Vertex Skimmer club - Page 34

JACOXVIII · 01/26/2009, 05:13 PM

i think the in250 water level in the sump should be right at the the bubble plate

ernordstrom · 01/26/2009, 08:48 PM

Sorry long day and I am a bit sensitive at times...

Quote:

Originally posted by Icefire
ernordstorm, I was just trying to be funny, I find funny that skimmer produce that much bubble, I can't see the water

is there a user manual online

Icefire · 01/26/2009, 09:04 PM

Well it was doing good since I setted it up, feeded my fish today, 0 foam (all other skimmer I had continued to produce some).

Now 3+ hours later, still almost nothing.

At that rate, I won't have any skimate if I feed twice a day with my anthias lol

RaveChild · 01/26/2009, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Icefire
Well it was doing good since I setted it up, feeded my fish today, 0 foam (all other skimmer I had continued to produce some).

Now 3+ hours later, still almost nothing.

At that rate, I won't have any skimate if I feed twice a day with my anthias lol

I am having the same issue with my IN180. The "head" doesn't seem to be forming. I have lots of bubbles, but no foam as of yet. It has been running since Sat evening. I am starting to get worried.

frenchie · 01/26/2009, 09:19 PM

turn your wedge pipe so foam goes up a little higher so you can try to skim a little on wet side atleast, i was skimming just a little more than dry and now skimmer won't pull anything dark anymore. I think i finally got a skimmer that caught up with tank and pulled all dark crap out and skimming like tea color now, might have to back it down to dry skimming again. Since i got this skimmer and actually can keep up with tank now on waste control my coralline algae has taken off real well.

Icefire · 01/26/2009, 09:26 PM

Hard to tell here, I installed the skimmer at 1ham this morning, after 15min I had it all adjusted, today I had 1/4" dark green skimmate, at 7h I feeded the fish Brine shrimps and frozen Cyclopeeze, the wedge pipe was almost all open (3/4+) and now 4 hours later, wedge pipe is 1/3-1/4 open, foam 4" from neck, not skimming.

If I adjust it for a wet skim, how much you bet it could take off in the night? lol

Icefire · 01/26/2009, 10:30 PM

Well took only 5 hours to get back to near normal.

hope it stabilise as I normally feed at 6pm and 10/11pm

That would make 10 hours without skimmer a day, sucks

Icefire · 01/27/2009, 01:22 PM

Well woke up this morning, cup full to the brim of dark green tea colored skimmate, I was sure it would overflow.

Once cleaned and fired back, it overflowed for 1 minute at Full open. That thing put some bubbles!

Also make my sump stink, that skimmer pull out too much junk it stink bad :P

RaveChild · 01/27/2009, 05:27 PM

I would just like to report that my IN180 is still not producing any foam. I have tried most, if not all of the suggestions made in this thread. Any other ideas what could be wrong? Bad skimmer maybe?? Could someone post a pic of the bubbles in the neck of the skimmer as I am sure that mine are too large and that the bubbles in the neck are too turbulent to create foam.

frenchie · 01/27/2009, 06:46 PM

you need to turn the wedge pipe(riser pipe until it is almost closed so the bubbles will rise into skimmer neck. you do have water and bubble flowing through your skimmer right. ravechild you need to post some pics on here so we can see whats goin on.

Icefire · 01/27/2009, 06:52 PM

My IN250 the wedge is 90% open and got 1.25" in 10 hours of medium dark green-brown.

d.french mine from under the silver sticker up to the black "union" for the cup it's solid white, my ex tought it was a white skimmer.

Mine is in 12" of water, where's your'? got a pic?

