Octopus HOB Skimmer Owners - Page 29

FishAreFriends2 · #**701** 11/17/2007, 05:13 PM

Holy crap dude thats cheap, The others here got theirs for 140+10 thats gotta be a kick in the head. True about the earlier statement if you got a sump for your 40 dont even bother with a hob. Deltecs are nice but if you have a sump for your 40 go for a insump.

Umm scratch that that skimmer description is werid its only 8 inches long?

On coralvues site it says
# tem #: OCT-BH100F

# Designed to be hassle free with simple installation.
# Includes protein skimmer, filter chamber, and surface skimmer
# Pump included.

# Dimensions: 18" tall x 13" long x 3" deep

Crackerballer · #**702** 11/17/2007, 05:22 PM

Yea and I just looked for a part number, and they give it as BH100. SO its the wrong pic.

Crackerballer · #**703** 11/17/2007, 05:22 PM

http://cgi.ebay.com/OCTOPUS-HANG-ON-...QQcmdZViewItem

thats more of the price you are talking about Fand F

Crackerballer · #**704** 11/17/2007, 05:25 PM

My other beef is how far is that think going to stick up above the back of my pod? It looks like that surface skimmer attachment is WAY low.

FishAreFriends2 · #**705** 11/17/2007, 05:37 PM

Well Im going to guess its not going to pass your light for sure. And from the previous posts by happyface and dzeadow they both mentioned that the surface skimming back is way to low and useless. The intake tube is way too long and makes the box go under water making it useless. Someone on the other hand did shorten the tube and is using the surface skimming box. There is always the solution of a DIY Surface box.

dzeadow · #**706** 11/17/2007, 08:08 PM

I don't know if you're thinking about it or not, but I'd be leary of buying the octopus skimmers off of ebay. you'll probably get a cheaper version of it.

happyface888 · #**707** 11/17/2007, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dzeadow
I don't know if you're thinking about it or not, but I'd be leary of buying the octopus skimmers off of ebay. you'll probably get a cheaper version of it.

I second that. You might not get the warranty if you got a different one tahts not distributed by coralvue

luke33 · #**708** 11/17/2007, 09:56 PM

Coral vue or marine solutions....both have a 1yr warranty on there skimmer bodies and pump's. ; ) I've bought quite a few skimmers from ebay but in this situation i'd pass.

happyface888 · #**709** 11/17/2007, 10:08 PM

Thats good to hear, guess you can go ahead and buy but I still recommend Thereefstop.com for the bh100f they got it for the lowest price.

luke33 · #**710** 11/17/2007, 10:35 PM

Yep, the reefstop is one of the only one's with that skimmer.

dzeadow · #**711** 11/17/2007, 11:08 PM

actually, if you want to be technical, custom aquatics has it for cheaper.. it was $139 when I bought it. I'm sure the reefstop matches though.

happyface888 · #**712** 11/18/2007, 02:51 AM

Hmm I didnt know if only they put it on their site, and thereefstop does price match.

dzeadow · #**713** 11/18/2007, 09:54 AM

yeah, custom is the place that was told to me by David at CoralVue, I had to call Custom directly and order it and they had to have it drop shipped from Vue. So if you don't want to go through that ordeal, then the other place would most likely be easier.

Crackerballer · #**714** 11/18/2007, 02:07 PM

Ok so here are the measurements of my aquapod and the room I am working with. I think after measuring I will have plenty of room if I can figure out the return spout.

dzeadow · #**715** 11/18/2007, 02:30 PM

well.. I'm right on the verge of wishing i had bought the 100 vs the 100F. Every time I do a water change, I have to restart that dumb syphon. PITA! Plus the other one would have been smaller in my tank. Oh well. Live and learn. It's a great skimmer though, pulling out sewage that I never saw with the remora.. it's incredible. Boy did that stuff stink that I cleaned out of it today!

happyface888 · #**716** 11/18/2007, 08:04 PM

I agree changing water and restarting that siphon is annoying. My solution is. Take off the pre skimmer box and it solves the problem, the tube is after all pretty long by the time I take out 5 gallons its still skimming. I can also add a tube to make it longer on purpose if I want to do more water. Yeah that is the only downfall of this skimmer is that annoying siphon thing. You can also rework the skimmer intake and make the pump connect to the intake like a deltec and I think it might work. The Regular bh is good also but if you want one less eq than you have to deal with the siphon thing.

happyface888 · #**717** 11/18/2007, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crackerballer
Ok so here are the measurements of my aquapod and the room I am working with. I think after measuring I will have plenty of room if I can figure out the return spout.

Which octo are you going to get?

dzeadow · #**718** 11/18/2007, 08:14 PM

I think what I might do is re-aquascape my tank when I get my eco rox on tuesday and I think I'm going to take the box off and possibly put on a 4" pvc pipe w/ a cap on the bottom cut in half and replaced w/ a piece of plexi so it sits flat against the back glass and then drill some holes in the bottom of the pvc so that it sucks from down low as well as from up top.. maybe not, I'm just thinking out loud. Plus it'd let me do the other mod w/ the dual elbows up to the surface. Maybe I'll just do my drill method on my box, it'd let the water still enter so if the water ever dropped below the surface skimmer, it wouldn't quit working. Sorry, I babble a lot

dzeadow · #**719** 11/18/2007, 08:17 PM

I wonder what it would take to connect the pump to the syphon tube? Once it starts it wouldn't be working that hard.

happyface888 · #**720** 11/18/2007, 08:19 PM

I think it will work aslong as the tube gets water inside the siphon wont break, you can even add a ballvalve on the end to open it when you are about to awter change and to close it when your done. That way your skimmer box wont go to waste.

happyface888 · #**721** 11/18/2007, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dzeadow
I wonder what it would take to connect the pump to the syphon tube? Once it starts it wouldn't be working that hard.

Im guessing some flexible tubbing or you shorten the tubes and use pvc or just use a T fitting so pump can suck and siphon at the sametime

Crackerballer · #**722** 11/18/2007, 09:36 PM

Well I as between the BH100 and BH100F, I just want whichever one will fit.

dzeadow · #**723** 11/19/2007, 09:20 AM

Well, I think I'm making it official. There's either something wrong with my pump or I'm going mad. I have the dam on my overflow box slanted so it's shallow on one end and deep on the other, so if I have any drop in water line it'll still be getting enough to keep the syphon going. Not to mention I have an ATO so the water stays relatively consistant. The 100F lost syphon AGAIN last night. Somethin's up. So I'm pretty sure I'm either going to have to try a different pump or attempt the mod Happy was talking about by attaching a poly tube or something from the pump to the syphon tube so it's constantly sucking water through it. This things getting kind of frustrating now. At least I'll have something to keep me occupied while I take a few days off for Thanksgiving this week!

happyface888 · #**724** 11/19/2007, 11:02 AM

Sorry to hear the siphon keeps breaking on you. Mine hasnt done that to me yet. I think the mod might be worth a try, that way you can start it up and not have trouble. Theres nothing wrong with the pump, I am guessing it has something to do with the intake in the overflow box. Mine is submerged in the water and I never got a stopped siphon unless I do a water change and the water goes below the teeth thats when it stops.

happyface888 · #**725** 11/19/2007, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crackerballer
Well I as between the BH100 and BH100F, I just want whichever one will fit.

Hmm the back seems a tad small, might get a jam on one of the exit tubes. Since the center is tight might have to mod the exit or something.