tuning Vertex Omega 150 skimmer

TheFishGuyKW · Sep 10, 2017

underwaterdan said:
Very old thread. However I will try and help the best I can. How high is the water in your skimmer? Above or below the neck? How high do the bubbles go?

The water is about 8 in, and bubbles coming out the tank and all over my sump

underwaterdan · Sep 10, 2017

Sorry if I'm being too basic but Have you used the knob on the skimmer to adjust how much water is in the skimmer? Also have you adjusted the pump speed? I'd aim to have water just below the neck of the skimmer.

TheFishGuyKW · Sep 10, 2017

underwaterdan said:
Sorry if I'm being too basic but Have you used the knob on the skimmer to adjust how much water is in the skimmer? Also have you adjusted the pump speed? I'd aim to have water just below the neck of the skimmer.

Yes I have used the knob, and to adjust the pump speed you talking about turning the white part on the pump right??

underwaterdan · Sep 10, 2017

No. The pump has four or five speeds. It's controlled by the breakout box, the one that has the feed mode.
Without a picture my assumption is your not letting the water get high enough in the skimmer.

TheFishGuyKW · Sep 10, 2017

The bubbles are overflowing in my sump...Are you referring to a Vertex Omega 150 still??

underwaterdan · Sep 11, 2017

I just double checked and it seems they may have changed design slightly. However the goal is not to have any bubbles in your sump, can you send a picture of your setup.

TheFishGuyKW · Sep 11, 2017

underwaterdan · Sep 11, 2017

Way too much air. Try and limit the amount of air going in and turn it down! Ideally there should be bubbles barely reaching the top of skimmer so that only skinmate can make it into the cup.

TheFishGuyKW · Sep 11, 2017

How do I limit the air going into it

dragon99 · Sep 11, 2017

Open the discharge pipe completely open. Partially open in the highlight area below

Screw in the volute completely closed. The volute is highlighted yellow below

If doing that doesn't get the air/water mix into the neck of the skimmer, you will need to raise the skimmer higher in your sump.

Saltdaddy · Sep 12, 2017

I am in the process of getting mine tuned in and I found a ATO is a must. Right now just trying to get more in the cup. It is in 7" of water.

Saltdaddy · Sep 27, 2017

If this helps. I have my 150 in 7" of water. The volute is 1/4 turn, bubbles are mid neck. All adjustment now is with the air adjustment value. Is working good.

skijumpersc · Sep 16, 2019

dragon99 said:
Open the discharge pipe completely open. Partially open in the highlight area below

Screw in the volute completely closed. The volute is highlighted yellow below

If doing that doesn't get the air/water mix into the neck of the skimmer, you will need to raise the skimmer higher in your sump.

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but you seem to be have vertex experience. I’m having a hard time getting mine dialed in. Right now it’s in about 5” of water with the volute closed and the discharge all the way open. I’m getting a ton of bubbles out of the discharge, but also a lot of bubbles making their way into my collection cup. Right now I’ve got the drain plug open so it doesn’t fill every 5 minutes. I tried it in deeper water but it was overflowing even quicker. What’s the best process to tune this?

dragon99 · Sep 17, 2019

skijumpersc said:
Sorry to revive a dead thread, but you seem to be have vertex experience. I’m having a hard time getting mine dialed in. Right now it’s in about 5” of water with the volute closed and the discharge all the way open. I’m getting a ton of bubbles out of the discharge, but also a lot of bubbles making their way into my collection cup. Right now I’ve got the drain plug open so it doesn’t fill every 5 minutes. I tried it in deeper water but it was overflowing even quicker. What’s the best process to tune this?

Is this a new skimmer or tank? Seems odd that it's overflowing in only 5" of water. With the discharge completely open I would expect lots of bubbles escaping, but not to still have it overflowing the cup.
If it's a new skimmer, try running it in a bucket with tap water and vinegar. If it's not new, is there something in your water that would cause it to overflow like chemiclean or some other medication?

When I've had it overflowing the cup like that I've hooked up the drain line to a 5 gal bucket and let it overflow until it settled down (3-6gal). That was only a problem for me after a chemiclean treatment though. Keep adding fresh saltwater so that the ATO doesn't replace all of skimmed water and lower salinity.

skijumpersc · Sep 17, 2019

dragon99 said:
Is this a new skimmer or tank? Seems odd that it's overflowing in only 5" of water. With the discharge completely open I would expect lots of bubbles escaping, but not to still have it overflowing the cup.
If it's a new skimmer, try running it in a bucket with tap water and vinegar. If it's not new, is there something in your water that would cause it to overflow like chemiclean or some other medication?

When I've had it overflowing the cup like that I've hooked up the drain line to a 5 gal bucket and let it overflow until it settled down (3-6gal). That was only a problem for me after a chemiclean treatment though. Keep adding fresh saltwater so that the ATO doesn't replace all of skimmed water and lower salinity.

Its new to me, I bought a used tank and when I got it I gave everything a good cleaning in water and vinegar. its only been running a couple days. Is it just going through a break in period? I found if I restrict the air into the silencer a bit it calms the skimmer down. right now Ive just got it draining back into the sump since its pulling out so much water