Bonne chance

ecoreefer · 01/27/2009, 06:58 PM

Icefire -I'm pretty sure you have your skimmer too deep. While I can't say with total certainty, all the other models of this skimmer have a sweet spot in the 6-8" of water, with 7" being preferred.

frenchie · 01/27/2009, 07:09 PM

mine is in 8 inches of water and working great. my wedge pipe is mostly closed to get foam head up to cup, but the deeper the water the more open it would have to be, ice fire if you read manual it says how deep of water it needs to be in so you might have to raise skimmer up on a stand or redo sump so water isn't so deep.

i got pics and a video of mine back on like page 9 or somewhere.

frenchie · 01/27/2009, 07:32 PM

here is my vid

if you look you can see were the closed sticker is on wedge pipe and see how much its closed.

RaveChild · 01/27/2009, 07:41 PM

Don't mind the mess. My basement sump room is a work in progress.

oldreefer76 · 01/27/2009, 07:55 PM

That foaming in the sump does not look right

RaveChild · 01/27/2009, 07:59 PM

That is from the drain from the main tank. I have a tee at the end of the drain with a horizontal piece with holes in it to let the air out. This makes the overflow on the main floor much quieter.

Those bubbles are not related to the skimmer at all.

frenchie · 01/27/2009, 08:46 PM

ravechild
is your pipe turned all the way to open if so start turning it toward closed until foam is close to top of cup and just about foaming over. Is that at the right depth from what the manual says to place it in.

frenchie · 01/27/2009, 08:54 PM

maker sure everyone who is setting theres up not to push pump outlet tube in bubble chamber to far cause this will mess with how well skimmer produces below in jen d pics you can see the outlet shouldn't go more than an 1/8 inch in bubble chamber cause it messes with the way the way and bubbles flow in a vortex and will hurt skimmers performance if sticks in to far.

Quote:

Originally posted by Jen D
All right, sorry for the delay on the pics. Been a bit busy the last couple of weeks. Here are the pics I promised.

Here's how far I inserted the pipe into the bubble plate chamber:

RaveChild · 01/27/2009, 09:20 PM

From the water line to the bottom of the skimmer is 6.5" which is within the 6-8" recommended range. The wedge pipe is turned nearly to the closed position as recommended.

Icefire · 01/27/2009, 09:42 PM

ecoreefer and d.french, The IN 250 is 30" tall, I have a 40" stand and with the skimmer in the sump at 12" I have about 4" space to remove the cup.

I hate to loose space, so my sump is filled one inch under the bracket, that way I get the maximum water volume I can get, only the return is way lower.

Currently my skimmer since 7ham (17 hours runtime) have 2 inch of dark skimmate, so I guess water height isn't that important if well adjusted (oversized air tube with silencer wedge pipe a the right spot).

Mine came from a friend and I have no user manual, can't find it online either.

frenchie · 01/27/2009, 09:44 PM

might have to lower some then, i run my 180 at 8" deep. turn the elbow were water flows out of up so half of opening is out of water that help bubbles form better cause alot of skimmers with outflow like these wedge pipes have back pressure on water flowing out and skimmers performs better with have of opening out of water

frenchie · 01/27/2009, 09:49 PM

wish i had room under my stand i have one inch of clearance above my cup so i can barely remove skimmer cup. My sump baffles are at 8inches but my auto topoff keeps water at 8.5 inches and that is best i can do.

Icefire if that skimmer works at that water level and is pulling dark skimmate and your happy with it than sounds great, i think instructions call for 6 to 8 inches but all skimmers will perform differently in every tank.

Icefire · 01/28/2009, 02:15 AM

yep seems to work fine, 20hours later, near 3 inch of skimmate (didn't feed the fish tonight) and I just made a nice 8x54W fixture too.

my 90 degree is out of water (1/2" inch over) and I just opened the wedge again because I'm not emptying 2-3Liter of skimmate a day, I'll make a 5G bucker way before that.

frenchie · 01/28/2009, 11:13 AM

2 liter is a lot for a day might want to back down a little, keep an eye on your salinity cause skimmiing that much will drop your salinity and your tank can have a major algae outbreak quick.

