Vertex Alpha 300 tunning help?

[Jeff000]

I've had my Alpha 300 running for a week now and followed the instructions for break in.
But how do I tune it now? Seems like regardless of how I spin that tube I get the same amount of bubbles. And while I am getting some skimate it's not a whole lot.

Any help would be great.

 

[Jeff000]

Right now I have the wedge pipe pretty much closed off and I can't get the bubbles to make it into the cup....

 

[slief]

Sump water depth is pretty important. I think when I set my Alpha 300 up, I started with a depth of 8.5". My sump level is easily adjustable by raising or lowering my ATO float switches.

To start with make sure you skimmer is in at least 8.5" of water if not 9". Open the wedge pipe completely and adjust the volutes 1.5 turns out to start and let it run for 24 hours to see how its working. Open the volutes 1/8-1/4 turn at a time from there as you dial things in. You might need to go out further than that.

That said, depending on your salinity and nutrient level, you might play with the depth. My skimmer is sitting in about 9" of water and my volutes are around 2 turns out. I also removed the foam filters from the top of the air inlet stacks. You get to them by removing the alan screw at the top of the wedge pipe stack.

Once you get it dialed in, they are super stable. Just make small adjustments and give it several hours between adjustments. Remember that after putting your hands in the water, the skimmer will react by not skimming properly. Same goes with feeding so don't expect things to completely stabilize after making a volute adjustment until you have given it some time.

Of the dozen or more skimmers I have owned, the Alpha 300 is by far the best, most reliable, stable and consistent skimmer I have ever owned by a long shot.

One last thing, if this is a new tank, you may not have enough nutrients or waste in the system for the skimmer to push out.

 

[Jeff000]

Thanks.

The sump is 8 3/4" deep. Right in the sweet spot according to the instructions. I can not make it any deeper.
I did the break in as per the instructions.

I keep my salinity at about .027

The tank is new, kind of. I had my sump running as the tank for almost a year while I waited for funds to make the tank. And then once the tank was in I just moved all the rock and fish and opened the valve. So there is ~200g of old water and about 250g of new water.

I have lots of fish,

gold flake
sail fin
yellow tang
pair of blue throat triggers
4 clowns
juv queen angel
chevron tang
blonde naso
15 lyretails
mystery wrasse

I have a hard time getting any of the foam. I can get the bubbles into the neck. but no foam is created. Over the course of a week I expected more than 1/2" of greenish water to be collected.
The bubble king 200 I had would pull an inch of thick sludge every day before I put the main tank online and went Vertex.

I know the skimmer should be great, it's basically a bubble king, but I can't get any skimate.

I'll try backing out volutes a bit, although it seems no matter what I do with them nothing seems to change. The instructions say to back them out till micro bubbles come out the outtake, but seems the same few bubbles make it though if the volutes are all the way in or out.

Maybe removing the foam will help? What is the purpose of the foam?

 

[slief]

The foam is just an air filter designed to keep dust from getting in to the skimmer.
The skimmer takes at least a week to build up a slime layer. Thus the breakin period. You may also need to raise the water level just a tad. That said, if you got a 1/2 inch of greenish water in the first week, that's not bad and it sounds like you are on track. I'd adjust your volutes and let it run for 24 hours and see how the foam head looks. From there depending on where its at, close the pipe a bit to see if that raises the head of the foam.

Is this skimmer new? If not, have you broken down the pumps, inspected and cleaned the parts in vinegar and inspected them? I would. If the magnet on one of your pumps slipped, that could cut the air/water mix by as much as 50% resulting in a really low foam head.

 

[Jeff000]

The foam is just an air filter designed to keep dust from getting in to the skimmer.
The skimmer takes at least a week to build up a slime layer. Thus the breakin period. You may also need to raise the water level just a tad. That said, if you got a 1/2 inch of greenish water in the first week, that's not bad and it sounds like you are on track. I'd adjust your volutes and let it run for 24 hours and see how the foam head looks. From there depending on where its at, close the pipe a bit to see if that raises the head of the foam.

Is this skimmer new? If not, have you broken down the pumps, inspected and cleaned the parts in vinegar and inspected them? I would. If the magnet on one of your pumps slipped, that could cut the air/water mix by as much as 50% resulting in a really low foam head.

It's brand new.

The first week I had foam going into the cup, not a lot, but at least foam creation

Last couple days, just bubbles, no foam, the wedge is 2/3 closed to get the bubbles into the neck.

It's not possible to make the sump deeper. I just went and measured again, 9 3/4 water level. The 8 sounded wrong after I typed it.

I opened my volutes to ~2 turns out, and wedge still about 2/3 to keep the bubbles in the neck. I'll hope and see for tomorrow.

 

[slief]

9 and 3/4 might be a bit too deep causing really wet bubbles and not allowing foam to build. Like I said, I run mine at 9" but depending on my bio load, I will run at 8 3/4. At 9 3/4 it would probably cause mine to overflow.

If adjusting the volutes and waiting 24-48 hours doesn't help, you might want to raise the skimmer a bit. If you can get your hands on some egg crate, put some under the skimmer.

I just removed a hundred pounds of crushed coral and sand from my tank in conjunction with a 150 gallon (a 25%) water change two weeks ago. I also did my semi annual skimmer cup scrubbing and pump cleaning. That change to my water effected my skimmer output substantially and cut it back to next to none. I attribute that to the new water and low nutrient level. I can't help but wonder if your new tank with 50-55% new water has something to do with what you are seeing and I'm betting it does. You might even need to wait a few more weeks for things to settle in. I also think 9 3/4" deep on your skimmer will be too deep once things settle in.

