eran
New member
Pran,
The smell is a good thing!I'd imagine it will go away slightly over time, or you'll become used to it.
Jeremy
put some vinegar in your collection cup. It helps a lot!!!!
Royal-Exclusiv / Vertex Cone Skimmer Club
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
put some vinegar in your collection cup. It helps a lot!!!!
put some vinegar in your collection cup. It helps a lot!!!!
oh I always spray "dolce and gabbana one for men"
lol
As low as 8", and as high as 10". Having said that, I think right at 9" will give you the best performance.
sandgoby
New member
+1 I have mine at 9" of depth the water level in the skimmer is half way up the neck. works mint!
The pic is 3 days after cleaning!
S
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sandgoby
New member
Ok so i decided to take apart my Alpha 170 today to inspect it and give it a cleaning. It's been running for just over a month. When I dismantled the pump I found something a little alarming. The impeller shaft had rusted?:furious: Has anyone else experienced this? After only one month of operation I can't understand why the shaft would show signs of rust. If this keeps up I will need a new impeller every 6 months.
Thanks
S
Thanks
S
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Ive had my 200 apart twice now for cleaning. No rust on the impellar shaft or anywhere else. It should not be rusting so definitely contact the dealer (hopefully it's Premium and Jeremy) but in the meantime, it's ok to keep running the pump/skimmer, that little amount of rust wont hurt anything ... think about what GFO is :fun4:
Klaus Jansen
.Registered Member
@sandgoby....
Rust ? ...it is impossible... the Shaft is without Iron. The Vertex-shafts are made from non-corrosive Alloy/HastelloyC-rods..http://www.haynesintl.com/pdf/h2007.pdf No-corrosive and unbreakable.... we sell now more as 1500 shafts (Vertex Mini-Dragons, Bubble King Minis and now, BK-Supermarins and DeLuxes Modells) and no problems with this Alloy. Did you use Iron-based Phosphat-absorber?
best regards.. Klaus
Rust ? ...it is impossible... the Shaft is without Iron. The Vertex-shafts are made from non-corrosive Alloy/HastelloyC-rods..http://www.haynesintl.com/pdf/h2007.pdf No-corrosive and unbreakable.... we sell now more as 1500 shafts (Vertex Mini-Dragons, Bubble King Minis and now, BK-Supermarins and DeLuxes Modells) and no problems with this Alloy. Did you use Iron-based Phosphat-absorber?
best regards.. Klaus
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sandgoby
New member
Klaus,
thanks for responding, no I have not used a gfo since installing the vertex 170. If you look at the pic there is a small imperfection on the shaft. I believe that it is coming from there. It could also be a result from contamination from the manufacturing process. All I can tell you is that the end of the shaft shows signs of wear and rust after only one month of use. Could be just a one off occurrence but it should be addressed either way
thanks
S
Jeremy
here's the pix of my skimmer and tank, this is 1 week skimmate
When I drain the skimmate today I did not see any dark brown water coming, it was just clean smelly water, so I am not too sure why.
I have the wedge pipe fully open and using the wide short nozzle, and its skimming very slow but the skimmate it just clear. The reason why the pix looks like having dark skimmate, b/c I only clean the neck of the skimmer, I don't clean the outside.
I have put pix of my tank, and you can see how its very high bio load therefor the skimmer should be working.
here's the pix of my skimmer and tank, this is 1 week skimmate
When I drain the skimmate today I did not see any dark brown water coming, it was just clean smelly water, so I am not too sure why.
I have the wedge pipe fully open and using the wide short nozzle, and its skimming very slow but the skimmate it just clear. The reason why the pix looks like having dark skimmate, b/c I only clean the neck of the skimmer, I don't clean the outside.
I have put pix of my tank, and you can see how its very high bio load therefor the skimmer should be working.
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badazztealcobra
New member
Well, I finally got my Alpha 170 into the sump of the new setup.... Things have been taking longer than expected, and its going to be awhile until I get any nog, but I'm going to be slowly transferring a good amount of the livestock and corals from my current 180 to this new tank....
