Vertex Skimmer Question

[rbraunberger]

Hello,

I have an Omega 130 skimmer and having some trouble with it. I have done the break-in instructions as stated in the manual; fully closed with collection cup off for 24 hours, and then fully open for hours following. It states that with the riser tube fully open that it should produce a dry skimmate. I have mine 100% open and the bubbles are filling the cup with water in less than a minute! I checked the manual for water depth and it states optimum is between 7.5" and 8". I have mine at 7 3/4", so should be perfect. Any ideas!!?? Thank you for the help!!!!

 

[Tigerdragon]

It can take a couple of weeks to break in

 

[rbraunberger]

Thanks for the reply.

Should I just leave the small auto clean valve open until the cup is not filling with water so fast? I have it open now, and just dumping the water back into the sump.

 

[Tigerdragon]

Or you can direct to a collection bucket depending on how dirty the skim is

 

[Primetime33]

I had the exact same issue with mine. It took me weeks to get it working properly. I started adding some eggcrate under it to raise it up. I finally raised it to be in only 5"-6" of water. Seems low but it is now working like a charm. These are very very finicky skimmers to say the least. I've been told that the pump is a tad overkill for the size of the skimmer body. Try raising it day by day till u get the sweet spot !! It's a darn good skimmer once it's settled down. Also, be careful with the water level pipe/adjuster, it's very sensitive as well. Once you do get the sweet spot, make sure that you use the thumb screw to lock it in place.

Hth
Brock

 

[rbraunberger]

Tigerdragon - I only have one very small fish in a REEFER 170 since I just finished cycle, so really no skim at all now.

Primetime33 - Does have the exit for the flow that high make a ton of noise being out of the water? At 7 inches it is right at the water level for me.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Primetime33]

Tigerdragon - I only have one very small fish in a REEFER 170 since I just finished cycle, so really no skim at all now.

Primetime33 - Does have the exit for the flow that high make a ton of noise being out of the water? At 7 inches it is right at the water level for me.

Thanks again for the help!

It does have a slight "splash" but once I close the stand doors it's negligible. My tank is in a room where the tv is always on. So the noise is drowned out. Also I forgot to mention that I used a "zip tie" to close off the airline a bit. Not much but just slightly to restrict it.

 

[rbraunberger]

Primetime33 - Thanks....I may try cutting off some the airflow first. I would really like to not have to lift it up so much. I tried lifting it by hand and it splashes water in the cabinet a bunch.

Also what did you use to life the skimmer incase I need to lift it?

 

[Primetime33]

I always turned it off before lifting. Also had an extra set of hands to lift as the pump would always fall off. [emoji35]

 

[Primetime33]

Here's what you can look forward to with your skimmer.

 

[rbraunberger]

NICE! Thanks for the info!

 

[rbraunberger]

OK Primetime33,

I raised my skimmer with some foam so the top of the exhaust is just above the water. It did reduce the amount of foam for a few hours, but it is still going crazy. I am going to let it run like this for a few weeks as suggested above. Did you have the same thing happen?

Thanks again!

 

[theatrus]

My Vextex took a couple of weeks to not be totally erratic with foam production. It would be fine one day, and then suddenly produce the equivalent of a bubble bath in my sump.

 

[Primetime33]

OK Primetime33,

I raised my skimmer with some foam so the top of the exhaust is just above the water. It did reduce the amount of foam for a few hours, but it is still going crazy. I am going to let it run like this for a few weeks as suggested above. Did you have the same thing happen?

Thanks again!

Did you try the zip tie to choke off the air a tad bit?

 

[marco.sv]

its completly normal, it may take a week or more to start up

 

[rbraunberger]

Yes Primetime33, i did do the zip tie..not much change

 

[Primetime33]

Ok. I would let it run for a few days with it wide open to see if it settles down. I had same issue until it finally calmed down.

 

[Tinpanva]

I have the omega 150 on my system and believe me, it was rough getting it dialed in. I also had to raise mine up quite a bit in the beginning somewhere in the 5.5 to 6.5 range. The first couple weeks it splashed everywhere, had to keep a towel handy to wipe up water every evening. Everything was brand new so I knew break in would take awhile. Tank is now almost 4 months old and skimmer is doing great, I still have it raised 1" up but as the bio load increases it will only do better. The foam head will collapse pretty easily like when I put my hand in the sump or if I change out a filter sock but builds back up in an hour or so. Just be patient, it will turn out great skimmate soon.

 

[wildman926]

This skimmer is VERY unbalanced. It is drawing too much air as compared to the water volume, and the overall chamber volume. You should never have to run a skimmer that low of water, i.e. 5" - 6". Being so unbalanced dictates that you do.

When a skimmer is balanced, it will produce skimmate within an hour or so, like my Aquamaxx skimmers did when new a few years ago. Here is my EM300 after only a couple of hours.