 

[CHSUB]

i would open the volutes more, mine are out about four turns. i would also check both pumps. i found tuning it a pia, but my problem was to much foam.

 

[slief]

i would open the volutes more, mine are out about four turns. i would also check both pumps. i found tuning it a pia, but my problem was to much foam.

Your at 4 turns on a 300? That's a lot of air based on my experience. What's your sump depth in relation to the skimmer? How wet is your skimmate?

Edit: I just went and double checked. I'm at about 1 3/4 turns out on both pumps. If I were running at 4 full turns out, I'd be overflowing at my current 9" depth. At 8", 4 turns out might work for me but I've been very happy with my current settings. You do have me curious though.

 

[CHSUB]

Your at 4 turns on a 300? That's a lot of air based on my experience. What's your sump depth in relation to the skimmer? How wet is your skimmate?

Edit: I just went and double checked. I'm at about 1 3/4 turns out on both pumps. If I were running at 4 full turns out, I'd be overflowing at my current 9" depth. At 8", 4 turns out might work for me but I've been very happy with my current settings. You do have me curious though.

i'm at about 8.5" with the wedge pipe opened full, my skimmate is wet, i guess? after about 3 days since last cleaning i have about 1/2" of very, very dark yellow/brown water with chunks of black gunk floating in it. my tank is about 300 gallons lightly stocked so the skimmer is oversized a bit. i'm happy with my current settings also, but i have had about 10 overflows in 10 months. i might reduce the air a bit based on you experience if it overflows again. however, i like adding more air vs less. i feed outside air to the skimmer w/out the foam. since i added the outside air pipe my ph stays between 8.20 and 8.27. which i guess is because i'm adding large amounts of fresh air? i'm by no means an expert with this thing based on ~10 overflows in ten months but i'm happy with the skimmer otherwise.

 

[slief]

i'm at about 8.5" with the wedge pipe opened full, my skimmate is wet, i guess? after about 3 days since last cleaning i have about 1/2" of very, very dark yellow/brown water with chunks of black gunk floating in it. my tank is about 300 gallons lightly stocked so the skimmer is oversized a bit. i'm happy with my current settings also, but i have had about 10 overflows in 10 months. i might reduce the air a bit based on you experience if it overflows again. however, i like adding more air vs less. i feed outside air to the skimmer w/out the foam. since i added the outside air pipe my ph stays between 8.20 and 8.27. which i guess is because i'm adding large amounts of fresh air? i'm by no means an expert with this thing based on ~10 overflows in ten months but i'm happy with the skimmer otherwise.

You might consider adding a 1 gallon waste jug to your skimmer's collection cup. It comes in handy. I usually have the valve to it closed and use it for draining my collection cup. When I travel, I open the valve up for a gallon of extra skimmate holding space.

To the OP,
I strongly suggest raising your skimmer to 8.75" to 9" depth by placing some egg crate or acrylic under the skimmer, open the wedge pipe all the way and open your volutes to 1.75 turns out and let run for a day and see how things are. If you are not generating a nice foam as opposed to wet bubbles, open the volutes another 1/4 turn. You should have nice a foamy head. If it's not coming out into the collection cup, try closing the wedge pipe 1/2 way and see how that effects things. If you are not happy at that point, you can try raising the skimmer another 1/4 inch. I would not exceed 9" though. If you are at 9" and still not happy, try another 1/8 to 1/4 turn out on the volutes and let it run for several hours. You should be really close.

Having had this skimmer for about 3 years now, I have found that having (and maintaining) the correct sump depth and a good starting point on the volutes is the most important thing when it comes to getting consistent operation out of this skimmer. Once you get that set right, it is one of the best skimmers I have ever owned by a long shot. As I said, 8.75 to 9" depth, 1.5 to 2 turns out on the volutes should get you into the zone. Then make subtle changes to the sump depth or volutes to tune it.

The more you open the volutes, the more air you put into the skimmer raising the foam head but not necessarily the water level inside the skimmer. Remember, you need the air to product the foam. By having the volutes closed, you are not allowing enough air into the skimmer. To much air creates very large bubbles and doesn't produce a nice foam. More water in the sump, raises the water level in the skimmer but will result in wetter skim-mate and less control of the skimmer level. It will also inhibit the skimmers ability to create a nice foam head and instead will result in large bubbles that can overflow your skimmer in a hurry. That is why it's important to have the correct water level in the sump. The wedge pipe is your water level adjustment for fine tuning the level inside the skimmer between a wet and dry skim. For that to be effective, you have to have the water level in the sump just right and at 9.75" I think you are way off!

 

[Jeff000]

Skimmer is in 8.5" of water now.

I can't seem to get it to do anything but overflow or not make any foam head.
Yesterday I thought I had it perfect. Just the right amount of foam...

Now it looks like this today

I can not get it to make a foam head, all I can seem to do it get the bubbles to be higher or lower, but no foam.

Very frustrating.

 

[CHSUB]

[/IMG]

here is mine, it looks like this most of the time. however it does overflow once and a while. mine looks like yours right after i feed or put my hand in the tank, but it last only about 1 hour. i would remove the sponges and open the volutes more, but very slowily over the span of 2 or 3 days!!!! go slow.