here's my 3 weeks experience with the Vertex IN-80 ... your mileage may vary.
setup
- 55g tank + 10g sump, Tunze ATO, skimmer is in 7.5 inches of water
- 50lbs LR, cleanup crew, zoas, xenia, 1-big leather, 1-blenny, 1-chromis
- tank is about 3 years old
pros
- wedge pipe makes water level adjustment easy;
wedge pipe assembly can also be moved/rotated (to a degree) around
the skimmer body for a smaller footprint
- collection cup has a drain
cons
- noisy ... humming seems to resonate in the sump; airline intake is loud too (this is by far the worst factor for me ... I have to crank up the TV!)
- the collection cup has to be "wiggled" off (at least for me) and if the cup is almost full, then it may be easy to spill some skimmate
performance
- given the light bio-load, I think it is pulling out a decent amount of skimmate
- seems to be sensitive to water levels ... on one occasion I shut off my return pump and the sump level rose from 7.5 inches to about 9.5 for a couple of hours (had forgotten to turn the return pump back on) ... got lots of foam that overflowed the collection cup.
- seems sensitive to feeding ... after feeding flakes, the foam head collapses for 1-1.5 hours; after feeding msysis, cyclopeze, it collapses longer
- I'm not sure whether or not the skimmer is broken-in / dialed-in yet ...
- I'm trying to get the bubbles to break just as they enter the bottom of the collection cup, but doing so results in very wet skimming ... so the bubbles are breaking near the top of the skimmer body (and the skimmate production does seem decent)
- I don't think the noise level is going to subside, though
comparison
- I've picked up a used EuroReef RS80 that I'll put in the sump next week and it will offer a good comparison to the IN-80.
- I've used a Deltec MCE600 (both in HOB and in Sump) ... it's skimmate was
much nastier ... but it also had issues:
-- collection cup walls built up a lot of crud and had to be cleaned every couple of days (otherwise skimming efficiency would drop)
-- there was some humming noise (not as loud as the IN-80).
- I've used a Remora Pro in HOB ... not very effective.
- I do have a EuroReef RS135 on a 95g ... I like it very much.
I hope the information has been helpful.
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