Vertex Skimmer club

[E.intheC]

Here's the million dollar question though: if you buy the Vertex skimmer and upgrade the pump, (especially if it's the Tunze Hydrofoamer) you put yourself in a higher competitive bracket. For example, you can get a Warner Marine as-150 (on sale right now) for about the same as the Vertex+ above mentioned Tunze pump, or even a used Deltec for less than the that. I'm sure there are other skimmers in the 350$ price range that I'm missing. Question is: is it worth it?

 

[reeftivo]

Good point!

I would have considered the warner but the height and length were limiting to me and the sedras they use are 30+ watts. They run around $450.

I'm only putting the suggestion out there that this may be a good option for IN80 owners that are not getting the performance they had hoped for and would like some options.

The IN80 and tunze pump comes to around $340 so it's not too much if it will perform like a high end $600+ skimmer like the atb 840 or alpha cones etc.

I'll post some pics this week once the skimmer beds in from the new pump.

 

[E.intheC]

That's also a good point, Reeftivo. I'm sure the Tunze is much better (and quieter) than the Resun (or Sedra for that matter).
I'm all for improving the performance and making modifications, especially ones with documentation. I hope I didn't come across as anything different in my above post, as that was not my intent. :beer:

 

[reeftivo]

NP buddy! I didn't interpret it in a negative way at all. I knew excactly what you meant!

The hydrofoamer is my 6th Tunze product and I am pretty impressed at the customer service they provide in answering any questions you have regarding their products. I use Victor at ATB as a benchmark for CS but Roger @ Tunze is right up there too. I've never had a problem with any of my Tunze pumps but it's nice to know if I do, there is a good CS base there.

I'll keep you posted,

Happy Reefing Buddy! (BTW, also Zeohead in training)

Tivo

 

[jonnybravo22]

New tank - skimmer stopped foaming

New tank - skimmer stopped foaming

I have the In-80.

Can someone remind me how this works? I think it is normal but not sure if I remember correctly.

Got a new tank set up and I'm using sump from lady setup. When I had just sump water not flowing from tank it was foaming as per usual. Looking nice. Got the display finally filled and flowing into sump and the bubbles are really wet and big now and produce no foam. It's like blowing into a straw in a cup of water. Skimmer body is clear.


I believe this is from oils from manufacturing tank and new plumbing. Is that right? I wiped the inside of display thoroughly before using and washed the plumbing but seems like def. some residue leftover. Tank isn't clear yet.

Please confirm if you agree that it the cause and if do what is the remedy? How do I get rid of the oils without a skimmer? Will soaking skimmer in vinegar help? What's the best way to get skimmer to perform again. Thanks.

 

[reeftivo]

disconnect the airline from the fitting on the wedge pipe and stick it in a cup of RO water. Let it pull the RO water through and re-connect it and see where you're at. It sounds more like you have an obstruction or salt deposits than just surface tension issues. If running RO through it doesn't do it, take the pump off, then check and clean the volute and impeller assembly. IME, new plumbing and production oils will keep a foam head from forming but the reaction chamber should still be milked out.

 

[t11t5]

So overall are you all happy with the Vertex skimmers?

Im looking at the IN-100 for a 40g breeder tank.

 

[reeftivo]

Jury still out for me until I can get the in80 in sump with the hydrofoamer. I didn't like the noise from the resun pump and I felt it needed more air.

I've been looking through this thread and have only seen a few good nog shots. If anyone out there has some sick nog shots, please post. I need my fix!

 

[E.intheC]

Jury still out for me until I can get the in80 in sump with the hydrofoamer. I didn't like the noise from the resun pump and I felt it needed more air.

I've been looking through this thread and have only seen a few good nog shots. If anyone out there has some sick nog shots, please post. I need my fix!

I'd love to try out the Tunze pump as well. I also wonder if the less expensive Sedra pump would even work better than the Resun.

Also, I'd love to provide a nog shot, but so far the skimmer has only pulled out a green-ish tea colored skimmate (about a centimeter in the cup per day).

My last skimmer on a similar system size was the Euro Reef RS-80. That pulled out tons more skimmate, even though it's a smaller skimmer and less fish.. IMO. There are too many variables to determine why this is happening though.

 

[reeftivo]

Sedra would work. They have a better rep than resun (korea vs china).

The 3500 should work on the vertex 80 & 100.

 

[shackman]

Skimmer size

Skimmer size

Vertex IN-100 on a 29g with 15g 10g sump, I know overkill but would their still be enough organics for the skimmer to work?

 

[poolkeeper1]

Overkill

Overkill

Vertex IN-100 on a 29g with 15g 10g sump, I know overkill but would their still be enough organics for the skimmer to work?

