Royal-Exclusiv / Vertex Cone Skimmer Club

[slief]

Nope, the ports are not plugged. I have never heard of them being plugged. Should they be? If so how is it supposed to be done?

What nozzles are you running? Also whats your water depth?

I set my Alpha 300 up a couple weeks back. Its doing pretty well so far. Added an Aqua Driver SCH last night. Im running it at about 9" depth. I have been running the 53mm nozzles for the last week or so. I started off running the stock nozzle in one and the 53 in the other. Not sure what combination I like best. I'm still futzing with it trying to find its sweet spot but so far I'm very impressed.

Very curious what others are running with the 300 as far as depth and nozzle length.

Here are some pics that I took just after I swapped my old sump and beckett skimmer out for my new sump, fuge and Alpha 300. The doors below the tank still need to go back on and I had not cleaned the wires up before these pictures were taken.

Aqua Driver 300 SCH. Very well engineered in my opinion.

Aqua Driver installed

This is a pic I took of the skimmer a few days after I set it up.

This pic was taken within hours or firing the skimmer up for the first time.

 

[eran]

What nozzles are you running? Also whats your water depth?

I am running the stock nozzles and it is currently sitting in 9" of water. I have yet to try the other nozzles

 

[rbnice1]

They need to make a manual verson of those auto clean heads for around 100 bucks. You could just walk up to the skimmer and using a crank spin it to clean it once or twice a day.

The auto version of it is as much as I paid for the damn skimmer.

 

[cwklinge]

Quick question for someone out there. I got my hands one of the Vertex/Red Dragon 1500 pumps and I'm going to hook it up to hopefully a custom made skimmer. However, I need to know the size of the tubing used to connect the pump to the skimmer.

 

[solRNY]

Nope, the ports are not plugged. I have never heard of them being plugged. Should they be? If so how is it supposed to be done?

I actually dont know if they should be, but i guess both ports are for air so if you left the ozone port open then its drawing in water, if you plugged it up maybe the primary port will draw in more air? just a guess..

 

[Jeremy B.]

Having the ozone port plugged or not really isn't going to make much of a difference at all. I recommend leaving the red tube off if you're not injecting ozone, no need to plug it up.

 

[GT_Jacket]

Can I join the club since I have an Alpha 170 on order or do I have to wait for delivery (later next week)?

I also have an ATI 8 x 54W PM on its way.... this is worse than waiting for Christmas morning to come around.

Thanks Jason and Jeremy @ PA...

 

[Jeremy B.]

Thank you for the order! Be sure to post some pics once you get it up and running.

 

[summer6]

I have been keeping an eye out on these Alpha Cone skimmers and am seriously in the market for one. It seems the sale/shipping has come at the right time.

I've been dissatisfied with the 2 sicce pumps on my current skimmer (BM 250) mainly because 1 always seems to fail to restart after a power blip, or when I need to turn off the skimmer for tank maintenance.
So, the most important thing for me is a great pump, that will do the job and not give me "issues."

Can I rely on the Red Dragon 1500?

I have approx 220 total water volume, heavier stocked, and would like more sps corals in the future.
Will the Alpha 200 do the job? (I think so)

Also, does the skimmed water (from the outflow) need to be diverted out of the skimmer compartment in my sump, or does it just flow back into the skimmer compartment?
Thanks for the help.

 

[Jeremy B.]

The RD1500 is one of the most reliable pumps out there. You shouldn't have any issues at all with this one.

The Alpha 200 should be able to handle your system just fine. Even though the 200 is the second to smallest in the Alpha line it is still a beast of a skimmer. You could possibly go to to the 250 and be ok, however the 200 is more suited for your size system.

The outflow of the skimmer will just dump right back into the same compartment. You don't need to worry about running it elsewhere.

 

[summer6]

Thanks Jeremy for the info. My sump (skimmer) compartment is a steady 11 3/4" in depth. So I assume the Alpha 200 will be ok if it's raised up a bit?

 

[slief]

Thanks Jeremy for the info. My sump (skimmer) compartment is a steady 11 3/4" in depth. So I assume the Alpha 200 will be ok if it's raised up a bit?

You will be fine. My sump runs at 12" deep. I have a platform under my Alpha 300 so it sits at about 9" which from my reading seems to be the optimal depth. My 300 kicks some serious butt! I am very impressed with this skimmer after only using it form a month. Also, the red dragon pumps are regarded as the best pumps on the market. As Jeremy said, you should expect no problems with these pumps!

 

[summer6]

Thanks for the thumbs up... it looks like this is the way for me to go.:fish2:

 

[v1...rotate]

Hey guys, having some trouble with my Alpha 200.

It produced many micro bubbles a few days ago then they disappeared. Today I noticed they are back and at closer inspection I noticed that there appears to be a leak on the intake to the skimmer (See picture below). I have tried pushing the red tube all the way in but it stills leaks.

This is causing many micro bubbles in the sump area and hence the display tank.

Has anyone had this or heard of this before? What would you recommend being the best option to fix this?

Thanks
Andrew

 

[Jeremy B.]

That's the first I have seen anything like that. Try flipping the coupling around and see if that works. Also, can you post a photo of the skimmer by showing the entire bottom half?

 

[v1...rotate]

Hi Jeremy,

If you mean the red coupling. That wont work as the other end is slightly larger and wont fit.

It seems that it only leaks (bubbles) when the grey nozzle/red tube is not pushed in. Tried it with both sizes too 56mm and 58mm.

I pulled the pump apart to check the impeller. All appears ok.

The skimmer has been raised so it is in approx 9" water.

Any other ideas...?

 

[GT_Jacket]

Hi Jeremy,

If you mean the red coupling. That wont work as the other end is slightly larger and wont fit.

It seems that it only leaks (bubbles) when the grey nozzle/red tube is not pushed in. Tried it with both sizes too 56mm and 58mm.

I pulled the pump apart to check the impeller. All appears ok.

The skimmer has been raised so it is in approx 9" water.

Any other ideas...?

Sump is way too clean...

 

[Jeremy B.]

A few things.....

1. Your skimmer is reacting to something in the water column such as epoxy, medication, etc. The bubble column inside the chamber should be right around the top of the cylinder coming off of the plate itself. Your bubble column is down to the bubble plate.

2. The skimmer venturi could possibly be restricted, causing the same thing to happen with the bubble column as mentioned above.

3. Push the silicone hose (coupling) on further. It needs to be pushed further onto the pump outlet, and further onto the skimmer inlet.

 

[eran]

I want to add a float switch to the lid of my 300 like the atb's have. any ideas as to what type of float would be best to use??

 

[slief]

Hi Jeremy,

If you mean the red coupling. That wont work as the other end is slightly larger and wont fit.

It seems that it only leaks (bubbles) when the grey nozzle/red tube is not pushed in. Tried it with both sizes too 56mm and 58mm.

I pulled the pump apart to check the impeller. All appears ok.

The skimmer has been raised so it is in approx 9" water.

Any other ideas...?

I would turn the skimmer outlet the other direction. From the looks of the pictures, those could be microbubbles from the skimmers output collecting on the outside of the skimmer. That red dragon pump will pull the micro bubbles from the skimmers exhaust back towards the pump and bubbles tend to collect on things.

If it is coming from inside the skimmer, just push the rubber tube between the skimmer and the pump all the way up the red pipe so it comes in contact with the skimmers body. That is the way I have my hose on those pipes. That hose will act as a seal around the pipe.

Either way, I would turn that skimmers exhaust away from the pumps or extend it with a piece of PVC past the pumps.