Vertex Omega 130 issues

[BigDaddyD1992]

Hello everyone, ive gone through the break in period (its on a brand new tank) and now im trying to dial in my skimmer but it keeps overflowing. Ive read as much as a can but cant figure out why. I have my pipe all the way open and the air valute is closed. It is currently sitting in a 7 1/4" water depth. Is it sitting too deep? Ive read people having great success with it at 6.5", if i need to rise it up how should i go about it? Thanks!

Corn Fed Iowa Bred

 

[oseymour]

If you need to raise it a little - try some styrofoam or buy egg crate(light diffusion panels) from home depot or lowes.

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Do you think a 3/4" thick piece of acrylic would work also?

Corn Fed Iowa Bred

 

[rocsec1]

Sure that would work but it might become a dirt trap when stuff works it way under it

 

[ReefCowboy]

I think an acrylic piece would work fine.

 

[Lsufan]

I started my omega 130 on a new tank also & it got somewhat broken in in a couple weeks but it really took a couple months before it broke in all the way to where it would be pretty consistent. I had to run it in 6 to 6 1/2" of water for months before I could lower it any. I now run it at 7" & it is fine.

In the first few months mine would skim good for a while & then overflow on me. Any little change in the water would make it overflow. What I find helped would be to when it would overflow I would get a 5 gallon bucket & hook up a tube to the drain on the skimmer & let it drain to the bucket. Usually after draining a gallon or two it would settle back down & start skimming again. I use to have to do it pretty often but it would always work.

It got way better after about 3 months but it was still a little inconsistent until I added a valve on the air intake & cut down on the air that it was pulling. After doing that it skims great & stays pretty consistent now.

 

[cflow]

I had to raise mine way up. It's really annoying.

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Ok cool thanks guys, right now i have it off because its constantly overflowing now matter what I do. Should i just leave it on with the cup off and the pipe closed all the way untill i get the piece of acrylic?

Corn Fed Iowa Bred

 

[Buzz1329]

Are you using ball valve on airline to regulate airflow? I could not get it to stop overflowing until I installed it. Afterwards, I got consistent results/skimmate.

Mike

 

[00101]

As others have said the real key to getting this thing working correctly is air intake restriction. Let me prove my point, take the silicone air tubing it should have some slack, tie an overhand knot in it and reattach it to the top. Tighten or loosen that knot a little bit at a time and watch the magic happen.

Obviously a valve is a better solution, and I have a needle valve on mine for very precise adjustment but a small ball valve is fine too.

 

[Buzz1329]

As others have said the real key to getting this thing working correctly is air intake restriction. Let me prove my point, take the silicone air tubing it should have some slack, tie an overhand knot in it and reattach it to the top. Tighten or loosen that knot a little bit at a time and watch the magic happen.

Obviously a valve is a better solution, and I have a needle valve on mine for very precise adjustment but a small ball valve is fine too.

Agreed. Mine came with a little ball valve, which I did not realize was supposed to be spliced into airline. After installing it on airline, skimmer went from almost uncontrollable to VERY controllable.

Mike

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Wow thanks for the info guys im going to try to just raise the skimmer up first(just placed the order today for the sheet of 3/4" acrylic) and then if i dont end up with good results then i will be installing a ball valve on the airline to give that a try! Thanks once again for all the good info guys! RC never lets me down!

Corn Fed Iowa Bred

 

[00101]

So while I've been giving advice how to get this skimmer working well, I haven't been able to get it to stop spewing microbubbles. I haven't really cared in the past but I just picked up an apex and need to make sure that my probes don't get covered in bubbles.

From my observations if the bubbles in the chamber push below the bubble plate then you'll have microbubbles out the exhaust. I however have not been able to identify what exactly causes this or how to adjust the skimmer to fix the problem. If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated.