Octopus HOB Skimmer Owners - Page 9

dzeadow · #**201** 12/06/2007, 10:43 PM

It'd be nice to see Koral's step by step before jumping into this tomorrow.. but I think it'll work. I'll go to HD/Lowes tomorrow and get some gutter guard, cut all the blades off the impeller except like 3-6, put the gutter guard on w/ 2 layers of enkamat, tie down w/ fishing line. While I'm at HD, I'll check on 1/8 ID vinyl tubing and adapters. I'd like to be able to squeeze an L shaped adapter in there some how to make it like it is now only w/ a bigger air hole. Oh, I almost forgot, I get my airflow meter tomorrow too I think! It'll be cool to test all this junk!

luke33 · #**202** 12/06/2007, 10:45 PM

Some like GG, some don't. I personally think GG doesn't do a good job. I like enkamat only. It pulls more air without the GG for me.

happyface888 · #**203** 12/06/2007, 10:49 PM

Yeah he's going to make a great guide

, only 4 more days till he gets his hob. He's also going to test the impellers, if the sedra 2500 pinwheel fits in the resun225f without problems Im getting it. If not I'll mesh mod it and let it rip, double the skimmate. Is there a such thing as a L adapter? because I never seen one unless you make a diy one where you melt some tubing into it or something. How big is the airline that comes with our skimmer? And how much is that airflow thing, I think luke might be correct about ti pulling 3scf. Its not a huge pump most of the ones where you see like 25+ are 700-1k gph.

happyface888 · #**204** 12/06/2007, 10:50 PM

Luke should the intake hole be boared out or should it be left alone?If you read the last page I hope you can explain wheater to mess with the hole or not. Because I am not sure and we need your guidance. Sorry but can you explain all the details

koraltek · #**205** 12/06/2007, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by luke33
Some like GG, some don't. I personally think GG doesn't do a good job. I like enkamat only. It pulls more air without the GG for me.

i agree, enkamat is waay better than gutter guard, and i prefer to use it, we were only talking about gg in reference to a meshed sedra 2500 being too powerful.
and now that i think about it, i think a more severely trimmed mesh layer on the sedra 2500 might be the ticket.
well, im getting excited to get everything and commense with the testing.

yes, i get the bh100f on monday, and hopefully the sedra a day or 2 later

happyface888 · #**206** 12/07/2007, 12:00 AM

I totally forgot about trimming things down when we were talking about the sedra. So where would you put the venturi hole? on the volute or are you going to use the sedras venturi adapter. I haven't seen a sedra2500 in person but I was wondering does it have the side brackets stuck to the body of the pump? Did you request your free enkamat samples? I know that different types produce different bubbles right?

koraltek · #**207** 12/07/2007, 12:31 AM

im gonna try both the sedra venturi and a volute drilled venturi to see which will be better, i have a couple extra volutes around to drill. but im pretty sure the sedra venturi will be better.

happyface888 · #**208** 12/07/2007, 12:36 AM

Luckly I didnt mess with the caps yet, I'll wait to see the results of how yours go. Will you be using a 1/4 air tube or a 1/8 air tube?Well when you get your skimmer your going to have a tricky time trying to take the pump out. Its screwed on with a plastic nut or something, you can use a pair of pliers or a long nail. The nut has small holes perfect of a nail and than you twist it off. Oh are you going to make a DIY surface skimming box or hacksaw some of the tube? Man that deltec air controller thing seems alittle pricey, Im going to just use those small ballvalves they sell at lowes, $5 for 3 of them.

happyface888 · #**209** 12/07/2007, 03:59 AM

Look at what I found someone actually has the nano skimmwe

micro bubble frenzy @_@
You might want to consider making a bubble trap for this.
Heres the build thread who has it in his tank
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...0#post11332970

daytonreefRob · #**210** 12/07/2007, 08:02 AM

For a small skimmer, that appears to be pretty good.

luke33 · #**211** 12/07/2007, 08:26 AM

Yea, its pretty milked out for such a little guy. As for the 1/4" venturi, these pump's are to small for the larger venturi. 1/8" will be best. Yes if i were Koral i'd try the drill in the volute thread right were the impeller shaft goes in so the hose adapter is right below that piece dang near touching it. And i'd try the sedra venturi. Happy, I wouldn't worry about boaring out the volute any. Just try it stock.

dzeadow · #**212** 12/07/2007, 09:04 AM

That must have been some type of earlier version of the Octo nano.. it's a little better built these days (according to the pics I've seen. The outlet tube looks like it's bigger now w/ the gray pvc instead of clear. But if that's what it looks like, I might be going w/ the ER nano.. that thing he has in his tank looks like a 3yr old made it! If I knew how it was set up, I could probably make one for less than $10 w/ pvc!

I didn't check my mail this week until this morning, and tada, enkamat! It's the 1/4" thick stuff so if I put 2 layers on, there's probably going to be some trimming. I think while I'm messing with this whole thing I may just drill off the venturi port that comes attached to the 225 and put on that other venturi attachment, cut the venturi thing off that and leave the 3 prongs sticking in from the sides. This would allow me to put whatever size rigid airline I wanted into it and push it right up to the imeller. I don't know, there's so many available options, I just wish I knew more about the subject so I could fiddle w/ it more. I guess there's only one way to find out and that's to just start small and keep modding until I find the right combo. Good thing is, I get that air meter today and I can test it every step of the way in a bucket of saltwater (gotta do a WC anyway).

lemmiwinks · #**213** 12/07/2007, 09:44 AM

hey happyface888, what's a bubble trap exactly? i tried to reduce the bubbles by cutting up a flower pot and using elastic bands.. doesn't work too well though as you can see in the second pic

you can also see in this picture that i have raised the unit as much as possible to lower the water level (this was achieved by putting the PH on it's side, as it was the object restricting the skimmer's height). the collection cup no longer fills with water in 5 minutes anyway

how bad are reef octopus's instruction guides?? this is the box & piece of paper i recieved:

only other info on box is:

