
Thanks
Orr
I run a 200 on a 90 with 38 gallon sump ... pretty light bioload. As Jeremy states, just let it run 24 hours. I have a larger system in the future plans so I got the 200 to accomodate but it runs fantastic on my 90 gallon so dont worry about overskimming or whatever is concerning you about running the 170 full time on your 72 gallon system.
As far as the wedgpipe, how open or closed it is depends on several things including sump water level, bio-load and desired skimmate ("wet", "dry"). Dont worry about how closed or open the wedgepipe is, just get it dialed in and let it skim.
No problem, you're welcome.
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