Warner K2 or Vertex / Royal Exclusiv Alpha Cone 200

[Maxx]

I'm contemplating upgrading skimmers on my system. Right now I have about 170 gallons SPS system with a moderate fish load. Its being run right now with a gravity fed H&S AF150-2001 recirc skimmer. Even though this skimmer is rated for 225 gallons, I'm really underwhelmed with its performance...

I've been looking at the Warner Marine K2. I havent heard a bad thing about it yet......And I looked long and hard and havent found anyone who can say anything but great things about Jon Warner and his customer service.

But the new Vertex / Royal Exclusiv Alpha Cone 200 seems to have alot buzz about it too....

Thoughts, opinions, comments.....

Nick

 

[EriksReptiles]

My opinion. Get the Alpha Cone hands down!

I was actually thinking about getting dual Marines and then the Alpha Cones came out. So I jumped on them and bought a 250 cone for my 400 gallon clown fish breeding system. It’s an amazing skimmer with ALOT of power. I only need one for my system; however I will be buying another one and run duals so I can add some more tanks.

Eventually I will be setting up a system to grow out baby clown fish and it will have ~20-30 20gallon tanks with a 200 gallon sump. I will be running dual 300 cones on this system, both with Ozone. I am hooked to the Alphas now.

Here is a picture of mine. You can view my thread here: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47665 .

Any questions feel free to ask!

Thanks Erik

 

[roscoe]

I havn't seen the Vertex in person but have a WM S200 and is a great quality built skimmer. Very well built.

 

[luke33]

Maxx, those two are not comparible to me. A sicce vs an askoll will always go to an askoll. There will be no reliability issues with the askoll and years of performance.

 

[Maxx]

Thanks for the replies guys....

Luke, as far as I can see, the Alpha cone is running a red dragon pump.....is that just an askoll with a custom machined volute and venturi?

Erik, have you measured your alpha cone's air draw? If so what numbers did you get?

Nick

 

[luke33]

Yep. Askoll=Laguna Max Flo= Red dragon=air star. They are pump's built by hagen, they call them askoll's over the waters and laguna max flo's here. They are then custom modified with a pinwheel and volute. Most are the max flo 1500, then the larger skimmers use the 2000 max flo motorblock and 4200 max flo motorblock. They are the best skimmer pump in the business hands down.

 

[Maxx]

Ahh okay...good to know. What sort of numbers are people getting out of the Askoll's et al?
What sort of maintenance issues are you referring to with the Sicce pumps vs the Askoll pumps?

Nick

 

[luke33]

The askoll i'm using pulls 90scfh at 73w with a pf of .53. With a pw. It never has startup problems and is quiet as can be. They last forever.

As far as sicce's go they are great cheaper pump's and have the best air to water ratio out there. Problem is if you use mesh or to heavy of pw the pump will last around 6mths to a year. Then they take an act of congress to start up with help. If you are nice to them they will last a long time though. The best way to run them is to use a pw and clean them every few mths.

 

[lizardarm]

I don't know about the skimmers you mentioned, but I can say that I've recently converted a sicce powered skimmer to an askoll pump and it is the best thing I've done reef-wise in years. I can't say enough about how much better the laguna askoll pump performs over the TWO sicces it replaced. Infinately better skimmer pump IMO.

 

[roscoe]

yeah I got the old CNC A300 Skimmer from Luke a while back and can say it is dead silent and no heat. That thing can kick up some skimmate!!

 

[EriksReptiles]

Thanks for the replies guys....

Luke, as far as I can see, the Alpha cone is running a red dragon pump.....is that just an askoll with a custom machined volute and venturi?

Erik, have you measured your alpha cone's air draw? If so what numbers did you get?

Nick

Hey, I dont have a meter to measure it..

Thanks Erik