Royal-Exclusiv / Vertex Cone Skimmer Club

Yup, sorry it wasn't clear. I'm talking about the clear tube that runs from the wedge pipe to the red dragon pump. If I close down the wedge pipe too far, water rises in this tube far enough that it ends up going down the tube into the pump, cutting off the air supply. As I was trying to explain earlier, I have this wedge pipe closed down as far as possible without this happening. So right now I seemed to me maxed out as far as getting more/wetter skimmate. I must have been right on the edge before, because after a few days of it running like that, all of a sudden i got water down the tube. This is what I was talking about in the portion you quoted.

TIA!
 
Honestly, I think it basically boils down to running too large of a skimmer on too small of a system. You're having to run the water level really high up in the neck to try and skim wet. The reason you're having to run it so high to "wet skim" is because of the small bioload you have in ratio to the size skimmer you're running. You then get the water level cranked up really high and any small fluctuation in dissolved organics within the system or other changes that effect the skimmer reaction is then causing it to overflow on you.

You have two options....

1. Leave it where it's at and let it skim a little on the dry side like in the photos - which I personally think is perfect.

2. Get it set to where it's somewhat dry like it is now, and then make a 1/32 turn on the wedge pipe and walk away from it. Don't adjust it again for about a day or two. You can then keep doing that until you dial it in to where you want it, but my guess is that you're going to end up overflowing again.
 
Honestly, I think it basically boils down to running too large of a skimmer on too small of a system. You're having to run the water level really high up in the neck to try and skim wet. The reason you're having to run it so high to "wet skim" is because of the small bioload you have in ratio to the size skimmer you're running. You then get the water level cranked up really high and any small fluctuation in dissolved organics within the system or other changes that effect the skimmer reaction is then causing it to overflow on you.

You have two options....

1. Leave it where it's at and let it skim a little on the dry side like in the photos - which I personally think is perfect.

2. Get it set to where it's somewhat dry like it is now, and then make a 1/32 turn on the wedge pipe and walk away from it. Don't adjust it again for about a day or two. You can then keep doing that until you dial it in to where you want it, but my guess is that you're going to end up overflowing again.
 
Thanks, Jeremy! That does help.
The tank is only 4 months old. I feed pretty light and don't have many fish yet. That will all be changing soon as I'll be adding a 4-5 anthias and more fish. I'll leave it where it is for now. My rock is all from TBS and with everything that comes with the rock plus all the additional snails, hermit, cucumbers, shrimp, stars, etc my cleanup crew is insane. I am also planning on picking up the vertex neck cleaner really soon because I'm terrible at keeping up with cleanings. Do you have this in stock?
 
yes, any ideas when they will be back in stock? it's one of the last pieces of equipment I have to get for my build... so i'm anxiously waiting.
 
Looking into the alpha 200 skimmer and planning out my sump.

I saw the footprint is 18x10" and my sump measured at exactly 17.5" wide, is the 18" length of the Vertex 200 flexible, meaning if you sort of twist it sideways a bit, or bend the pump sideways a bit you can fit it in the 17.5" gap?

I thought I read this earlier on in the thread but just wanted to clarify. Going to silicone my baffles later, so wanted to know before I committed to it.

If I can do that, how big should I make that chamber? 10" or give it some wiggle room say 12"? bearing in mind I plan on having a filter sock holder in that chamber too, so would that still fit in the 17.5" gap with the skimmer, or put it on the other wall and give more room length ways.

Thanks for your help.
 
IUfan said:
Looking into the alpha 200 skimmer and planning out my sump.

I saw the footprint is 18x10" and my sump measured at exactly 17.5" wide, is the 18" length of the Vertex 200 flexible, meaning if you sort of twist it sideways a bit, or bend the pump sideways a bit you can fit it in the 17.5" gap?

I thought I read this earlier on in the thread but just wanted to clarify. Going to silicone my baffles later, so wanted to know before I committed to it.

If I can do that, how big should I make that chamber? 10" or give it some wiggle room say 12"? bearing in mind I plan on having a filter sock holder in that chamber too, so would that still fit in the 17.5" gap with the skimmer, or put it on the other wall and give more room length ways.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

You can wiggle it around some and make a little more room if you need to. You can also cut the silicone coupler down slightly to help out as well. You shouldn't have any problems fitting it if you can go to the 12".
 
I've read some of this thread and tried adjusting my alpha 200 skimmer. It is on a 97 gallon cube which I know the skimmer is a little large for. I purchased this for a bigger upgrade that didn't happen. Any who I have the skimmer in 9" of water in sump and have Venturi 3 turns out. The skimmer has been in the box for a few years and has been running for 3 months or so. I have never been able to get anything darker than a light tea colored skim mate or it will just run dry and build up all of the funk in the neck and not put any skim mate in the neck. Anymreccomendations would be great. By the way right now the wedge pipe is all the way open. I am getting a little frustrated probably due to my own lack of knowledge on skimmers
 
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