Vertex Skimmer club

[ZoaFan08]

I am still waiting for my replacement pump. I was hoping to get my new tank setup this weekend but the pump will not be here till next week. But at this point I am regretting buying a Vertex...

[EvMiBo]

Originally posted by ZoaFan08
I am still waiting for my replacement pump. I was hoping to get my new tank setup this weekend but the pump will not be here till next week. But at this point I am regretting buying a Vertex...

Ugh no fun man.

hopefully the replacement pump will make things workout for you and the tank. here are a few pictures of my skimmer today doing work (sorry if pictures are mediocre just snapped them rly quick).

[ImprezaSTi]

I am joining this club !! Received my IN-100 and everything looks great, no defects at all, for now.

How long does it take for these things to break in ?? I've been running the skimmer in a rubbermaid bucket for more than two days, and don't see any foam at all (did not do the vinegar thing). hmm?

Forgot to mention, the air tube is a little noisy too, anything you guys are doing to quiet it down?

[gioNVA]

Originally posted by ZoaFan08
I am still waiting for my replacement pump. I was hoping to get my new tank setup this weekend but the pump will not be here till next week. But at this point I am regretting buying a Vertex...

Same here. I could have gotten something else. My IN-100 still shuts off every 2 days or so. Still waiting for the replacement impeller. Seems to be good when it's working but I can't tell since it will die as soon as it builds a good foam head.

[Nanite Reefer]

ImprezaSTi,

Have you listened to the intake once the skimmer is fully installed? My intake noise is barley noticable once it is in the sump, in the cabinet under the tank. Yes, you could build a simple diffuser for the intake tube, but it will affect your total air intake volume slightly. Hope this helps!

Mark

Originally posted by ImprezaSTi
I am joining this club !! Received my IN-100 and everything looks great, no defects at all, for now.

How long does it take for these things to break in ?? I've been running the skimmer in a rubbermaid bucket for more than two days, and don't see any foam at all (did not do the vinegar thing). hmm?

Forgot to mention, the air tube is a little noisy too, anything you guys are doing to quiet it down?

[ImprezaSTi]

Originally posted by Nanite Reefer
ImprezaSTi,

Have you listened to the intake once the skimmer is fully installed? My intake noise is barley noticable once it is in the sump, in the cabinet under the tank. Yes, you could build a simple diffuser for the intake tube, but it will affect your total air intake volume slightly. Hope this helps!

Mark

Hey thanks. Your right, its probably because I don't have a door for my stand to block the noise.

Hmm day #3, yet to see foam, I'm getting impatient.

[RaveChild]

Originally posted by ImprezaSTi
Hey thanks. Your right, its probably because I don't have a door for my stand to block the noise.

Hmm day #3, yet to see foam, I'm getting impatient.

I wouldn't worry too much. It took my IN180 nearly a full week to break in. Now it skims like a champ!!

[oldreefer76]

Hmmm my IN-100 has worked like a champ since day 1 took about 24 hrs to break in and has been very stable, no pump problems etc. It seems the masses with there problems all bought them on line at a very discounted price, I bought mine from a RC sponsor that is local to us www.phishybusiness.com and paid $199 for it I may have paid a little more but I got it all ready assembled and if I have a problem they are minutes away from us and will take care of me immediately, I did alot of research before buying this skimmer including reading everything I could find out about it and made my decision to buy it , I have owned Tunze skimmers and PM - Bullet Skimmers in the past and the IN-100 blows them away

[Nanite Reefer]

ImprezaSTi,

A couple of thoughts, you are not going to develop and maintain a good head of foam on just fresh water. You must have some waste to react with the air.

I'm assuming that you are running the skimmer outside of the tank in an container of some sort. If you want to see the skimmer function fully with this setup, I would make a small water change in your main tank, save the waste H2O and use that water to break in/run your skimmer. I think you will have much better luck getting a foam head to build. Also, the skimmer operation is very critical of the water level in the container being maintained consistency at the 7"-8" levels recommended in the operation instructions. If this level varies dramatically, the output of the skimmer will follow suit. You'll see a head build and a couple hours later the waste container will be overflowing.

