My New Vertex Skimmer!

[jgking21]

My new skimmer came today, I'm more excited than a 6 year old on Christmas Morning!!!

Big Thank You to Premium Aquatics for very fast shipping! Placed the order on Sunday, received shipping email on Monday and received order on Wednesday (shipped UPS ground).

Picture Time!

No damage from shipping

Great Packaging

What Have I Gotten Into!

Now on to read instructions, Yes I do that first!

Finally, Question: When should I start running the skimmer? The tank has been running for 2 1/2 weeks and I've had a deli shrimp in for 3 days. I have started to see a rise in ammonia and will be testing again this afternoon.

Thanks for any input!

 

[kiwiman456]

I waited till my tank finished cycling before I turned mine on. I would think that the skimmer would remove the broken down deli shrimp, however, you might want to run the skimmer to break it in, and just dump the skimate back into the tank. Just my thoughts.

What model is that, and be sure to report on how well it works once its up and running. I am thinking about getting one.

 

[jgking21]

Thanks! They suggested to run it in a vinager and water solution to clean it from manufacturing stuff. They said that should also cut down on the break-in period. This is a Model IN-100, the 180 was too big for my sump. I put the unit together, pretty easy, but the instructions are all words and I do better with pictures. A quick look at their website and I figured it out.
Here's the full shot:

and the bubble chamber

I'm gitty with excitement!

 

[Clownfish518]

IME the vinegar and water solution to break it in doesn't really help a lot. Solid construction aren't they? Can't wait till you hook it up

 

[jgking21]

I've been running it in a water and vinegar mix. It's running smoothly, very quiet! Very solid unit, so far I can't be more pleased. I just hope it works as well on the tank!

 

[jgking21]

I rinsed the unit this morning and put it into the tank. When I started the unit up I got tons of bubbles. The collection cup fills up in about 5 seconds, so I left the drain plug open and let everthing run back into the sump. I don't believe this is normal, I figured it would be the other way around, no skimming. I've messed with flow, but don't see much stopping this.

Please Help!!!

 

[Clownfish518]

Open up the flow all the way. How deep is the water level in your sump?

Skimmers often produce extra bubbles when first put into a tank. Then they build up a bio film on the inside, and the bubble level goes down, and the skimmate goes up. Also, you can put a valve on the airline to control the air.

During break in period any skimmer is not working properly. We'll get it dialed in. But I would really like to know how deep the water in the sump is. Also, any additives to the tank? Some things like stress coat or chemi clean produce a lot of bubbles.

 

[jgking21]

No additives in the tank, keep in mind the tank is only 2 1/2 weeks old. The sump right now has 9 1/2" of water, the instructions recommend a 6-8" depth. Do you think the extra depth would effect it?

I've got the unit on full flow and it seems to have slowed so I'm going to keep in running to build up the film.

 

[Clownfish518]

My skimmer is in 9" of water, the water is just below the black ring around the neck, and that's about as high as I would want to run it. Deeper water creates back pressure and raises the level in the skimmer. Do you have any eggcrate? Easy to cut a piece (or two) of eggcrate and raise the skimmer. If you want to raise it 2 inches, some eggcrate with PVC legs makes an inexpensive and effective skimmer stand.

But like we discussed, bubble level will drop over the next 2-3 days and we won't know until then where it will level out.

Maybe should have warned you. The new skimmer designs with high air volumes break in can be a little rough. But they do perform. Sorry

 

[jgking21]

Thanks Clownfish! Are you running a Vertex Skimmer, if so what size? I have a 25 gallon that has a prizm on it, so I'm new to this type of skimmer but very excited! I do have extra eggcrate so I'm going to put one piece under it for now, the water level is at the max right now. My only problem right now is that there are gazzillions of bubbles and they are all getting to the DT, anything I can do about that?

 

[Clownfish518]

I have a Vertex IN-100 on my 40 gallon tank. The gazillion bubbles should go away as it breaks in, but a filter sock on the skimmer output would fix it as well

You have the IN-100 as well don't you?

 

[Wakeskater02]

Nice skimmer..! I wish I had one like that.....Skimmers always take a break in period. That Bio film will help calm the bubbles down. Putting a sock on the outflow will help tremendously. I have a CPR and I had to do that as well.

 

[jgking21]

Yes, this is the IN-100.

Added the Sock and looks a lot better. I know a lot of it go away when I get the skimmer tuned in. Just going to take me some time, but I've got plenty!

 

[Clownfish518]

Let us know how it goes. I had mine in a system with an 8 inch water level, never saw any microbubbles. I moved to a system with a 9" level, now I get them, but they don't make it into the DT so no concerns

But, this is a lot of skimmer for under $200

 

[jgking21]

Update, I played with the skimmer all weekend and I think I have it figured out, not tuned in, just figured out. I had to raise the unit about an inch and the skimming slowed. Now I think I can lower it again and then I'll need to tune it in. First I've got to wait for the cycle to finish, I was just impatient and wanted to work on something!

 

[novanosis]

Nice start, I must see skimmate! :drooool:

You think 9 inches is to much?

Hey can you tell me what the EXACT measurement is from top to bottom?

Also how much head room do i need to remove the cup?

Thanks in advance!:zzz:

 

[carmexx]

Question? I'm looking at the same model skimmer for my 10 gallon sump and I was wondering how much room was needed to remove the skimmate cup. Could you tell me?

 

[carmexx]

ooops i posted a question previously posted.....sorry....i'll be waiting.

 

[jgking21]

The Unit is 20 7/8" Tall (my skimmer section is 12"x11") and you don't need alot of room to take the collection cup off, here's a photo:

The lip on the collection cup is between 1/4" and 1/2".

As for water depth, my sits between 8" and 9" and I think that will be fine for the skimmer (the instructions said 6" - 8").

Here is the unit running, I just started it up about 1 minute before taking the picture. You can see the skimmate hasn't made it to the cup yet. After a few minutes, it gets there. Also keep in mind the tank is less than 3 weeks old, so it doesn't have much to skim but it pulls something out!

Thanks for looking, let me know if you have any more questions. I'm hoping to add a CUC next week and a fish about a week later, then we'll really see it going!

 

[jgking21]

Wanted to post an update. The tank is finished cycling so I'm working on dialing in the skimmer. I did my first water change and without thinking I clean what little was in the collection cup. No Pics, but it stunk so it must be working. Here are a few shots after 24 hours from cleaning the cup:

Big shot of the collection cup, you can see it's pulling some real gunk out!

Question though: You can see where the bubbles make it to, should they be going all the way into the cup? That big piece you see is still on the inside of the tube, shouldn't it be getting into the cup?

Thanks for the help!