Octopus Skimmer HELP!

[SaltwaterNoob17]

My Reef Octopus Skimmer BH-2000 HOB came in today, and the instructions SUCK! :frustrat: I've figured most of it out, but I need some help...

Where does the "Bubble Stopper" (blue sponge) go? Is it supposed to go inside the water outlet tube?!

How far down should the collection cup be positioned/how many inches should the collection cup sit above the rest of the skimmer body?

Is the "Shield" (surface skimmer part) supposed to be positioned below, at, or above the main tank's water level?

Should I even use the sponges? Are they nitrate traps??

How should the air hose, air valve, and silencer be positioned?

Any help from an Octopus owner would be awesome. Pics would be great, too. Thanks.

 

[Kazarko]

my skimmer was overflowing when I was using the sponges because they were constantly filled with crap from my tank and water could not properly pass through them. You could trim them a bit I guess. I don't use the sponges. my HOB octo 100 intake is slightly below the water level, maybe 1 inch. my air hose just goes up attached to the end of the silencer which sits above the whole skimmer. I just went by the pic in the diagram of the instructions. Google that model and you will find some results and pics of existing setups.

 

[SaltwaterNoob17]

Sadly, I've been googling for the past 2 hours and have found little on the HOB 2000 models...

Thanks, though. And I'll do away with the sponges. Also, while googling, I found people recommending to run vinegar through the skimmer to speed up the break-in time; any thoughts?

 

[Kazarko]

I don't bother too much, these break in fairly well as I was skimming nasty brown stuff within hours unlike some other skimmers. I'd say they skim too well but there's no such thing.
Someone else posted some pics here: Reef Octopus BH-2000 HOB - Reef Sanctuary

 

[SaltwaterNoob17]

Okay. Thanks again.

 

[SaltwaterNoob17]

I'm going to skip the vinegar and try setting it up on the tank tomorrow morning. I don't want to set it up tonight and wake up tomorrow to find that the skimmer leaked all over the carpet... :shock:

 

[bjohanson1234]

That is the same skimmr that I just got on tursday. Set it up yesterday. I pretty much just have the collection cup as high as I could put it to avoid the overflow problem until it is broken in. I didnt use the blue bubble trap sponge. I left it of. The bubbles it puts out arent that much and do float right uto the surface pretty quickly. I wish I could reach my hand in and get that black sponge out. I might have to rigg something up to grab it. It is huge also

 

[bjohanson1234]

Also, make sure those O-rings are in the unions on the pump. I assumed they were already and added water. There are two big ones and one little one. I also put some teflon tape on the threads on the pump input but that is just me being anal since the little O-ring goes inside of there.

 

[SaltwaterNoob17]

I got it set-up, and it seems to be working all right. It is outputting a lot of bubbles, but they rise straight up to the surface and disappear. So far so good. :sfish:

 

[bjohanson1234]

Yeah same here on the bubbles. I just cant imagine that blue sponge taking up so much room in the tank

 

[SaltwaterNoob17]

That is the same skimmr that I just got on thursday.

Is your skimmer actually collecting anything yet??

 

[bjohanson1234]

It has about a half inch in there this morning. Been running almoat 2 days. I have the collection cup set pretty high to avoid it filling up with water. Going to run it like that for a week or two then adjust its hieight.

Brian

 

[SaltwaterNoob17]

Okay, thanks. I was just wondering if it was breaking-in quickly for you. ;)