Vertex Skimmer club

Charlie Davidson said:
Great pic RBK! the question was asked- "What is your water level", that is why I posted mine.
The bubble level can change during the day, due to feeding/cleaning /etc, but the water level generally does not. (or should not)
That is why many use water level to set skimmer and why this question is asked often :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info CD, this is my first skimmer of this type and there was not an overabundance of information on how to set it up in the instructions. After looking at mine it has roughly the same water level as yours.
 
:thumbsup: I have been thru many skimmers, and still learn something new every day.
The waterlevel in these skimmers seems very hard to see, due to the curved slope in the transition. But I really liked this transition, I was thinking its more gentle curve would help create a more stable head of foam --and better skimate..
I am not sure the curve helps now.. :(
 
Ive been keeping my water level 1/2 way between the black ring on the top of the body and the black ring where the cup connects. So far its getting pretty good foam production on my 40g with 4 fish.
 
What is the footprint of the 250? I have looked it up on a couple of sites (vendors) and have seen different footprints.
 
i am stumped?

i am stumped?

hello, for the last couple weeks my in100 keeps overflowing the cup, i am not new to the hobby and this skimmer has been running for about 4-5 months with 0 issues and i have not used any meds or changed any thing to my tank. my water level is a constant 7 inches in the sump and and i have the skimmer set to produce dry foam/dark skimate. i am stumped? could this be a venturie line issue or a pump issue? why would this just start happening out of the blue?
 
I would check to see if any of the venturi fittings are clogged with salt (at the pump or the intake elbow on the standpipe).

- Albert
 
should always clean skimmer cup weekly and check venturi fittings but mine has never become clogged, vertex is only skimmer i've had that doesn't get clogged frequently.

skimmmers can overflow for no reason like if you add chlorine removers, medications, corals spawning or inverts spawning can cause it. I would give skimmer pump a good cleaning check air hole and run some carbon in your tank for a while to help remove whatever is in water makin your skimmer go nuts. My vertex has done this also but i think many things play i live near st. louis and recently we had tons of rain and humidity was high in my old house and my skimmer started going nuts so i backed it down plus started running carbon again which also helps.
 
charlie i have a sicce laying around somewhere, got to put a venturi on it { broke it } just havent got it out of the fish box yet and pulled skimmer to see if it fits, i have the ppw also, might give it a try, having the wedge pipe 3\4 closed to me means pump just isnt strong enough, got to get a spare pin wheel before i try to mesh, or i might just add a layer of mesh to the pin wheel, ive also done a fishing string mod with the needle wheels before with success, but it takes awhile to do, got to see if i still have a pic, done it to a couple of sedra's
 
NyReefNoob said:
charlie i have a sicce laying around somewhere, got to put a venturi on it { broke it } just havent got it out of the fish box yet and pulled skimmer to see if it fits, i have the ppw also, might give it a try, having the wedge pipe 3\4 closed to me means pump just isnt strong enough, got to get a spare pin wheel before i try to mesh, or i might just add a layer of mesh to the pin wheel, ive also done a fishing string mod with the needle wheels before with success, but it takes awhile to do, got to see if i still have a pic, done it to a couple of sedra's
Click to expand...
I tried adding a layer (and then 2) of mesh to the existing pin wheel and it just added more turbulence. I haven't tried a full blown mesh mod on this skimmer (250) since I hate to chop up a perfectly good impeller. The one mod that has improved skimming is using a larger diameter air tube. I attached a 1/2" tube to the venturi with a piece of smaller tubing as a bushing. Now the tube has a definite suction like a small vacuum and I had to raise the water level because of the added air.

I would still like to see how well this skimmer does with a Bubble Blaster pump.
 
Proline said:
I would check to see if any of the venturi fittings are clogged with salt (at the pump or the intake elbow on the standpipe).

- Albert
Click to expand...

Albert, are the 250 and 280 pump the same?
Will 250 pump fit the 180?

What is the size of the discharge on these pumps? (I lost my micrometer)
 
Can you get a replacement ceramic shafts for these pumps? Where and also do you guys run your output under or above water for better performance? I would imagine above would be better beacause it will have no back pressure issue on the pump but i just thought i ask.

Noel
 
Noel, I just moved mine down (9") . the outlet tee is underwater now.. I picked up 2 scfh! Wattage increased 1watt.. (it was at 7.5" before ) I though they would do better with outlet above water or 1/2 way open but it does not seem to matter..
Shafts can be bought at www.premiumaquatics.com..
 
Thanks Charlie,
I'll play around with it. Right now I am running it with the airline not hoked up to the muffler and with the tee halfway above the waterline. I really thought that this would be a huge improvement from my DIY skimmer ran by a sicce but I guess not. The skimmer is really well built though. Maybe I just dont have the bioload to see the same result as everybody has been getting.

Noel
 
which model do you have? Will the discharge if sicce fit the the vertex?
( I am getting a sicce pump monday to try..)
Sicce pumps can really mix the air, I they can get 40+ scfh now with pin/w! But they do have quirks :)
Yep, air line not hooked up here either, the skimmer was spastic with it hooked up :wildone:
(and I have been to lazy to unscrew connector see if its blocked in anyway)
 
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I have the in-280. My sicce was on a 8" body, 5" neck, 25" tall skimmer. I was actually thinking about tryingto see how it will work on this skimmer. But I think it is way too big of a body and neck for 1 sicce.
Noel
 
I don't have my airline hooked to the wedge pipe fitting either. As mentioned earlier I put on a larger diameter air tube which wouldn't fit that fitting anyway, so I made my own silencer. I took a plastic water bottle and drilled many small holes in the bottom. Then the bottle is filled with carbon followed by a wad of filter floss (to keep carbon from getting sucked into the airline). Then I simply stuck the end of the airline into the mount of the bottle and wrapped some tape around the opening to make it seal. Now air is drawn through the carbon and floss making it very quiet, plus it reduces any airborne pollutants from mixing in the skimmer. Just keep the silencer elevated or when the skimmer shuts off you can get some water spitting back into your silencer.

Regarding water level, I recently raised the skimmer so the elbow is slightly above water and I don't think it performs as well for this model (250). Its only been a couple days so still re-dialing it in before I make up my mind on where its set. One thing I notice is that if the output is completely submerged the skimmer will sometimes surge or want to overflow right after a restart. Allowing any air bubbles to escape the outlet prevents a backup and speeds the time it takes for the foam level to settle.
 
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