subman719
Member
If ALL of that is going to be on ONE system then I would go with the 300. The 250 "MAY" do it but you might cut yourself a little short! Just my opinion.
Royal-Exclusiv / Vertex Cone Skimmer Club
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
If ALL of that is going to be on ONE system then I would go with the 300. The 250 "MAY" do it but you might cut yourself a little short! Just my opinion.
7 hills reefer
New member
I ordered a 250 earlier today maybe I will send it back and upgrade to the 300
Thanks for the quick response,
Brian
Thanks for the quick response,
Brian
subman719
Member
I just re-read your post and thought deaper about your choice... I realized that just because you will have a 150 gallon rubbermaid sump on the system, that doesn't mean it will be full! My guess is that you'll be around 75 gallons of water in it, max. Same goes for the fuge that you'll probably have about 20 gallons in it. I estimate that you'll be at about 380 gallons of actual water and some of that is filtration, not load, so you will probably be just fine with the 250!
As I've metioned in a previous post, I've made the mistake of using too large of skimmers and they ended up not being able to push over the foam, therefore were innefective at removing the waste. I've tried about SIX different skimmers in the past five years and went from small to INSANELY HUGE back down to the Alpha 170 which is the smallest of the Alpha lineup. Even thought its the starting point, it STILL doesn't break a sweat removing waste! I much rather see a skimmer consistently pushing out nasty, thick gunk than pushing light tea colored water and a few bubbles. You can't "break" a skimmer from "overworking" it! There's no such thing! They just push water and blow bubbles so don't worry about breaking the 250. Put it to work and work it hard!
Sorry for the long winded response... I just want you to feel confident that you made the right choice and that my recommendation of the 300 was wrong because I didn't do the "real" math.
7 hills reefer
New member
Thanks for the breakdown after looking around i will stick with the 250. like you said you can't break it from it working.
Thanks again,
Brian
Thanks again,
Brian
I purchased a 250 last year from member who used it for 6 month but recently set it up. It worked fine for like 6 month producing a bunch a microbubbles, but recently the amount of microbubbles being produced is very little. Is something wrong with the pump or does it need to be adjusted?
subman719
Member
There might be a small piece of debris stuck in the pump impeller needles. Since the skimmer worked fine for a while then changed suddenly, I would think that it is NOT an adjustment issue. If you feel comfortable with doing so, take out the pump, remove the 3 screws that hold the impeller housing on then remove the impeller housing cover. Check for any foreign matter either in the impeller needles or anywhere in the air intake tube and remove if there. If there is nothing there then rinse off the parts and re-assemble CAREFULLY as to not damage the O-ring. A slight wabbling/rocking motion is all that's needed to get the impeller housing back on then gently snug down the screws, not too tight, it's only plastic!
If there is nothing there and you still have the problem after starting up again, you've got me stumpped! Hope this helps!
subman719
Member
Temp won't really have too much to do with it unless it's insanely cold to the point where the livestock would die. Salinity as well would have to be so low that the livestock can't survive. Skimmers don't work in fresh water, only salt water so the more salt, the more skim and vice versa.
I would also check to see if there are any cracks or loose fitting anywhere that would cause it to suck in more water than air or a plugged air silencer. There is a piece of foam in there that MAYBE but very unlikely got soaked and it retaining water in the scilencer. Just take it out and if its wet, squeeze it out by rolling it in a bath towel to get most of the water out and not damage it.
IF after ALL of this you still have a problem, try pulling out the pump intake nozzle a few milimeters at a time and see if that helps. That will expose more of the air intake and mix more air with it.
Let me know your findings on all of this.
:headwally:
Can you post a photo of the skimmer installed in the sump?
subman719
Member
You're welcome! Good work! :thumbsup: I figured it was lack of air.
As for the skimmer height, 8 inches is the ideal water depth for most full size skimmers.
reefknight
New member
Can anyone tell me the diameter of tubing used on the Alpha 200, please? Also where can you source the silicon tubing, as I'm going to need a length of it.
TIA
TIA
reefknight
New member
nbsdsailor
New member
Does anyone know if there ever was a mod released for the water trickling out of the wedge pipe, where the air hose comes out?
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