01/26/2009, 09:04 PM	#828
Icefire Seasoned reefer Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: In Quebec, Canada Posts: 3,653	Well it was doing good since I setted it up, feeded my fish today, 0 foam (all other skimmer I had continued to produce some). Now 3+ hours later, still almost nothing. At that rate, I won't have any skimate if I feed twice a day with my anthias lol __________________ Temp 80F, PH 8.5-8.0, Alk 6.8-7.2, Ca 430, Mg 1700, NO3 0-0.25, PO4 0.04, 34.4 PPT Lights @ 100% all others, 35% White Current Tank Info: 60g Cube, 120lbs live rocks, Hydra52 2x120W, 2 MP40+ 1 MP10 @ 70%, Phosban 550 GFO+Carbon, 200W Heater, SWC Skimmer, Kalk ATO, 150 gpd RODI

01/26/2009, 09:19 PM	#830
frenchie Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,730	turn your wedge pipe so foam goes up a little higher so you can try to skim a little on wet side atleast, i was skimming just a little more than dry and now skimmer won't pull anything dark anymore. I think i finally got a skimmer that caught up with tank and pulled all dark crap out and skimming like tea color now, might have to back it down to dry skimming again. Since i got this skimmer and actually can keep up with tank now on waste control my coralline algae has taken off real well. __________________ Darrick slash member 24 gallon nano cube, LED lights, zoanthids, shrooms Current Tank Info: 93 gallon cube, ecotech LED, swc 160 cone skimmer, lots of softies

01/26/2009, 09:26 PM	#831
Icefire Seasoned reefer Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: In Quebec, Canada Posts: 3,653	Hard to tell here, I installed the skimmer at 1ham this morning, after 15min I had it all adjusted, today I had 1/4" dark green skimmate, at 7h I feeded the fish Brine shrimps and frozen Cyclopeeze, the wedge pipe was almost all open (3/4+) and now 4 hours later, wedge pipe is 1/3-1/4 open, foam 4" from neck, not skimming. If I adjust it for a wet skim, how much you bet it could take off in the night? lol __________________ Temp 80F, PH 8.5-8.0, Alk 6.8-7.2, Ca 430, Mg 1700, NO3 0-0.25, PO4 0.04, 34.4 PPT Lights @ 100% all others, 35% White Current Tank Info: 60g Cube, 120lbs live rocks, Hydra52 2x120W, 2 MP40+ 1 MP10 @ 70%, Phosban 550 GFO+Carbon, 200W Heater, SWC Skimmer, Kalk ATO, 150 gpd RODI

01/26/2009, 10:30 PM	#832
Icefire Seasoned reefer Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: In Quebec, Canada Posts: 3,653	Well took only 5 hours to get back to near normal. hope it stabilise as I normally feed at 6pm and 10/11pm That would make 10 hours without skimmer a day, sucks __________________ Temp 80F, PH 8.5-8.0, Alk 6.8-7.2, Ca 430, Mg 1700, NO3 0-0.25, PO4 0.04, 34.4 PPT Lights @ 100% all others, 35% White Current Tank Info: 60g Cube, 120lbs live rocks, Hydra52 2x120W, 2 MP40+ 1 MP10 @ 70%, Phosban 550 GFO+Carbon, 200W Heater, SWC Skimmer, Kalk ATO, 150 gpd RODI

01/27/2009, 01:22 PM	#833
Icefire Seasoned reefer Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: In Quebec, Canada Posts: 3,653	Well woke up this morning, cup full to the brim of dark green tea colored skimmate, I was sure it would overflow. Once cleaned and fired back, it overflowed for 1 minute at Full open. That thing put some bubbles! Also make my sump stink, that skimmer pull out too much junk it stink bad :P __________________ Temp 80F, PH 8.5-8.0, Alk 6.8-7.2, Ca 430, Mg 1700, NO3 0-0.25, PO4 0.04, 34.4 PPT Lights @ 100% all others, 35% White Current Tank Info: 60g Cube, 120lbs live rocks, Hydra52 2x120W, 2 MP40+ 1 MP10 @ 70%, Phosban 550 GFO+Carbon, 200W Heater, SWC Skimmer, Kalk ATO, 150 gpd RODI

01/26/2009, 05:13 PM	#826
JACOXVIII Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: KC MO Posts: 248	i think the in250 water level in the sump should be right at the the bubble plate

01/27/2009, 05:27 PM	#834
RaveChild Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 53	I would just like to report that my IN180 is still not producing any foam. I have tried most, if not all of the suggestions made in this thread. Any other ideas what could be wrong? Bad skimmer maybe?? Could someone post a pic of the bubbles in the neck of the skimmer as I am sure that mine are too large and that the bubbles in the neck are too turbulent to create foam.

