MarineAndReef.com: Reef Octopus Protein Skimmer Overview

In this video, I go over the different types of Reef Octopus OCTO Protein Skimmers. I highlight the differences between the INI, SSS, EXT, and HOB skimmers. Even if you're not looking at the Octopus brand specifically, this video will help with the decision-making process when choosing a skimmer for a saltwater aquarium.

Reef Octopus HOB OCTO Protein Skimmers
The first skimmer I show is the HOB 2000. It's still in the box because it will not stand up. It's a Hang-On-Back skimmer. This is the type of protein skimmer that you should use if you don't have a sump. What is a sump? Basically, it's a tank underneath your tank that you put all your stuff in so you don't have to see it. They are a great place to put protein skimmers, reactors, or other equipment. But in order to have a sump, you need to have either a drilled aquarium or a specialty overflow box. So, if you don't have a sump, and you don't have the plumbing needed to get a sump, you need to go with a hang-on-back skimmer. Sorry. You have no other choice. The other skimmers will not work.

Hang-on-back skimmers perform very well. In years past, they did not perform well. They've gotten much, much better. The biggest downsides are they look ugly. They're a big box that hangs on the back of the tank that is not hidden. They also tend to leak because they're on the back. If the skimmer cup overflows, it's going to leak down onto your floor. There's an external pump in the HOB 2000 model. If the connections to that pump aren't sealed right, it's going to leak. However, it is pretty much your only option if you don't have a sump.

Reef Octopus INT Protein Skimmers
Next, we're going to go on to my personal favorite of all the different types of skimmers. This is what Octopus calls their INT skimmers. INT stands for internal. I consider this the classic skimmer design. So this type of skimmer is designed to sit in a filtration sump. What makes it standard or normal is that the water pump is on the outside of the skimmer body.

There are a variety of reasons why I like this. In short, this is easier to maintain and higher performance than the other skimmers. It's also the simplest design.

Octopus makes a variety of INT skimmers. They make their classic series, which uses the AC pump, and they make the Regal series, which is this one, which uses the DC pump. The difference between an AC pump and a DC pump is an AC pump uses alternating current. It just plugs into the wall. DC pumps use direct current, so it has a power brick, kind of like a laptop would have.

The Regal version DC pumps gives you some fancy features. They have a sensor in the lid that turns off the skimmer if the cup ever fills up, preventing overflows. It also has a controller that lets you speed up and slow down the pump for additional control while dialing it in. And most importantly for me, DC pumps are a good deal more energy efficient, and they're also a whole lot quieter.

Are the Regal skimmers worth it over the classic skimmers that use the AC pump? I believe that with the large sizes, they are absolutely worth it. If you're looking at any skimmer for a tank over 150 gallons, I would absolutely buy the Regal version with a DC pump. And if you're shopping a different brand, I would look for something with the DC pump. And the reason for that is on a really, really small skimmer, something that goes in a nano tank like the one behind me, if you have an AC pump, you're probably not going to hear it at all just because the pump is so tiny. And even though the DC pump is more efficient, maybe the AC pump uses 20 watts and the DC pump uses 12, which is minuscule and almost meaningless to most people, especially given the price difference. You'll find that the price difference between the AC pump models and the DC pump models on the large sizes is minimal, but on the small sizes it can be pretty extreme. You could be paying two to three times as much to get that DC pump. So, if you have a small aquarium under 100 gallons, I think the Classic Series are perfectly fine. If you have a large aquarium over 200 gallons, I would definitely look at the Regal Skimmers that have the DC pump.

Reef Octopus Space Saver (S or SSS) Protein Skimmers
Next up are the Space Saving, which are also listed as the S or SSS. The Octopus 150S I feature is a Classic. It uses an Octopus AC pump. The AC pumps are simpler. They're not quite as energy efficient as DC pumps, and they're a little bit louder than DC pumps. But in a smaller skimmer like this, I wouldn't hesitate to use it at all. It's perfectly fine, perfectly quiet, doesn't use an exorbitant amount of energy, and it works very, very well. It's less expensive than the Regal (DC pump) version.