The one thing I know for aure, this is definitely the quietest skimmer I have ever heard. If it wasnt making bubbles I wouldnt have known it was running. :thumbsup:
FTS of the new setup:
A big thanks to Jeremy, since 99% of the equipment going into this new tank is all from PA.... That reminds me, I gotta call him and order another 6055 and the battery backup this week. :lolspin:
The one thing I know for aure, this is definitely the quietest skimmer I have ever heard. If it wasnt making bubbles I wouldnt have known it was running. :thumbsup:
FTS of the new setup:
A big thanks to Jeremy, since 99% of the equipment going into this new tank is all from PA.... That reminds me, I gotta call him and order another 6055 and the battery backup this week. :lolspin:
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On the rust issue....
Any Fe within the system that falls out is going to look like that. That is not rust, nor is the shaft actually rusting. I have seen them the same thing myself, typically where the shaft sets in the bearing, and it never gets any worse than that. I have never seen one of these shafts actually rust.
Any Fe within the system that falls out is going to look like that. That is not rust, nor is the shaft actually rusting. I have seen them the same thing myself, typically where the shaft sets in the bearing, and it never gets any worse than that. I have never seen one of these shafts actually rust.
sandgoby
New member
Thanks Jeremy,
So if I were to clean it off with a little CLR it shouldn't return correct? Or at the very least should not be the same pattern. I'll try that and let you guys know.
Just as a side note, I have worked with many alloys and have seen different ones appear to rust / corrode that shouldn't. Every time contamination was to blame. A stamp, bit or tool that was used on a different material was then used on the alloy. Resulting in what appeared to be a rusting material that should not. In my case here the rod that I have could have been at the beginning of a production run and suffered this type of contamination. Just what I was thinking after reading the data on the Alloy.
Just to clarify this is my second skimmer powered by the red dragon pump. My first was a Mini 200. I still believe that these are the best skimmers on the market period.
Thanks
S:thumbsup:
sandgoby
New member
I wanted to share these photos with you guys, I've had this tank running for about 2 years now, I have always struggled with algae. I was never happy with my tank. The pics are before the installation of the Alpha 170 and 1 month after. The only other change was the addition of a cryptic fuge. I also added NP bio-pellets about 2 weeks ago. I am sure that the 170 made all the difference. I had a recirculating skimmer in this system since I started it. Rated at 250 Gal that my LFS sold me. Where companies get these stats for their products I have no idea. You be the judge.
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You won't even need clr, use a dry cloth and it will come right off. Once you completely clean it off with a dry cloth, you'll see there is no pitting, rust, etc.
All Red Dragon pumps are designed around an Askoll motorblock. All of the Alpha skimmers, models 170, 200, 250, and 300 all use Red Dragons designed around the Askoll 1500 motorblock.
The Alpha 170 uses a Red Dragon 1000, while the Alpha 200 uses a Red Dragon 1500.
Thanks,
Jeremy
Hi all
how are all your Vertex skimmer's doing
I tested my nitrate last night and it was 0, but I am going to go to the fish store today just to make sure that my nitrates are acutally 0 or not.
If its true then the vertex alpha 200 is awesome, b/c I NEVER had 0 nitrate in my reef tank.
Also, I was thinking about doing Vodka dosing, but if I have 0 nitrates then there is no point.
A question for all, when you drain the collection cup, what is the colour of ur skimmate, mine is very light tea colour but smells awful.
thanks
Pran
how are all your Vertex skimmer's doing
I tested my nitrate last night and it was 0, but I am going to go to the fish store today just to make sure that my nitrates are acutally 0 or not.
If its true then the vertex alpha 200 is awesome, b/c I NEVER had 0 nitrate in my reef tank.
Also, I was thinking about doing Vodka dosing, but if I have 0 nitrates then there is no point.
A question for all, when you drain the collection cup, what is the colour of ur skimmate, mine is very light tea colour but smells awful.
thanks
Pran
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