Remember, as you skim away the waste out of the old tank water the skimmer will also start to produce less foam and will be unable to maintain a good foam head. Trust me this won't take long to happen with this skimmer. Hope this helps you out a little.

Mark

Originally posted by ImprezaSTi
Hmm day #3, yet to see foam, I'm getting impatient.

[frenchie]

skimmer running in bucket wont cut it, need to be running on a system, especially saltwater, skimmer won't produce foam in freshwater and saltwater has to have stuff to be removed. Many people expect a skimmer to go nuts pulling out all kinds of gunk which it might at first. A good skimmer will pull lots of gunk from a dirty system or heavy stocked system but will also eventually catch up and remove most gunk and slow down so this doesn't mean skimmer not working right it means its is.

[frenchie]

my octopus always pulled tons of dark gunk and never stopped, so it couldn't keep up with bioload. Now with my vertex 180 in pulled lots of dark gunk and has now slowed down to what is now like tea colored gunk cause i finally got a skimmer that can keep up with my tank and i love it. all corals look happier and mushrooms and anenome are even opened up more and look alot better.

[mordibv]

Originally posted by oldreefer76
Hmmm my IN-100 has worked like a champ since day 1 took about 24 hrs to break in and has been very stable, no pump problems etc. It seems the masses with there problems all bought them on line at a very discounted price, I bought mine from a RC sponsor that is local to us [url]www.phishybusines/s.com[url] and paid $199 for it I may have paid a little more but I got it all ready assembled and if I have a problem they are minutes away from us and will take care of me immediately, I did alot of research before buying this skimmer including reading everything I could find out about it and made my decision to buy it , I have owned Tunze skimmers and PM - Bullet Skimmers in the past and the IN-100 blows them away

I am glad you are happy with your skimmer .
As far as this statement
" It seems the masses with there problems all bought them on line at a very discounted price, I bought mine from a RC sponsor It seems the masses with there problems all bought them on line at a very discounted price, I bought mine from a RC sponsor that is local to us www.phishybusiness.com and paid $199 for it I may have paid little more "

Be careful and considerate .K

I bought mine in late Nov from a RC Sponsor . I paid 223.00 to the door .I have had 1 impeller replaced and a new complete pump

I have read of no issues with other models . It runs fine now but how long before it quits ? Who knows .

My cone skimmer should be here soon. This
Vertex is getting cleaned up and either sold or put upstairs in the box to collect dust .

Good luck to everyone .

[ImprezaSTi]

Originally posted by Nanite Reefer
ImprezaSTi,

A couple of thoughts, you are not going to develop and maintain a good head of foam on just fresh water. You must have some waste to react with the air.

I'm assuming that you are running the skimmer outside of the tank in an container of some sort. If you want to see the skimmer function fully with this setup, I would make a small water change in your main tank, save the waste H2O and use that water to break in/run your skimmer. I think you will have much better luck getting a foam head to build. Also, the skimmer operation is very critical of the water level in the container being maintained consistency at the 7"-8" levels recommended in the operation instructions. If this level varies dramatically, the output of the skimmer will follow suit. You'll see a head build and a couple hours later the waste container will be overflowing.

Remember, as you skim away the waste out of the old tank water the skimmer will also start to produce less foam and will be unable to maintain a good foam head. Trust me this won't take long to happen with this skimmer. Hope this helps you out a little.

Mark

Originally posted by d.french
skimmer running in bucket wont cut it, need to be running on a system, especially saltwater, skimmer won't produce foam in freshwater and saltwater has to have stuff to be removed. Many people expect a skimmer to go nuts pulling out all kinds of gunk which it might at first. A good skimmer will pull lots of gunk from a dirty system or heavy stocked system but will also eventually catch up and remove most gunk and slow down so this doesn't mean skimmer not working right it means its is.