Item No. : NS-80
Name: NANOSKIMMER
Size(mm): 50x25
Pump Power: OTP-200 5w
Max size of the tank : 80L
Place for installation: interior/sump

dzeadow · #**214** 12/07/2007, 10:10 AM

I'd run the crap out of that thing for at least a week. With most hang on skimmers, there's going to be a lot of microbubbles while in the break in period. Let it break in by running for a week and then see where you're at. Does the pipe w/ the T on it adjust up and down? That skimmer doesn't look anything like the one you posted originally in your nano tank thread. The other one looked a lot sturdier w/ gray piping and everything. I'm wondering if you got an old model and there's a new upgrade out there. We haven't gotten this skimmer here in the states yet, I was told it was either arriving this week via cargo ship or left this week on a cargo ship from China.. so we'll see.

FishAreFriends2 · #**215** 12/07/2007, 11:34 AM

Thats a interesting nano skimmer, looks different from the one posted earlier before the split. Dzeadow I dont think ya have to worry, luke the mod master is in this thread, I'd pm bash him for answers

. As for the bubble trap happy was talking about, I think you can make a diy of your own or experiment but a bubble trap box I think will work is this.

I think a simple diy works too this thing is just a box with a sponge on the bottom. water goes in and the bubbles cant pass the sponge thus rising to the top of the box. and yes octopus instructions suck! what kind of pump does the nano use? I also thought octopus stuff came in a white box with the octopus mascot on it, thats the first time I seen a clown on it.

keep us updated on how this skimmer is.

dzeadow · #**216** 12/07/2007, 11:49 AM

That box is probably a little overkill for a skimmer that's probably right around 2" diameter. I'm thinking if I had that and it was going crazy with micros even after breaking in, I'd try to put some type of pvc cap on the bottom w/ teeth cut into it to try and keep most of the bubbles from easily escaping.

FishAreFriends2 · #**217** 12/07/2007, 11:57 AM

Thats why a DIY box is in order, the plastic tube are pretty thick on that nano skimmer though, did you ask david if it was grey or clear? Another optione would to build a huge box to hide that skimmer, kind of like those nano cubes with the back chambers. That way maybe no micros would make it back to the tank

.
Step by step guide PLOX
I just signed up for free enkamat samples at that colbond place.

FishAreFriends2 · #**218** 12/07/2007, 12:04 PM

Hmm too bad theres no pic of the whole ER nano skimmer, I read its going to be meshed modded.

While browsing ER thread somone posted this
A pacific coast nano skimmer? Isn't pacific coast the samething as octopus and swc?

http://www.customaquatic.com/customa...exID=ps-std-sm
3rd one on the list.

dzeadow · #**219** 12/07/2007, 12:41 PM

yeah, I saw that one too.. not sure, but its weird that they all look the same! I haven't talked to David much about the nano except when it was coming. Doesn't it look so easy to DIY? I wish I had more patience.. I'd probably try it.

FishAreFriends2 · #**220** 12/07/2007, 12:43 PM

looks possible, even in this picture, it shows all the parts

koraltek · #**221** 12/07/2007, 12:46 PM

dont worry dzeadow, this isnt rocket science...
just ask us if you have any q's or run into issues, but with all you've read and experienced, you'll know what to do.
and you have an air meter, something i didnt even have at the time of my octo modding.

just think twice and cut once

as far as that nano skimmer, if it's going to be $50 , i'd almost rather just get the euro for $80, if they ever come out with the damn thing. and the've been promising a hang on for over a year now, but still nothing

oops, i just noticed it 's $35...good deal.
does anybody know if it's mesh wheel like the euro?

dzeadow · #**222** 12/07/2007, 12:48 PM

If you look close at the top left, and in the instructions on the bottom, there's a water level adjuster..basically a riser tube that most in-sump skimmers are coming with now. And on his pic, he doesn't have it installed. I wonder if he didn't put it on or if he didn't get it in the box? That thing is supposed to help so you don't have to have the skimmer out of the water and the return T pouring into the tank causing more bubbles

FishAreFriends2 · #**223** 12/07/2007, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by koraltek
dont worry dzeadow, this isnt rocket science...
just ask us if you have any q's or run into issues, but with all you've read and experienced, you'll know what to do.
and you have an air meter, something i didnt even have at the time of my octo modding.

just think twice and cut once

as far as that nano skimmer, if it's going to be $50 , i'd almost rather just get the euro for $80, if they ever come out with the damn thing. and the've been promising a hang on for over a year now, but still nothing

oops, i just noticed it 's $35...good deal.
does anybody know if it's mesh wheel like the euro?

I'd like to get one of those Euro Hobs if there was one, since their insumps are amazing than theres no doubt it'd be good too. No idea if it is, on customaquatics site it says needlewheel, so it may not be.

koraltek · #**224** 12/07/2007, 12:52 PM

looks like the water level adjuster is a wedge in the tiny pic, hard to tell.
but if it is, that's great

dzeadow · #**225** 12/07/2007, 01:00 PM

the $35 skimmer above is from pacific coast.. the octo's going to be $50ish and the ER is supposedly around $80ish. The ER is in beta testing right now and they haven't answered any Q's on their sponsor thread in a week or so it seems.

I'm hoping my air meter comes today. I have my fishing line ready, my enkamat.. I think I'm going to start cutting impeller blades. I'll leave 6 on there so it'll leave a lot of structure for reinforcement. also, w/ the fishing line, are you supposed to tie it as tight as possible in a few places? will that pull the 1/4" enkamat to a lesser thickness?