Octopus Skimmers

Bifferwine

Bifferwine

I am a girl
I have heard a lot of good things about these guys, and they are very reasonably priced. So I am thinking of trying one out on my 240. BUT I don't understand what any of this means! I'm not very technically-abled.

Octopus Protein Skimmers - AquaCave
Products: ASM Skimmers

Which one would be the best for my tank? I need one that's in-sump. My biggest problem is I only have about 22" of clearance in my sump. Can any of these sit OUTSIDE my sump where I have more clearance and just have the water reach it through some plumbing or something?? HELLLLLPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and it seems that Octopus is a branch of ASM.
 
Oh and for those of you that have Coralife super skimmers, does the collection cup just SLIDE out to the side? Because I can go with one of those, and then clearance won't be an issue if I don't have to LIFT the cup up off the top. You get what I'm saying???
 
I was just looking at the EuroReefs too. They have cups that slide out so you need zero clearance. Also similary priced to the ones I mentioned above, but much smaller in size.

What do you guys suggest? I'm torn.
 
Skimmer I just bought has that union type coupler, just slides right off, only about 1/4" clearance is necessary....
 
Dont know the name, think its a ASM or something... Sedra pump...I bought the bigger one, rated to 300 I found out, but there was a shorter one. I will ask tommorrow if ya want...
 
Bifferwine said:
Oh and for those of you that have Coralife super skimmers, does the collection cup just SLIDE out to the side? Because I can go with one of those, and then clearance won't be an issue if I don't have to LIFT the cup up off the top. You get what I'm saying???
Click to expand...

Biff,
With the CSS all you have to do is loosen the union that connects the cup to the skimmer body.Then just lift the cup about 1/8 inch and slide it off to the side.
 
it looks like the Octopus is set up the same way. just turn the union and the cup SLIDES off. you might want to contact them first (or i can call a LFS here that sells them and ask how they come off if that would be easier for ya) to make sure, but that is what it looks like to me.
 
Good deal! I see that many of them can be used externally also, so clearance wouldn't be an issue anyways as long as I could hide it off to the side. I'll have to take a closer look at all of them and make up my mind, probably tomorrow. I'm impulsive like that.
 
Seriously though if you're getting one as a stand alone and not using your Aqua C I would go with the recirculating needlewheel models.The bubbles will have more contact time.You know that you're going to be overstocked.I can see it now,you had 13 fishes in your 55...hmmmm,I can see 50 fishes in a 240.
 
I'm looking for something around $400 (or lower). I will not continue to use my Aqua C, it's too tall for the sump, so I have to tilt it to the side to get the cup out, which spills skimmer crap all over my floor (and half of it spills right back into the tank). I'm going to keep it though, because I'm also keeping my 48" T5s, because we all know that as soon as I'm done setting up and stocking this tank, I'm just going to have to start a new 55 seahorse and pipefish tank... :D
 
Check out Lifereef,I know they aren't as well known as the Euroreef and Octopus but take a look at his website.Its a simple/almost maintenance free skimmer.He makes the skimmer to fit any way you like.Whether it be in sump,out of sump or inline.He even can put a zero clearance cup remover on there.Mine is only 24'' tall but its as fat as the Octopus I linked too.It was about $400 dollars with a Mag 9.5.You can request other pumps too and auto shut off for the pump in case of overflow.

Lifereef(Jeff)........Protein skimmer, ozone, skimmer, venturi, in-sump, hang-on, Euro, stand-alone. downdraft, needle-wheel, protein
 
the octopus works just fine for me. make sure you measure twice with whatever model you choose. you can't beat the bang for the buck with them. also, don't count on much communication if you order directly from them. i've e-mailed several questions with no response. when i initially ordered mine it took them a whole week and an email from me saying i wanted to cancel my order for them to respond and finally ship out. aside from that it's a quality product. you should be able to get more for you money with them over the coralife. that's the only other thing i was considering, after all the searching, when when i made my final decision.
 
I went to my LFS today and asked them about skimmers. Rob (the owner) said he has used Ocotpus skimmers on his display tanks and his home tanks for the last year and a half, and they are by far the best performing skimmers out there for the money. In fact, he has just started stocking them in store.

He said he knows the owner of Octopus and is friends with the guy. I told him about how I only have around 24" of clearance in my stand, but the skimmer I need is 29" tall. Rob said he'd contact Octopus and see if they can fit the skimmer with a custom cup that is shorter and wider so that it will fit underneath my stand. Rob also said he would match any online price I found for the skimmer I wanted, which THRILLED ME, since usually if you buy equipment at the LFS, it's 1 1/2 to 2 times the online price.

This is the one I ordered:
Octopus DNW-200 Recirculating Protein Skimmer* - AquaCave

Rob also warned me that there is a company from China making counterfeit Octopus skimmers, so if you order one online, be careful because you might be getting one of the knockoffs. He said that the REAL Octopus is suing the Chinese company right now, so it's better to go straight through the manufacturer if you want one, instead of online stores.

It should be here in about 5 days.
 

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