Royal-Exclusiv / Vertex Cone Skimmer Club

Ya, last night I went back a few pages and found some pics and a description of the inserts and that YOU CAN TAKE OFF THE LARGER grey fitting... lol I was so confused!

I placed in the LONGER red tube with the grey fitting and it seemed to help out a LOT!

I again placed it back on the stand bringing it to about 9" of water with the wedgepipe closed only about 25% and it seems to be working a lot better. I will let it sit for a few days and then give Jeremy a call sometime next week if I can't get it dialed in!

Thanks for this thread, without it I would be totally lost! lol
 
I called and spoke with Jeremy this morning. He answered all my questions. Thanks for the usual great customer service.
Dave in Atlanta.
 
stone.david said:
sorry for the NOOB question but to fine tune these skimmers do you increase or decrease the SUMP water level??
Click to expand...

I would say neither. To fine tune you would just open or close the wedge pipe. The wedge pipe controls controls the water discharge of the skimmer. Closing the wedge pipe will bring the water level up in the skimmer allowing you to skim wet.

I have played around with my sump water level and have found 9" to be best for me. When the skimmer is setting in 9" of water I have more control with the wedge pipe as far as adjustments go.
 
stone.david said:
sorry for the NOOB question but to fine tune these skimmers do you increase or decrease the SUMP water level??
Click to expand...

I agree with ORR2003 for the most part. There is a range of water levels that the skimmer works well in. For example, 8-10" for the 200. 9" seems to be the sweetspot for most 200 owners, myself included. If you go too deep, the skimmer may overflow, even with the pipe all the way open. Too shallow and the wedgepipe may need to be closed so much that dialing in the skimmer will be very tweaky. Plus, the pump doesnt "like" to be too shallow.
So, to some extent, you can do some dialing in with different sump water levels within a pretty small range but as Orr2003 states, dialing in the skimmer is really dont with the wedgepipe adjustments ... and with the different nozzles although moreso with some models than others. IOW, I personally dont see any use for the lower air nozzle with the 200, but that may just be my opinion.
 
Hey Guys!
Bought the bullet and I got myself the Alpha 170:inlove:! Just another setup question, I have read through pretty much the whole thread from the beginning..... So forgive me if I missed this. Is there any advantage to running the skimmer with more flow? I have mine in 9" of water and am able to bring the pump adjustment pretty far out and it's skims very well. Is there a point that the flow becomes to turbulent and the skimmer becomes less efficient? From the setup instructions that I read earlier in the posts for the 170 "turn out the adjustment on the pump until you start to see micro bubbles come out of the return. Well I can almost dial it all the way out before I see any bubbles come out of the return. Dunno if I am making any sense but this is my first real skimmer just want to ensure that I am making the most of it.

Thanks

S
 
I would start at 9" of sump depth, and 2 - 4 turns out. See what this does for you and go from there. What size system is this on?
 
Anyone know what kind of hose this is, it's size, and where I can get long ones? Jeremy?

20100105-m4r58jxjsr4nqsf9a9eic6xjm1.jpg
 
It's a silicone tubing, in metric size. If you look around online for some 3/8" silicone tubing, that will be a good replacement for it.

Thanks,
Jeremy
 
So frustrated...

I thought I had this dialed in with the 59mm nozzle (interior diameter 19mm). It was skimming great for a couple of days and then I go to my skimmer this morning and it is over flowing like crazy!!

I turned the wedgepipe less than 25% closed and it is sitting in about 8-9" of water...

I did add some KZ Coral Snow to the tank at 10pm last night but it shouldn't be overflowing 13 hours later!

Any suggestions?
 
Is the skimmer setting in 8" or 9"? That will make a difference. Also, try using the shorter 56mm nozzle as well.
 
I was usuing the smaller fitting and it wasn't skimming for me at all. So I switched to the longer and it was working great. But then for 24 hours it was overflowing. Finally stopped and is skimming properly.

I thought it was from the KZ Coral Snow but i have dosed that numerous times and never had that same propblem....

Well let's hope it continues to skim properly!
 
Hi guys! I bit the bullet and bought a 170. I have a nooby question as this is my first skimmer and i am in the process of building a 120. From what i have read 9" is the water depth i should have it running in, and start with 2-4 turns out on the nozzle. Is there any special setting i should put it at for break in? How long does the break in usually take? The last question, should i stark breaking in the skimmer in an extra tank i have so this weekend when i hopefully get the tank up and running it will be a quick transfer to the sump? Any ideas or comments would be greatly appreciated.
 
I would run the wedge pipe wide open for the first few days, Let the skimmer slime up (i.e. break in), and then adjust to the desired operating water height inside the skimmer. Everything else looks ok that you're doing. Wether you want to run in something different to start the break in process is up to you.
 
Has anyone tried using Ozone with one of the Alpha's? I have been contemplating using Ozone for a while, I know that the Vertex Alpha's have a dedicated Ozone port which is great. My only concerns are how to filter the effluent output of the skimmer. It is recommended to filter it with GAC. Also how to filter the Ozone escaping at the top of the skimmer? Does anyone have any experience with Ozone use and these skimmers?

Thanks

S
 
This is not actually true and I'll explain why... you added the KZ coral snow and this caused the skimmer cup to overflow and I'm sure you had some nasty skimmate in there and so this very nasty concentrated skimmate got back into the water which causes the skimmer to continue overflowing... it never has time to actually concentrate the skimmate b/c the high amount of newly and acutely added pollutants in your tank continues the vicious cycle of overflow. (It's as if you had dumped a whole lot of concentrated skimmate into your water... this will cause your skimmer to overflow almost instantly). This is especially true of very powerful skimmers that have high air:water ratios.

You can also see this same phenomenon if power is cut off to your skimmer and the dense foam head completely collapses back into the skimmer body and once you start that puppy back up, you'll get overflow of watery skimmate into the skimmer cup. (this is less likely to occur in a recirculating model b/c water is constantly being pushed through the unit and thus dilutes the concentrated pollutants in the actual skimmer body).

How do you solve this problem? Well, first off is actually taking the skimmer cup off and thoroughly washing it with warm water. Next, you may have to open the wedge pipe up just a little bit more to account for the increases amount of pollutants that is now in your tank, but usually a good wash on the sides of the skimmer cup (and when I mean skimmer cup, I really mean the riser tube... that is actually the only part that you need to wash thoroughly with warm water).

Hope that helps explain your situation!

Cheers,
John

rort said:
So frustrated...

I thought I had this dialed in with the 59mm nozzle (interior diameter 19mm). It was skimming great for a couple of days and then I go to my skimmer this morning and it is over flowing like crazy!!

I turned the wedgepipe less than 25% closed and it is sitting in about 8-9" of water...

I did add some KZ Coral Snow to the tank at 10pm last night but it shouldn't be overflowing 13 hours later!

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
 
It is only today that I got the time to install the 170 upgrade impeller and nozzle. I'm not sure if I like it or not. I found this youtube video uploaded by someone which showed how strong the pump intake was, which was consistent with mine. Note how the bubbles go below the white round plate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NggdS0nB5HI

After the upgrade, I find the pump intake a bit weak. Bubbles now start at about 2" above the white plate. It is skimming with a thick, fine skimmate but is this how it should be? Anyone using the newer impeller and nozzle have bubbles below that white round plate?

My water level is at 9". Nozzle is turned out at about 4 turns.
 
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