Vertex Skimmer club

It's not fully broke In yet, But I'll see what I can do. Just cleaned the cup yesterday I should have taken a photo as It had a good inch of very dark tea, But i will get some photos ASAP It Is definitely a much better pump as I can see that B4 It's even broke In It's doing totally different size bubbles and all that turbulance It had In the neck Is gone.
Plus the foam head Is much quicker to form and break over the neck and Is getting darker, stinkyer skimate. What had collected on the neck and lid was very thick and harder to remove when I cleaned It than B4 the pump switch. Another benefit Is the pump runs cool and adds no heat to the tank, That will help In another month or so!
I'm not sure If you will be able to see the pump In the photos as It will be under water, But I can get a shot of the body and cup showing the amount of MILK it Is making!
OK got some taken and there on the way, It actually made about a 1/4" of tea overnight and I kinda got part of the pump showing as I have a foam block keeping It quiet and a filter sock blocking It on the other side so I did my best for now.
Bill
 
Looks good Bill, I am curious to see how well mine runs. That impellar should be here any day now. BTW, where did you get your BB from?
 
3 guesses???

3 guesses???

Looks good Bill, I am curious to see how well mine runs. That impellar should be here any day now. BTW, where did you get your BB from?

I got Rhett to order It for me, And It was well worth the money Or you can get them from Reef Speciality for 205.00 shipped It's the 3000 model BTW
Thanks
Bill:hammer:
 
Hmmm... looks like you skim wet. I do too sometimes. The bubbles do look a lot finer up the neck than I have seen in a lot of photos online. Is it easier to adjust the foam head in the skimmer? Also, do you have a problem with noise and vibrations coming from the pump? I have a buddy with that Octopus Cone w/BB 2000 and it's kind of noisier than I'm used to. I'm running a laguna on a DIY skimmer now and just purchased an IN-250 to try out.
 
Well, No I do not really skim wet, Must have bumped the wedge pipe when I cleaned It on Sunday! And It Is simple to adjust now with the BB pump, No waiting a long time for results It only takes seconds to see a change In the head! No Vibrations as of yet, Though I have had an Issue with a squeal on two occasions that Is being looked Into.
I currently have It running with the air line open (Not hooked to the wedge pipe silencer as they are different sizes) and did not want to restrict air flow to the pump, I will change those Items out to the larger size line the BB has In the near future. as of now I have been real happy I did this and think It will only get better once the pump actually breaks In, About another week to go! Hope I got all your questions answered for you and would say get It If your thinking of buying a BB for yours.
Bill
 
Well...I had a great day. Made an order with Premium Aquatics yesterday about 1pm, and got home at 4pm today with a new skimmer on my doorstep.

I debated between the 180 and 250 on my 125g with 50g sump/20g fuge.
Ended up going with the 250 for only an extra $40. Took me about 30 min to rinse everything off and put it together (I agree the included intructions are about the poorest I've seen. There isn't even a diagram included!)

Wow, I'm already impressed. Still working on getting it dialed in, but within 1-2 hours I was getting green skimmate making its way to the top.

Here are a few pics...





 
I should be getting mine tomorrow! You just got me all excited again, reefaddictionrx!

Thanks for the info, poolkeeper! I'm going to see if I can retro one of my Laguna's on the skimmer... just in case. I will, however, try and run the stock pump for as long as possible... just to see if I can make it break. LOL
 
For grins AND because I had an extra impeller, I mesh modded my IN100. There is a definite increase in bubbles but as you have to close off the stand pipe a little to keep it from overflowing I'm not entirely convinced the skimmer is any more efficient. Over the next week or so I'll see if I can see a worthwhile change.
 
Vertex 250

Vertex 250

Leo - I'm glad I got you excited again. It really was like Christmas opening that up yesterday.

I've had a 72g bow running for 3 years, and just had a cheap Red Sea Berlin running on it that came with the tank. Now that I have my 125g going, I decided it was well overdue for an skimmer upgrade.

So, as I'm trying to dial this one in... How long does it typically take to "break-in?" (Provide a consistent skimming rate) I had the valve about half closed last night when I started, caught it starting to overflow within an hour. Set it back to fully open and it was still skimmer fairly wet. Woke up at 4am to check on it, and it stayed about 1-2 inches from the top and that's where it's been about all day today. I'm about half scared to close it up at all to avoid overflowing.

Also, has anyone noticed what water level changes does to the skimmate?
Is it a direct relationship? Like does a lower sump water level, create a lower water level in the skimmer? Thinking about that last night, I had myself convinced it would be inverse to that, as the pump would have less pressure/force to work against...
 
Your starting to see all the problems related to this Skimmer, As the pump Is not able to keep a steady head of foam! Either too low or Overflowing no happy medium. It helps to keep the skimmer In about 7-8 " of water In the sump but the pump just can't stay stable as to get a proper setting so It skims correctly. I found the best solution to be replacing the pump with a Bubble Blaster from Coralvue's Super Octo's, Now my skimmer Rocks with no more readjusting just set It and forget It. No Bull!
Bill
 
Well, I got my IN-250 today...

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Here's where the skimmer is now. I have it out back, getting a vinegar bath.

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Initial impressions...

1. Good quality acrylic. Not flimsy or thin. Well built for the price.
2. The pump is big. My Laguna is half the size.
3. It way louder than I thought. I hope that's a "break-in" thing. Of course, I could be spoiled-on my Laguna.
4. The instructions are good, but c'mon Vertex! No diagram? Sheesh...
5. The sticker, with the logo on it, is all "bubbly." Can't put it on there with a squeegee? That's newbie sticker placement, right there. :jester:

I work nightshift, so the Vertex is running all night in the vinegar/water solution. I plan on getting it in the sump this weekend. So far, I'm pretty satisfied with the unit. We'll see how it skims on my system before I jump to conclusions, though.
 
Well, I was being facetious more than anything, but thanks for that. :) I got the same instructions with the skimmer, but it lacked the diagrams you have in that link. If you ever owned a skimmer before, putting it together is really pretty easy.
 
24hr pics

24hr pics

So had my stock 250 running a little over 24hrs and had to show off a few pics.

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Awesome...

The junk really smells terrible. Glad its out of the tank!
 
OK Yes, Awesome No, I will show you Awesome when I clean mine next week. I did It yesterday and forgot about taking pictures for the thread. It was 10 times darker and the neck was coated with 1/4" of almost black mud and by that time the BB will be fully broke In.
What you have there Is about average for the stock Resun pump, If your satisfied with that I'm glad your happy, But that body can do Much better with the upgraded pump. JMO
Bill
 
Don't forget Poolkeeper, that those pics are from 1 day of skimming.

Here is my bb3000 on OCTOX 200 less than 24hrs of wet skimming on a 125.
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I decided to wetten it up a bit and I like the results.
 
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