Vertex Skimmer club
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
I ordered an IN 100 on Saturday and got it yesterday. I ran it in a vinegar mix for about 5 hours then rinsed it and put it in my tank. The pump has stopped twice already and I have had to take it apart to get it started again, it must be faulty. I was hoping the new ones would run a little better. During the 14 hrs. it ran it was really quiet and pulled out some skimmate, but the pump issue appears to be pretty big. I had an original Octopus NW 200 and this seemed like much better quality construction on the body, thicker acrylic, better seams, ect., but I think they would have been better off charging $20 more and getting a pump that worked.
I really think this is a good quality skimmer, great for the $'s, but they need to solve this issue. Once the pump/impeller issue is fixed they are great. It looks to me from these posts that you either have trouble right away or they work fine, no issues. Unless you can afford a BK, there doesn't look to be any other skimmers that you can just plug in and they work good right out of the box, so this line is a great idea.
tangtang clown
New member
Has anybody tried a pump other than resun on these skimmers?
dwilly said he had the Octo 200, can you retro that pump to fit your new skimmer body while you wait on your "new impeller"?
At least you will have a skimmer on your tank.
Yeah, BlueStag tried that.... He said there was too much turbulence in the skimmer body. In order to make it work, I would think you would have to do something like changing the size of the intake venturi. Doesn't Bubble King have a way of adjusting how much water is pulled through their Red Dragon pumps??
tangtang clown
New member
If I had an Askoll, I would definitely try it.
PA overnighted the new impeller, (great service!) It has been running fine for over an hour. I'll keep posting updates. The pump went out on my Octo, that's why I bought the Vertex. The Octo pump was a pain the whole time I had it, so I wouldn't want that on my new skimmer. With the original Octopus you really had to do some mods to get it to run well. I did the gate valve mod, then the mesh mod (w/ the enlarged venturi), but it still never really ran well. I'll skip the details. I thought about going to a sicce pump for it, but the cost was going to end up close to $140 w/ the parts to make it fit, so I decided to try this instead, and see if it works w/o all the mods and adjusting daily. If it keeps running like it is right now It'll be great.
tripinpn01
Member
Im not sure if this has been asked, but what is the difference between a gen1 and gen2. Reason for me asking is because i am trying to figure out if mine is gen 1 or 2?
Also what is everyone's routine on dosing alk ca and mg? How long do you keep it off and do you open it up all the way when you first start it up again? I just hate the whole process
Thanks
Marcus
Also what is everyone's routine on dosing alk ca and mg? How long do you keep it off and do you open it up all the way when you first start it up again? I just hate the whole process
Thanks
Marcus
The gen 2 has the silencer built in on the top of the riser tube, plus the bubble plate is lower and the pump has a little stand that it sits in. If you look at the 2nd page of these 9 there are pictures of the gen 2.
I don't dose ca and alk, I use RC salt which has the correct levels of both and then I mix kalkwasser in my top-off water to keep them stable.
I don't dose ca and alk, I use RC salt which has the correct levels of both and then I mix kalkwasser in my top-off water to keep them stable.
EvMiBo
VictoriaConcordiaCrescit
I can answer your first question but not the dosing ones..
Gen2 has a silencer, a shorter bubble plate and the pump shoots directly into the skimmer instead of doing a 90 degree turn and then into the skimmer like the gen1. I think they supposedly modified the pump a little too, but haven't seen a comparison to the gen1.
edit: willy beat me.
