Royal-Exclusiv / Vertex Cone Skimmer Club
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
rogerwilco357
Active member
ok all has been well till today it was overflowing and had to empty the lid..again it started overflowing wedge is wide open and still overflowing any idea as to why I checked no obstructions or clogged anything..i started using zeobac one drop per 25 gallons I know that this will cause a skimmer to work but will it cause this kind of reaction? the tank is 120 gallons with rock displacement i would say around 100 gallons the skimmer sits in about 8.5in of water in the sump..going to stop using the zeobac till i find out if that is the problem if so would i need a bigger skimmer or just run the tube from the collection to a 5 gallon container till it stops overflowing? im at a lost..
Mike de Leon
New member
How long have you had it set up? The skimmer?
Enjoy
That's what she said....
Hi Jeremy,
I have a question about the Alpha 200. I bought mine used about 8 months ago and have never changed/added the Replacement Nozzle. Is this something that I can benefit from purchasing? What are the pro's to me buying one of these compared to how the skimmer is currently functioning? I am already very impressed with this skimmer on my 180g system, but would like to get as much as I can out of it. Thanks Jeremy!
-Andrew
I have a question about the Alpha 200. I bought mine used about 8 months ago and have never changed/added the Replacement Nozzle. Is this something that I can benefit from purchasing? What are the pro's to me buying one of these compared to how the skimmer is currently functioning? I am already very impressed with this skimmer on my 180g system, but would like to get as much as I can out of it. Thanks Jeremy!
-Andrew
TheOtherReefer
Pre-Internet Club
I'm in!!!
Check it out looks like a new BK cone just came out, Jeremy do you have any details?
http://************.com/2011/01/20/bubble-king-double-cones/
http://************.com/2011/01/20/bubble-king-double-cones/
TheOtherReefer
Pre-Internet Club
Test run
After 1 minute...
After 5 minutes...
A Beast!!
After 1 minute...
After 5 minutes...
A Beast!!
OG Reefs
IEMAS Member
Hey every one, just joined the club! I got a Alpha 200. I got it from a friend along with most of his set up. It doest have an intake nozzle though, not like the one in the manual anyway. It has a plastic bushing and a red pvc pipe. Do I need to have the adjustable nozzle?
sandgoby
New member
Hey guys, I have been running my 170 for about a year now. No real issues so far, it has been a great skimmer. Since the last time I pulled it out for a good cleaning it only skims wet? A light tea color, no matter how I adjust it. It's been back running now for a couple of weeks and no change. Anyone else have anything like this happen to them?
Thanks S
Thanks S
Do you drip kalk or pour in your 2-part near the skimmer down in the sump? It's very common in general for salt creep to plug up a venturi, happens with any skimmer, regardless of make / model. Just keep it cleaned out and you should be fine.
Your skimmer has caught up with your bioload and is pulling out as much as it can. I have had various skimmers on many different systems do the exact same thing, nothing to worry about.
sandgoby
New member
Carefully run a razor blade around the seam where the flat plate meets the red cylinder. This will get it open for you. Once you have it opened up completely remove the foam pad and throw it away, clean everything else out, and reassemble. Do not flush the unit with RO water without removing the foam pads. This will greatly restrict the air flow the skimmer.
After almost a year, I finally figured out one thing that was the cause of periodic overflowing with my alpha 200. Since I have had the alpha 200, I have experience episodes of crazy overflowing now and then. In time, I figured out what some of those causes were. For example, when we used a certain appliance cleaner or cleaned the floors with a certain cleaner, those cleaners would cause an overflow. Once the causes was identified, the fix was simple.
However, my 200 still had this tendency to overflow after 2 or 3 or 4 weeks for no reason that I could find. I could see the change in the bubbles and foam over a matter of several days to a couple of weeks,,,, leading up to the overflow. First the bubbles in the lower chamber would start moving down towards and then to the bottom bubble plate. Also the bubbles in the neck just below the collection cup would start to swirl in all directions rather than just move upwards. I would have to start to open the outflow value to keep it from overflowing. Eventually, despite being in full open position, it would overflow. Looked just like if something was in the water making it overflow.....such as epoxy, etc.
