Skimmer Q&A Thread

Just got my ATB 840, Very pleased with it. Can't wait it for it to break in more, but after only a couple of hours the foam head is already starting to build nicely.

Mojo- I hear that there is a "break in time" for the mini-airstar (sicce) pumps, where they are a bit louder than usual when first turned on, but then quiet down nicely pretty quick. Is this your experience as well? So far the noise isn't horrible from it, but not as quiet as i thought it was going to be/expected it to be.
 
Good to know. I thought i was going to shoot right past the "break-in" period, but then i made the mistake of thinking i could feed the tank and the skimmer wouldn't freak out... whoops.. ;)
 
yup, mine is in 7" of water. I have the large pinwheel though.

Just a general question here for mojo or other ATB owners, the dots that line up on the rise pipe, are they supposed to touch? I found out i didn't have my pipe pushed in far enough, and that water was leaking out from underneath it. I crammed it down as far as it would go now, but the dots still don't touch, there's about a centimeter of room between them.. i assume this is normal?

It's running "wide open" right now, and the bubbles aren't rising into the neck yet... but that might also be because i've been an idiot and have been playing with it a ton. Should i just leave it wide open and let it run overnight then look at it again tomorrow?
 
Joel A said:
yup, mine is in 7" of water. I have the large pinwheel though.

Just a general question here for mojo or other ATB owners, the dots that line up on the rise pipe, are they supposed to touch? I found out i didn't have my pipe pushed in far enough, and that water was leaking out from underneath it. I crammed it down as far as it would go now, but the dots still don't touch, there's about a centimeter of room between them.. i assume this is normal?

It's running "wide open" right now, and the bubbles aren't rising into the neck yet... but that might also be because i've been an idiot and have been playing with it a ton. Should i just leave it wide open and let it run overnight then look at it again tomorrow?
Click to expand...

Yea just let it run wide open over night. you wedge pipe is fine. and slowly over the next couple day start to raise it up.
 
Hey Mojo,

Just curious if you saw the new nozzle solutions to the Alpha Cones on the Premium Aquatics section? If that resolves the issues and with the current sale they are having, would you put the Alpha Cones back at a level with the ATB's and KZ's or do they still fall short? Also, do you think the Alpha 170 with the new nozzles is worth double a SWC-160 due the the Red Dragon Pump and materials used?

Thanks!
 
KRASHPD said:
Hey Mojo,

Just curious if you saw the new nozzle solutions to the Alpha Cones on the Premium Aquatics section? If that resolves the issues and with the current sale they are having, would you put the Alpha Cones back at a level with the ATB's and KZ's or do they still fall short? Also, do you think the Alpha 170 with the new nozzles is worth double a SWC-160 due the the Red Dragon Pump and materials used?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Well THe alpha 170 has an adjustable nozzle and a wedgepipe that you have to adjust now. This is so you can get it to work well for your setup. My problem with the alpha vertex line is the arrogance that that comes with it. As I have had 2 of the models and was told both times that nothing was wrong with them. That it must be me, they have never seen this issue. ect... And a month or two later changes were made. Like the 250. when it first came out it only pulled about 1400 lph of air. With the neck being almost 6 inches I suggested getting more air from the pump. Plus you have to run it so deep to get the thing to work. They now pull over 2000lph of air. Much better. But you still have to run them kind of deep.

Same type of situation with the 170. he pump is so throttled down that if you are not careful it will surge. Now I have tested many skimmers but none have surged. I made some mods to the inlet and resolved the issue. Again I was told theyhadnt seen this. Again, as you see them now there was a pinwheel and volute venturi upgrade. So all these people spent good money and had a lot of frustration for month until they resolved the issue. IMO it should of been something taken care of from the beginning. Are they ok now? I think Jeremy at premium has done a pretty good job working with proline fixing the issues with the skimmers. ITs just one of those things. I think the 200 model is about the only model I really like out of that series. Not a bad skimmer. Just not up to the hype was all. They got off on the wrong foot and if yo wan more info on them I suggest the premium aquatics forum on the vertex alpha page.

No more to say on them sorry. sore subject.

Mojo~
 
I am curious about the difference between an in sump and external skimmer. Why are the external's so much more expensive? Also, and I think you recommend the regular, what is the major difference between the cone and standard. I have narrowed down to the Oct. Super Reef 5000 or the Super cone 5000 internal. The cone is about $150 more and the externals are around $150 more on both. Just cannot figure out why...

We will be running a 300 gallon display, 100 gallon sump, and a 40 gallon frag tank.
 
Thanks for the very informative reply. I honestly appreciate the time you spent to write that and I couldn't agree with you more. Just out of curiosity, have you ever used the Elos Natural Protein skimmers and how would you rate them compared to the recent skimmer designs?
 
From my understanding you don't need a vinegar bath for the ATB's, I've read that it makes them have a longer break in time. Mine was plug and play right out of the box.

Question on mine though, it's skimming well now, getting a good consistent head. Still tweaking the water level occasionally, but either way it's skimming good. The Sicce pump hasn't quieted down yet though.. i know i'll always be able to hear a bit of suction if i put my ear right down near it, but that's not what i'm talking about. From the get go the pump has produced a rattling noise.. it hasn't gotten any better? It's much louder than a mag pump that i use on my system if that puts it into perspective at all. I gave it a few days just because i heard there was a break in time, but it's been running for 4 days now? I thought these were supposed to be really quiet pumps?
 
i didn't use any vinegar either, i did put it in a tank with some rock that was curing.
It has been running for 2 weeks now, it has gotten quieter; but to get to this point i had to deal with start up issues; sometimes it just wouldn't start up; other times, it would start but rattle and then stop rattling and be fine.
the pump is annoying, but the skimmer works great, it is pulling some nasty skimmate and can see a diff in my DT.
 
i hope the pump doesn't stay this way, i was told that the difference between ATB sicce based pumps and coralvue sicce based pumps was night and day...i heard the ATB should have no start up issues and be nearly silent. So far mine doesn't have start up issues, but is far from "nearly silent".
 
Mini BK 160 VA arrived today!

Mini BK 160 VA arrived today!

Hi Mojo, I did follow your advise and am trying a new Mini BK 160 on my system just placed it in the sump today!
It is running in 9.5 constant water depth. Can you tell me how you adjusted your water level? Did you set the water level in the skimmer Max water level line mark or did you adjust it somewere in the rising tube?
 
I have a coralife super skimmer 220 on a 180 gallon as a temporary skimmer until I start adding corals and more fish. A few questions:

I finally got the skimmer adjusted to produce a good amount of skimmate, but now the return is flooding my sump and tank with micro bubbles. I tried using the bubble difuser, but that only made more little bubbles that got pureed by my return pump. What can I do to get rid of the bubbles? My tank actually looks cloudy there's so many.

Also wondering what the proper water level should be for this skimmer in a sump?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
Replacement Pump for Vertex Omega 150 Protein Skimmer
Replies
4
Views
2K
r1racer
R
S
Why do oversized protein skimmers not adequately remove protein from a tank?
Replies
17
Views
3K
Guygettnby
Guygettnby
S
Small Sump Leak - Worth fixing?
Replies
1
Views
123
griss
griss
Broken reefer
Skimmer
Replies
7
Views
762
wvned
wvned
S
Back up power supply
2
Replies
24
Views
3K
ironwill723
ironwill723
Back
Top