Super reef octopus 2000 vs euro Reef 8-3 thoughts needed

[Malster1]

Here is my current setup. 180 dd with 80g sump have full, plus 24g frag tank. I moved from a 100g dd last November and from when I've read I'm way under rated for my skimmer now. I currently have a.super reef octopus 2000. I have a opportunity to get a deal on a used euro reef 8-3 with the recirculate mod done to it for a good price, but not sure if it better than what I have. Current skimmer is skimming, but doesn't seem to be pull a lot of skin. My bio load is s follows, 2 yellow tangs, 1 blue tang, 4 clown fish, 3 pj's, 4 chromies, 1 lawn mower, and 3 cleaner shrimps. For corals I have a good amount of Z and P's, some softies, Lps, and a few sps. I have a large section of LR in the sump and a large section of chaeto.

I am looking for some help on what I should do. I don't want have the $$$ to get then next size up reef octopus. Notice isn't that big of an issue as my sump is in the garage and the dd is on the other side of the wall in the house. Dead silent.

Thanks in advance for you options.

[azjohnny]

a better comparison would be a SRO 3000 and a ER 8-3, the 2000 is a 6" body

[Malster1]

Very true, but I'm looking at if I should replace my current one with the euro reef now and then save up for the 3000. Or just wait and get the 3000. Thanks

[sail33]

A friend just gave me a euro reef skimmer with no pump. There isn't a model number on the skimmer but it's got a 5inch base and is 20 inches tall. Anybody know what size pump it'll take ? Even more to the point, anybody have a needle wheel pump for sale that will fit ?

[azjohnny]

A friend just gave me a euro reef skimmer with no pump. There isn't a model number on the skimmer but it's got a 5inch base and is 20 inches tall. Anybody know what size pump it'll take ? Even more to the point, anybody have a needle wheel pump for sale that will fit ?

Think it is a 5-1

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[azjohnny]

Very true, but I'm looking at if I should replace my current one with the euro reef now and then save up for the 3000. Or just wait and get the 3000. Thanks

I would save up for the 3000. I am looking at a 5000INT
I have a high bioload and will be running a bio pellet reactor

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[A sea K]

I have a 8-3 that I made recirc using a sicce psk2500, pretty good set up IMO. I had it on my 210 and stressed like you did as it never seemed to skim enough as I thought it should.
I upgraded to a 2 pump cone skimmer and although it skimmed better than the Euro Reef it still never seemed like it was doing what it should.
I still use the cone skimmer and as my system has aged and bioload has increased it skims more now than it ever did. IMO and this without knowing how well the 2000 will skim, I'd have to say just by size alone the ER will be a much better skimmer than the 2000 you have now. Going up to 3000 may be a totally different question in comaparison, and one that I cant answer.

[swcc]

your current reef octo is not even cycling your water 1x per hour(BB2000 moves 250gph per coralvue). IMO the euro reef should be a good choice provide the recirc mod was done correctly.
I used/use euro reef/reef dynamics skimmers. They flat out work well.
Now should you choose to save for the 3000, then to maximize your 2000 to skim it's best you need to provide a low flow to it. 300(maybe up to 400) gph so it has time to pull the organics from the water fed into the sump. Too fast of flow and the organics just blow right by and back into your display.

[swcc]

A friend just gave me a euro reef skimmer with no pump. There isn't a model number on the skimmer but it's got a 5inch base and is 20 inches tall. Anybody know what size pump it'll take ? Even more to the point, anybody have a needle wheel pump for sale that will fit ?

sedra 3500 or go to reef dynamics website and they use the ecoplus 633 now. the 5" skimmer body is now designated an ins80...there have been a few model number changes through the years as they upgraded their skimmers. You could call Jeff at reef dynamics and he can tell you exactly the model you have and get you set up.
You could put a BB1000, or a sicce 600 possibly, but, both these would require you to figure out the plumbing.

[KafudaFish]

your current reef octo is not even cycling your water 1x per hour(BB2000 moves 250gph per coralvue). IMO the euro reef should be a good choice provide the recirc mod was done correctly.
I used/use euro reef/reef dynamics skimmers. They flat out work well.
Now should you choose to save for the 3000, then to maximize your 2000 to skim it's best you need to provide a low flow to it. 300(maybe up to 400) gph so it has time to pull the organics from the water fed into the sump. Too fast of flow and the organics just blow right by and back into your display.