I had ruled out any chemicals in the air or added to the water, etc. But couldn't figure out why the bubble pattern would change like this. Then I finally realized the problem.
The red plastic tube that inserts into the skimmer body; connecting the silicone tube from the pump to the inner skimmer body, would slowly start to slip out. It wouldn't take much to slip out of the inner part of the skimmer body before the pump output starts to leak into the outer segment of the skimmer body. Once this starts to happen, the bubble pattern becomes more turbulent, the bubbles start to move down to the bottom bubble plate, and eventually the whole thing starts to overflow after a few days. It looks just like something was added to the water, but is simply caused by that red tube slipping out a bit.
A little bit of super glue to secure that red tube from slipping out fixed that problem and now after a few months,,,,no more overflowing problem. The skimmer is very consistent now.
Perhaps I am the only one that was not aware of this potential problem?! But in case anyone else was experiencing a similar problem can consider this as a possible cause for them too.
However, my 200 still had this tendency to overflow after 2 or 3 or 4 weeks for no reason that I could find. I could see the change in the bubbles and foam over a matter of several days to a couple of weeks,,,, leading up to the overflow. First the bubbles in the lower chamber would start moving down towards and then to the bottom bubble plate. Also the bubbles in the neck just below the collection cup would start to swirl in all directions rather than just move upwards. I would have to start to open the outflow value to keep it from overflowing. Eventually, despite being in full open position, it would overflow. Looked just like if something was in the water making it overflow.....such as epoxy, etc.
I had ruled out any chemicals in the air or added to the water, etc. But couldn't figure out why the bubble pattern would change like this. Then I finally realized the problem.
The red plastic tube that inserts into the skimmer body; connecting the silicone tube from the pump to the inner skimmer body, would slowly start to slip out. It wouldn't take much to slip out of the inner part of the skimmer body before the pump output starts to leak into the outer segment of the skimmer body. Once this starts to happen, the bubble pattern becomes more turbulent, the bubbles start to move down to the bottom bubble plate, and eventually the whole thing starts to overflow after a few days. It looks just like something was added to the water, but is simply caused by that red tube slipping out a bit.
A little bit of super glue to secure that red tube from slipping out fixed that problem and now after a few months,,,,no more overflowing problem. The skimmer is very consistent now.
Perhaps I am the only one that was not aware of this potential problem?! But in case anyone else was experiencing a similar problem can consider this as a possible cause for them too.
Hdhuntr01
Member
Jeremy
It was good to talk to you today on the phone. I have tried everything I can think of and still am having problems with my 200 overflowing. I now have it sitting in 8 1/2" of water. I have the wedge pipe fully open. I tried to run it with the nozzle two turns out but it just kept overflowing. I had taken the foam filter out of the silencer but that made it worse. Right now I have it running with the foam filter back in and the nozzle turned 1 1/2 turns out. I would not say it is overflowing right now but I am getting a very wet skim. I am going to try and run like this overnight to see what it does but I know this is not peak performance for this skimmer.
What suggestions do you have? What should I try to adjust first? Water level or nozzle adjustments. The wedge pipe is fully open right now so no adjusting there. Should I remove the foam filter from the silencer before making any adjustments?
Thanks for your input.
It was good to talk to you today on the phone. I have tried everything I can think of and still am having problems with my 200 overflowing. I now have it sitting in 8 1/2" of water. I have the wedge pipe fully open. I tried to run it with the nozzle two turns out but it just kept overflowing. I had taken the foam filter out of the silencer but that made it worse. Right now I have it running with the foam filter back in and the nozzle turned 1 1/2 turns out. I would not say it is overflowing right now but I am getting a very wet skim. I am going to try and run like this overnight to see what it does but I know this is not peak performance for this skimmer.
What suggestions do you have? What should I try to adjust first? Water level or nozzle adjustments. The wedge pipe is fully open right now so no adjusting there. Should I remove the foam filter from the silencer before making any adjustments?
Thanks for your input.
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