CPR Bak-Pak Reef Ready Skimmer

I ordered this protein skimmer and will receive it tomorrow. This is my first protein skimmer and just wanted to know if anyone who may also use this skimmer has any additional information I may need to know about the set up, maintenance, fine tuning, etc?

Thank you in advance!

 

lol sorry!! it was in the title! I have never owned that skimmer but have heard fairly good things about them, hope it works out for you!

 

Hello, I think this skimmer is great! I have been using my dual bak pak for about 3 years now, and it has treated me well

As for tips, I recommend the bubble trap and skimmer boxes for the Bak Pak!!

They are both made by CPR and keep micro bubbles from getting into your tank, and the skimmer boxes let only the water from the very top of the tank into the skimmer,(this water has more dissolved solids)!! Very Helpful, I hope

 

Ok so I received my skimmer, set it up (FYI had to get directions on their website since the box came with none) and it sure seems loud! Im hoping the noise goes down after its broken in. I am very happy with it though, after an hour it had already pulled out a bit of light brown foam.

Im wondering if I can add bio-bale to the reef ready bak pak? I was running a AquaClear 50 (200gph) but thought that maybe I could just use the bio-bale in the bak pak and get rid of the AC?

 

If you are doing a reef, you should not use bio bale or any other bio filtration media at all, your live rock will handle all the bio filter load

 

I'm borrowing one from a buddy. It is pulling up some stuff, but not nearly as much as my coralife 125 superskimmer pulled out. Put the o-ring about half way up on the waste container, and that's a good starting point.

 

i have a friend who uses it on his FOWLR tank. Seems to do ok.

 

For an affordable hang on the back unit they are pretty good. There are better, and there are a lot worse to be honest.

A couple of upgrades you can do if you wish. Add an wooden airstone with an airpump. It will really increase the output of the skimmer. Add the bubble trap, and surface skimmer as well.

Kim

 

Thank you all for your helpful tips I appreciate it! The micro bubbles have pretty much all but gone away today. It still seems a bit noisy but that may be because we pretty much had no noise at all prior to installing the skimmer..

 

It will not quite down as it breaks in, but most of the bubbles should go away.

Kim