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View Full Version : Need advice. Reef Octopus BH-100 HOB Skimmer


bassking16
02/03/2010, 10:01 PM
If anyone is using one of these, I could sure use your help. I just got one of these today for my 30g tank. The skimmer has only been up and running for about 8 hours so far, so I am sure it isn't broken in yet. However, I have yet to collect anything in the collection cup. Not even a little bit of light skimmate. I haven't messed with the cup heigth too much yet. I just wanted to here other people's experience with them first, before I start messing with it too much.

My big problem right now is the stupid micro bubbles coming from the water discharge. I can't get rid of them. There is a sponge on the bottom inside that seems to be worthless, and I attached the BIG UGLY blue bubble sponge, that came with the skimmer, to the discharge inside my tank. It helps a little, but I still have alot of micro bubbles, and the bubble sponge itself looks hidious on the back of my tank.

How did you get rid of the micro bubbles. I bought this skimmer on the recommendations from quite a few people, so I assume it is a pretty good skimmer once it is tweeked. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, just as a friendly warning about this skimmer. Apparently Reef Octopus has upgraded their pump on these units. All the pics I see online show a small power head looking pump. However, the one that came with mine is HUGE. It's about 3"x3"x6", and it takes alot of space up in the tank. I had to move rocks around just to make room. I know in this hobby that bigger is usualy better, but in this case, it is a little bit of a PITA when using this unit in a smaller tank.

Anyway, thank you for any help you could pass my way.

Bassking

bassking16
02/04/2010, 10:01 PM
Nobody uses this skimmer?

Hudzon
02/05/2010, 12:33 AM
Yes they use to ship with a small rio and now come with a OCT-1000
I myself think the OCT-1000 is to powerful for the BH-100
I had one and to get it to work I added a valve to the air supply line and had it amost shut down to where the water level would start to rise on the return side. I have ordered a pin wheel for it and will let you know how that works out.

bassking16
02/05/2010, 06:04 AM
I appreciate that, and look forward to see how that pinwheel works. I think I got mine to stabilize for the most part. It is starting to pull a little skimmate from the water, and the mocro bubbles have been drastically reduced.

I think this is a good skimmer, but needs better instructions, and a few mods in order to work at peak performance.

bluetang66
02/05/2010, 08:12 AM
They have a very good customer service, give them a call. The micro bubbles will probably go away once it's breaks in.

mcoomer
02/05/2010, 09:03 AM
You may be stuck with the micro bubbles. I have an 300F that's been on my small tank in the garage since early December and it still put bubbles in the tank. I've tried a couple of times to come up with a fix but everything I do raises the water level to the point that my collection cup fills too fast. It looks like the skimmer is simply moving too much water and not enough air. All the water flow seem to be pulling a fine mist of bubbles into the bottom of the reaction chamber and once they get the the flow carries them to the outlet pipe and into the tank. I'm thinking that I will mesh mod the pumps to try to pull more air and see if that slows the flow enough to stop the bubbles from leaving the reaction chamber.

On a side note, there is a Reef Octo HOB thread in the equipment forum. It's split a couple times I think so there are literally thousands of posts with questions and answers in there. It's usually somewhere on the first 5 pages in that forum.

Mike

daudelus
02/05/2010, 12:27 PM
I found with the Octopus HOB I have (Pump external) that time gets rid of alot of the micro bubbles, but I have also turned the return flow around to hit the back wall of the tank and this breaks them up a little and allows the others to flow to the top of the water and out rather than flowing in the tank with the current.

SMITTY27030
02/05/2010, 06:26 PM
ive heard of nothing good for the octo skimmers..saving for one know. in my research i did find out that they took a day or two to really start pulling the junk out...was also told that the micro bubbles would werent really a problem but was enough out there that said the bubbles stayed also...

bassking16
02/06/2010, 04:20 AM
Well, I think this skimmer is starting to work itself out now. The micro bubbles have diminished greatly, and it is starting to pull some skim out of the water.

I think I am going to like this skimmer. So far the performance is pretty good now that it settled in. I also like how easy it is to get to and clean the collection cup. I also like how quiet it is since this tank is in my bedroom.

The only things that I'm not real thrilled with are the size of the pump. It is pretty big, and takes up alot of room in my 25g tank. However, I have to understand that this skimmer is rated for a tank up to I believe 60g. Therefor a pump that size is necessary. The only other things that I would like to see with this skimmer is a more detailed instruction manual. The one that was included is really vague. It is pretty much just a parts break-down. No real instruction on set-up and tuning. The last thing that I would like to see is the Bubble Elliminating Sponge changed to black instead of the neon blue that it is. I'm not crazy aboout the look of this sponge up against the black background of my tank. I plan on changing this sponge to a black one here in the near future.

Overall, I give this skimmer a 4.5 out of 5, and I am happy with it so far.

daudelus
02/06/2010, 06:34 AM
The only other things that I would like to see with this skimmer is a more detailed instruction manual. The one that was included is really vague. It is pretty much just a parts break-down. No real instruction on set-up and tuning.

I agree with the manual... it was worthless. I had to go online to find anyone with something more to say about installation.