01/27/2009, 06:46 PM	#835
frenchie Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,730	you need to turn the wedge pipe(riser pipe until it is almost closed so the bubbles will rise into skimmer neck. you do have water and bubble flowing through your skimmer right. ravechild you need to post some pics on here so we can see whats goin on. __________________ Darrick slash member 24 gallon nano cube, LED lights, zoanthids, shrooms Current Tank Info: 93 gallon cube, ecotech LED, swc 160 cone skimmer, lots of softies

01/27/2009, 06:52 PM	#836
Icefire Seasoned reefer Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: In Quebec, Canada Posts: 3,653	My IN250 the wedge is 90% open and got 1.25" in 10 hours of medium dark green-brown. d.french mine from under the silver sticker up to the black "union" for the cup it's solid white, my ex tought it was a white skimmer. Mine is in 12" of water, where's your'? got a pic? Bonne chance __________________ Temp 80F, PH 8.5-8.0, Alk 6.8-7.2, Ca 430, Mg 1700, NO3 0-0.25, PO4 0.04, 34.4 PPT Lights @ 100% all others, 35% White Current Tank Info: 60g Cube, 120lbs live rocks, Hydra52 2x120W, 2 MP40+ 1 MP10 @ 70%, Phosban 550 GFO+Carbon, 200W Heater, SWC Skimmer, Kalk ATO, 150 gpd RODI

01/27/2009, 06:58 PM	#837
ecoreefer Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Pottstown, PA Posts: 100	Icefire -I'm pretty sure you have your skimmer too deep. While I can't say with total certainty, all the other models of this skimmer have a sweet spot in the 6-8" of water, with 7" being preferred.

01/27/2009, 07:09 PM	#838
frenchie Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,730	mine is in 8 inches of water and working great. my wedge pipe is mostly closed to get foam head up to cup, but the deeper the water the more open it would have to be, ice fire if you read manual it says how deep of water it needs to be in so you might have to raise skimmer up on a stand or redo sump so water isn't so deep. i got pics and a video of mine back on like page 9 or somewhere. __________________ Darrick slash member 24 gallon nano cube, LED lights, zoanthids, shrooms Current Tank Info: 93 gallon cube, ecotech LED, swc 160 cone skimmer, lots of softies

01/27/2009, 07:32 PM	#839
frenchie Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,730	here is my vid if you look you can see were the closed sticker is on wedge pipe and see how much its closed. __________________ Darrick slash member 24 gallon nano cube, LED lights, zoanthids, shrooms Current Tank Info: 93 gallon cube, ecotech LED, swc 160 cone skimmer, lots of softies

01/27/2009, 07:41 PM	#840
RaveChild Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 53	Don't mind the mess. My basement sump room is a work in progress.

01/27/2009, 07:55 PM	#841
oldreefer76 Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Fairview Park Ohio Posts: 2,452	That foaming in the sump does not look right __________________ 15G and working on getting better Current Tank Info: 15G and building

01/27/2009, 07:59 PM	#842
RaveChild Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 53	That is from the drain from the main tank. I have a tee at the end of the drain with a horizontal piece with holes in it to let the air out. This makes the overflow on the main floor much quieter. Those bubbles are not related to the skimmer at all.