I have read this post 3 times now and it still doesn't make much sense. Sorry I am trying to cut down on my coffee.

You said his pump does 250 gph but he should move up to a 400 gph pump so that it has time to pull organics from the water yet too fast and it will do no good.

Wouldn't the slower pump give more time to uptake the organics from the water column vs. a blast of water?

Not arguing and I agree with the too much of a good thing is bad just one of those things that pop up time to time and makes me ponder while stuck in rush hour traffic.

If the 2000 is under powered then shouldn't there be more organics ver volume of water?

[Malster1]

Thanks for all the good information so far. I have the skimmer in the first chamber of my sump. I am running a MAG 9.5 return, but by the time it makes it back to the tank it's more like 650 or so GPH.

[Malster1]

Someone alsu just suggested that I upgrade the pump to a bubble blaster 3000 or the 5000 and just stay with the current skimmer body. Thoughts on this?

[A sea K]

Someone alsu just suggested that I upgrade the pump to a bubble blaster 3000 or the 5000 and just stay with the current skimmer body. Thoughts on this?

a better comparison would be a SRO 3000 and a ER 8-3, the 2000 is a 6" body

With only a 6" diameter body (dont know the neck size) I'd say those pumps will be too much and you'd be better off in the long run with at least a 8" diameter body skimmer for a tank your size.

[sail33]

All great suggestions ! THANK YOU ALL

[azjohnny]

Someone alsu just suggested that I upgrade the pump to a bubble blaster 3000 or the 5000 and just stay with the current skimmer body. Thoughts on this?

A BB5000 would be way too much pump for a 8" body, the 3000 would be the most you would want and that might still be too much

The ER and SRO skimmers are much different designs

The SRO copied Bubblekings design of a shorter fatter body mated with a overpowered pump that draws a lot of air than a bubble plate is used to chill out the turbulence. SRO did an excellent job in copying the design and you will get similar results at 1/4 the price.

ER skimmers dont use bubble plates

The pumps that SRO uses draw a lot more air but at a cost of processing less water, the body has only allow X amount of volume and if you are drawing more air you have to have less water.

As long as you slow down the flow through your sump you will be ok

I do prefer the SRO


Also the BB pumps are metric and the exit is on the side while the exit on the ER pumps are on the top. Unless you like doing the DIY thing I would go to Reef Dynamics website and order a pump from there, The owner of Reef Dynamics was the guy in charge at Euroreef and he sells replacement parts for Euroreef skimmers

[azjohnny]

There isn't a model number on the skimmer but it's got a 5inch base and is 20 inches tallhttp://www.yono.info/f.jpghttp://www.yono.info/d.jpg

that skimmer would be pretty much identical to the Reef Dynamics INS80, Euroreef no longer exists, follow this link

http://www.reefdynamics.com/INS80-Protein-Skimmer-p/ins80.htm

[Malster1]

All great input. Thanks to all and hope this is helping others as well

[ksquid]

Correct me if I'm wrong. A skimmer that is too small for a tank is still going to skim. It won't process enough water to handle the tank but it's cup will still fill with skimskum correct? I get the feeling that some people are saying too small of a skimmer won't skim at all. Any is better than nothing, imo.
OP, is there any way you could run both? You then could alternate your maintenance cycles on two skimmers.

[swcc]

I have read this post 3 times now and it still doesn't make much sense. Sorry I am trying to cut down on my coffee.

You said his pump does 250 gph but he should move up to a 400 gph pump so that it has time to pull organics from the water yet too fast and it will do no good.

Wouldn't the slower pump give more time to uptake the organics from the water column vs. a blast of water?

Not arguing and I agree with the too much of a good thing is bad just one of those things that pop up time to time and makes me ponder while stuck in rush hour traffic.

If the 2000 is under powered then shouldn't there be more organics ver volume of water? If I wasn't clear, I am suggesting he in fact lower the flow of water through his sump.
I have a feeling he has way more than my suggested 300 gph through his sump. He has a 180 and the 24 frag tank... I doubt he has a return pump only returning 1.5-2x display(s) volume per hour. Of course he did not provide sump flow info so I am just spit balling what more than likely is occurring right now.
so to be more clear, I would bet he has way more flow in the sump than the skimmer can process and he would be best served lowering the sumps flow down to say 300 to at most 400 gph. Honestly, I personally would go even slower on the sump flow that what I am suggesting here, but, lowering flow to the 300-400gph range should be good enough till he gets the larger skimmer.