Thanks. I am definitely doing that already. Water in my rubbermaid container is VERY dirty old water, and has a water level about 7"-8".

The reason I put it in a rubbermaid bucket is because my sump isn't setup yet (neither is my tank for that matter). I tore down my tank, got it drilled, and am currently in process of adding a sump.

Now lets see how day #4 comes along..

[tangtang clown]

Impreza, I did the same thing you are doing with my new skimmer. I added water from a water change and put a little old skimmate in the water to get it going. MY Octo x 200 blew the top off with the pin wheel. Now I have mesh wheel installed and running on my system, but it has caught up with bio load and doesn't "blow the lid off" anymore. I think most people just put the skimmer right into their system, but if your sump isn't ready, just let it run in the tub. Good luck.

[mike77]

Originally posted by ernordstrom
no the body is fine its just that the exit where the water that was in the main body comes out always has bubbles in it now. It is very aggrevating. Will adding a filter sock to the output tube alleviate this problem? Has anyone else had similar results (probs?) Does everyone have the output pipe installed or do you have the output pipe removed with the 90 sideways? Thanks for any help...

I removed the downtube and run the output through a 25 micron bag from gettanked.com.. That eliminated the bubbles.

Mike77

[EvMiBo]

So I spilt my collection cup juice all over myself today getting it out of my stand. It smelled really bad and was a light brown, so at least I know the skimmer is doing what it's supposed to .

[ZoaFan08]

Originally posted by oldreefer76
It seems the masses with there problems all bought them on line at a very discounted price, I bought mine from a RC sponsor

So what you are saying is Vortex sold RC sponsors the good units and then sold other vendors a broken model so people will only buy from RC vendors.. I don't care if you bought the unit for $1,000,000 or $1, if you purchased the item new IT SHOULD WORK, how much profit the store makes selling it doesn't matter.

[jhoff]

Hi guys,

The new gen 2 skimmers are now up on the pm web site lookin good. Will be placeing my order soon

Jimbo

[jhoff]

OOPS my bad i ment PA premium aquatics guess i got a little excited

[JACOXVIII]

i feel a mod coming on
that is how i wanted mine in the first place

[EvMiBo]

Meh, I'm happy with my gen1... :: knock on wood:: ... bah I feel so obsolete!

for those that are too lazy.. IN80 stays the same...... Remember, what they have changed is a lower bubble plate and a direct inject from pump instead of the 90degree elbow. It also looks like they changed the design of the air intake hose a bit.. I'm jealous of you gen2 ppl I want one now lol..

heres the IN100


IN180


and the IN250

[oldreefer76]

Originally posted by ZoaFan08
So what you are saying is Vortex sold RC sponsors the good units and then sold other vendors a broken model so people will only buy from RC vendors.. I don't care if you bought the unit for $1,000,000 or $1, if you purchased the item new IT SHOULD WORK, how much profit the store makes selling it doesn't matter.

Wow you blew this out of proportion my statement basicly was that it seems everyone with a bad skimmer bought them from an on line vendor that is also an RC sponsor and are griping about there problems and having to wait for replacement parts, me I paid a few $ more and bought from a LFS which is also an RC sponsor, mine came assembled and has not had a problem 1 and if there was a problem they would handle it today not in a week or so, I am not a fan of buying on-line for the reasons of customer service plus I believe in supporting the local economy!!!! I have also not seen mention of anyone buying from LFS and having problems with there skimmer in all 39 pages and I bought mine when this thread was 23 pages long

[tangtang clown]

Looks like these are coming right along. Gen 2 looks pretty good.

[ernordstrom]

Wow, it looks like they fixed all the issues..they look great. I am sure we can modify the air hose. If I get some free time I am going to try and mod it like the pic of the new skimmer

[EvMiBo]

yeah new air hose is sharp