01/27/2009, 08:46 PM	#843
frenchie Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,730	ravechild is your pipe turned all the way to open if so start turning it toward closed until foam is close to top of cup and just about foaming over. Is that at the right depth from what the manual says to place it in. __________________ Darrick slash member 24 gallon nano cube, LED lights, zoanthids, shrooms Current Tank Info: 93 gallon cube, ecotech LED, swc 160 cone skimmer, lots of softies

01/27/2009, 09:20 PM	#845
RaveChild Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 53	From the water line to the bottom of the skimmer is 6.5" which is within the 6-8" recommended range. The wedge pipe is turned nearly to the closed position as recommended.

01/27/2009, 09:42 PM	#846
Icefire Seasoned reefer Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: In Quebec, Canada Posts: 3,653	ecoreefer and d.french, The IN 250 is 30" tall, I have a 40" stand and with the skimmer in the sump at 12" I have about 4" space to remove the cup. I hate to loose space, so my sump is filled one inch under the bracket, that way I get the maximum water volume I can get, only the return is way lower. Currently my skimmer since 7ham (17 hours runtime) have 2 inch of dark skimmate, so I guess water height isn't that important if well adjusted (oversized air tube with silencer wedge pipe a the right spot). Mine came from a friend and I have no user manual, can't find it online either. __________________ Temp 80F, PH 8.5-8.0, Alk 6.8-7.2, Ca 430, Mg 1700, NO3 0-0.25, PO4 0.04, 34.4 PPT Lights @ 100% all others, 35% White Current Tank Info: 60g Cube, 120lbs live rocks, Hydra52 2x120W, 2 MP40+ 1 MP10 @ 70%, Phosban 550 GFO+Carbon, 200W Heater, SWC Skimmer, Kalk ATO, 150 gpd RODI

01/27/2009, 09:44 PM	#847
frenchie Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,730	might have to lower some then, i run my 180 at 8" deep. turn the elbow were water flows out of up so half of opening is out of water that help bubbles form better cause alot of skimmers with outflow like these wedge pipes have back pressure on water flowing out and skimmers performs better with have of opening out of water __________________ Darrick slash member 24 gallon nano cube, LED lights, zoanthids, shrooms Current Tank Info: 93 gallon cube, ecotech LED, swc 160 cone skimmer, lots of softies

01/27/2009, 09:49 PM	#848
frenchie Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,730	wish i had room under my stand i have one inch of clearance above my cup so i can barely remove skimmer cup. My sump baffles are at 8inches but my auto topoff keeps water at 8.5 inches and that is best i can do. Icefire if that skimmer works at that water level and is pulling dark skimmate and your happy with it than sounds great, i think instructions call for 6 to 8 inches but all skimmers will perform differently in every tank. __________________ Darrick slash member 24 gallon nano cube, LED lights, zoanthids, shrooms Current Tank Info: 93 gallon cube, ecotech LED, swc 160 cone skimmer, lots of softies

01/28/2009, 02:15 AM	#849
Icefire Seasoned reefer Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: In Quebec, Canada Posts: 3,653	yep seems to work fine, 20hours later, near 3 inch of skimmate (didn't feed the fish tonight) and I just made a nice 8x54W fixture too. my 90 degree is out of water (1/2" inch over) and I just opened the wedge again because I'm not emptying 2-3Liter of skimmate a day, I'll make a 5G bucker way before that. __________________ Temp 80F, PH 8.5-8.0, Alk 6.8-7.2, Ca 430, Mg 1700, NO3 0-0.25, PO4 0.04, 34.4 PPT Lights @ 100% all others, 35% White Current Tank Info: 60g Cube, 120lbs live rocks, Hydra52 2x120W, 2 MP40+ 1 MP10 @ 70%, Phosban 550 GFO+Carbon, 200W Heater, SWC Skimmer, Kalk ATO, 150 gpd RODI

01/28/2009, 11:13 AM	#850
frenchie Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,730	2 liter is a lot for a day might want to back down a little, keep an eye on your salinity cause skimmiing that much will drop your salinity and your tank can have a major algae outbreak quick. __________________ Darrick slash member 24 gallon nano cube, LED lights, zoanthids, shrooms Current Tank Info: 93 gallon cube, ecotech LED, swc 160 cone skimmer, lots of softies