I run a IN 250 W/Bubble Blaster 3000 pump, On a 59gal W/40gal sump and 30gal frag tank. And It pull as much as my Super Octo 5000 Cone on a 300 gal system. The small tank only has three small fish until Saturday when I'll add a Tang Sm Powder Brown until It out grows the tank, Then Into the big one.
IMO you can't overskim within reason i think the cleaner the water the better the SPS as that's what I keep.
Bill:beer:

 

[shackman]

The thing is and Im not sure if Im asking the right question but can it be that the skimmer cant skim if its too big and their is not much organics in the tank. tank is only about a month old due to rebuilding it with new rock and sand.

 

[E.intheC]

It might be b/c I have a low bioload, but I'm really not getting a lot of skimmate, IMO..... I have the tank in my signature, along with 2 small clowns, 1 small green chromis, 1 purple firefish, and some harlequin shrimp... really only getting (as stated above).. about 1 centimeter of green-tea skimmate per day.

I think it may be due to the low bioload combined with the large (compared to my system volume) neck of the IN-100.

Am I crazy, or??

 

[shackman]

ok that sounds true, but let me ask this I have an outbreak of DINO and still not much skimmate? should I have tons?

 

[kmu]

Guys,

Im getting ready to buy a new skimmer for my 70g mixed reef and have a cone set up in mind, one of my options is the Vertex Alpha cone 170, do you guys think it will fit my sump right and I could get the best performance out of it?

My sump skimmer compartment dimensions are 15" x 12" and the water level is constant at 8"

THX in advance

 

[reeftivo]

It might be b/c I have a low bioload, but I'm really not getting a lot of skimmate, IMO..... I have the tank in my signature, along with 2 small clowns, 1 small green chromis, 1 purple firefish, and some harlequin shrimp... really only getting (as stated above).. about 1 centimeter of green-tea skimmate per day.

I think it may be due to the low bioload combined with the large (compared to my system volume) neck of the IN-100.

Am I crazy, or??

Yep! Too big a neck will need alot of DOCs to keep a consistant foam head in a low volume/bioload system. IME it helps to increase flow rate through sump because the turnover is higher with bigger skimmers. If you have a smaller system and the skimmer is big, it needs to be fed. The bigger skimmers will skim everything out quicker than the overflow can feed it, then won't produce much after that. It would help to only run carbon or resins for a day a week to remove yellowing compounds between water changes. I've found that constant carbon use will bind much of the water loving (hydrophyllic)proteins and my skimmate is less and not as concentrated. Also, unless it's an external skimmer, I've found that keeping the overflow drain turbulence away from the skimmer pump intake, actually helps as well.

Just my experience

Tivo

 

[reeftivo]

Guys,

Im getting ready to buy a new skimmer for my 70g mixed reef and have a cone set up in mind, one of my options is the Vertex Alpha cone 170, do you guys think it will fit my sump right and I could get the best performance out of it?

My sump skimmer compartment dimensions are 15" x 12" and the water level is constant at 8"

THX in advance

It will fit! The nice thing with those skimmers is the intake adaptors can be used for different sized systems to get the best performance.

 

[jonnybravo22]

I have the In-80.

Can someone remind me how this works? I think it is normal but not sure if I remember correctly.

Got a new tank set up and I'm using sump from lady setup. When I had just sump water not flowing from tank it was foaming as per usual. Looking nice. Got the display finally filled and flowing into sump and the bubbles are really wet and big now and produce no foam. It's like blowing into a straw in a cup of water. Skimmer body is clear.


I believe this is from oils from manufacturing tank and new plumbing. Is that right? I wiped the inside of display thoroughly before using and washed the plumbing but seems like def. some residue leftover. Tank isn't clear yet.

Please confirm if you agree that it the cause and if do what is the remedy? How do I get rid of the oils without a skimmer? Will soaking skimmer in vinegar help? What's the best way to get skimmer to perform again. Thanks.

Well my problem literally worked itself out. leads me to believe it was in fact new tank oils.

i just left it running. it was clear huge bubbles, no "milky" bubbles in the body, and no chance of foam. was like that for maybe 5 days, but i've been busy at work so didnt have time to tinker. got home one day and to my surprise, "milk"! so now it's back to normal.

every night i would look in there and at the baffles there would be a sometimes thick film of greasy mess at the surface of the water in the sump that i would remove with a paper towel. once it was dark brown, usually white-ish.

think removing that helped. perhaps keeping the skimmer running caused that to congeal where it did. anyways, back to skimming now.

 

[SmithErick]

Vertex IN-100 on a 29g with 15g 10g sump, I know overkill but would their still be enough organics for the skimmer to work?

I run the IN-180 on my 30G cube w/ 15G sump. Works great! Nice skimmate, always bubbling, and the neck collects some nice thick stuff.

Might be a big skimmer, but its working, and I will have it for my upgrades in the future.