[viggen]

Many feel the er/rd 8-3/rs250 is one of the best balanced skimmers they made. I purchased a rs250 from this site a few months back. Pd $175 for it and when it arrived the pump had a new octopus impeller never installed. Performance of that pump with the impeller kinda sucked..... So I ordered a bb3000 nw which works really well, it's a great skimmer! Like mentioned octopus uses bubble plates due to the amount of turbulence their pumps create, I reduced turbulence by using a few adapters inside my skimmer to give 4 outputs on the singe outlet.

Anyways, depending on price and condition if might be worth a try. If you can then hook up the skimmer directly to the overflow. This is how my tank is setup, I have the overflow going directly into my modded er rs12-2 which uses a bb5000nw.

[Malster1]

Swcc, you are correct, I forgot to account for the frag system. Let's see if this makes since, since I don't know how to calculate my sump flow. Here is all the details I can think of. (FYI, currently I split the frag off until I can ensure I have enough skimming power). Here is the setup when it's online.

Main display, 180 island tank 30" tall, Frag 24, Sump 80g, filled a little over half with two walls with the water level about an inch over the walls to keep the flow slow. Skimmer pump inlet is about 2-3" below the water level. Main tank return mag 9.5, but after all my turns and jumping up 6' and across the top I figure about a flow rate of 600gph. Frag tank return is a quiet one 3000 with two 4 90 degrees to slow the flow rate as well. Hope I didn't miss anything.

After storing up the tank last night my slimmer went crazy (good thing) and it seems to be skimming well at the minute. Again the frag tank is not connected to my main system right now though.

[viggen]

I played around with my skimmer tonight (been turned off due to prazipro treat,ent) and the bb3000 is to much pump for the er 8-3/rs250 skimmer body. Maybe it will improve but I have to restrict the pumps intake to let skimmer keep up with water flow

[swcc]

Swcc, you are correct, I forgot to account for the frag system. Let's see if this makes since, since I don't know how to calculate my sump flow. Here is all the details I can think of. (FYI, currently I split the frag off until I can ensure I have enough skimming power). Here is the setup when it's online.

Main display, 180 island tank 30" tall, Frag 24, Sump 80g, filled a little over half with two walls with the water level about an inch over the walls to keep the flow slow. Skimmer pump inlet is about 2-3" below the water level. Main tank return mag 9.5, but after all my turns and jumping up 6' and across the top I figure about a flow rate of 600gph. Frag tank return is a quiet one 3000 with two 4 90 degrees to slow the flow rate as well. Hope I didn't miss anything.

After storing up the tank last night my slimmer went crazy (good thing) and it seems to be skimming well at the minute. Again the frag tank is not connected to my main system right now though.
then here's is what I would do...If you would much prefer to get a sro3000 when funds allow vs the euro reef, you just need to get a ball valve for your sump return pump(s) and slow that flow down. Your sro2000 skimmer will work better for you and actually you may find that is does a darn good job even though you have a lot of water volume for it to skim.

[KafudaFish]

Ok with the additional information it is clear as mud.

No it makes sense now because I have had more coffee since then.

SWCC thanks for taking the time and Malster too.

[swcc]

I played around with my skimmer tonight (been turned off due to prazipro treat,ent) and the bb3000 is to much pump for the er 8-3/rs250 skimmer body. Maybe it will improve but I have to restrict the pumps intake to let skimmer keep up with water flow

due to the body and neck design of euro reef/reef dynamics, they are made more for a higher water flow and less air combination than what bubbleblaster pumps do(massive air/ little water)... you'll never get the tiny bubble column up the neck which is how these skimmers were designed to operate.

[Malster1]

then here's is what I would do...If you would much prefer to get a sro3000 when funds allow vs the euro reef, you just need to get a ball valve for your sump return pump(s) and slow that flow down. Your sro2000 skimmer will work better for you and actually you may find that is does a darn good job even though you have a lot of water volume for it to skim.

Thanks. I have gate valves, and can slow the flow like you suggested for now and see how it goes. I'm also planning on changing my sump design and growing out all different types of micro algae in there to help as well plus I think they look cool.