With these Space Saver Skimmers the pump sits inside the skimmer body. That's how they use less space. They're compact, but getting to the pump is much more difficult. It's a hassle to clean the pump, and generally, the cleaner that pump is, the more you maintain that pump, the better it's going to work and the better your skimmer is going to actually skim. With the INT skimmers, you simply undo one union and you pull off this hose and then you're ready to clean the pump. With this SSS or Space Saver version of the skimmer with the internal pump, you have to undo four screws, remove the cup, remove another thumb screw inside to get the bubble plate off, then undo another screw to get the bottom of the bubble plate off. Then often you have to pull the pump out of another plate to get it out. And then I can service the pump. And my opinion is because that's just so much more difficult and you often have to remove the whole skimmer from the sump to do that, you're just not going to do it as much. You're not going to service as much and it's going to not work as well because of that.

There are other issues with Space Saver Skimmers. With the pump inside, the bubble plate is moved up and you have less skimmer body that the bubbles can fill. And this inevitably means less performance because you're getting less area and less reaction time inside the skimmer. So, unless I could not fit a properly-sized classic skimmer or INT skimmer that has the pump on the outside, I would personally never buy a Space Saver Skimmer. I know these guys are really popular, and they do work just fine. But you can fit the pump on the outside, the external pump version, I would always buy that over this.

Also to consider are differences between the Space Saver and the INT Regal I discussed earlier. The Regal INT has a wonderful gate valve outlet and the Space Saver Skimmer uses a wedge pipe. The gate valve and the wedge pipe are the primary way you're going to dial in your In-Sump skimmer (either INT or Space Saver). If your pump is pumping at a constant speed, then you close the valve with the water coming out of the skimmer and the water level or bubble level is going to go up. And if you open that valve, more water will rush out and that water level is going to drop down. With a wedge pipe design you have essentially 180 degrees of play. One 180 degree turn will get you all the way open to all the way closed. With a gate valve, you usually get at least three or four full turns between open and closed. That means you're getting at least six times the amount of play as you would with the wedge pipe. That makes it much easier for you to dial in. In general, the more expensive Octopus skimmers, and just more expensive skimmers in general, will have this gate valve style adjustment and the more budget friendly are going to have this wedge pipe-style adjustment.

Reef Octopus EXT Protein Skimmers
The last type of skimmer is the Reef Octopus EXT. You need a sump for these. However, they do not sit in the sump. They sit right next to the sump. You still need a sump to use them, but instead of sitting in the sump, they can sit next to a sump.

There are some performance benefits to this design. With these skimmers, you have a pump, but the pump is not sucking in from the outside. It's sucking in and pumping out both inside of the skimmer body itself. And for this reason, these skimmers are often called recirculating skimmers. The biggest advantage of this performance-wise is that when you are running a pump on a protein skimmer, if your water level is partway up the cup, and the sump water level were lower, the pump is working to inject the air, but it's also working to push the water up in the skimmer. With this design, the pump is not pushing the water up. It's just spitting it back in. And that means that generally these can generate more air for the same pump. So if you have the same pump on an In-Sump skimmer versus an EXT skimmer, it's going to perform better and produce more bubbles in the EXT skimmer. And it does lead to a performance benefit when it comes to how well your protein skimmer removes waste from the water. The downside is because this is just spitting water back in and recirculating, a second pump (not included) is needed to supply the skimmer with water.

These are most common in the very, very large variants, such as the Reef Octopus OCTO SRO-XP8000E Recirculating External Protein Skimmer, which is almost four feet tall. A lot of people do not have a sump big enough to fit a skimmer of that size. And if you don't have the space to do that, then you could sit it next to the sump, pump plums of water out to it, and have it drain back into it.

I personally wouldn't go with these. They're complicated. They're also considerably more expensive than the In-Sump versions of the skimmers. You're going to have to run a second pump instead of just the single pump to get the skimmer to work. And then you also have all these places where things could leak. You got two different unions that could leak. You got another union that could leak. If you don't glue any of these connections correctly, they could all leak. If your skimmer overflows, it's not going to pour into your sump. It's going to pour out on your floor and create a leak. So, I would just not do this design unless that is the only way you can fit the skimmer that you want. And like we already said, do not go with this design if you don't have a sump.

Hopefully, this makes sense. Watching the video above will certainly help to make sense of what I've been discussing.

Jaron,[email protected]

SEARCH

SEARCH

Sale & Coupons >>

New Products >>

Reward Points >>

Site Reviews >>

Articles & Videos >>

Please contact us with any questions you have.

[email protected]

(480) 491-5283

Company

My Account

Shopping