Reef Octo LX1000s HOB Arrival and It's BIG

Discussion in 'Protein Skimmers' started by crank2211, Jan 28, 2010.

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  1. ReefSparky

    ReefSparky Super Moderator

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    Nice job. That thing is a beast! (in a good way, now.) :)
     
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  3. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    Ha.. a dremel.. I should have known. Seems you can do anything with those. Amazingly I still don't own one... I need to change that.

    Look forward to it!
     
  4. Powerman

    Powerman Giant Squid

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    Very nice. I bet they offer different colors soon. I'm sure there are others not wild about it. Just from pics, I think it adds color, but it's a personal thing.

    Great job by the way.... on the thread and the tweaks.
     
  5. crank2211

    crank2211 Purple Spiny Lobster

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    Jan 13, 2009
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    Performance Update

    Skimmers doing quite well actually. Beginning to settle in nicely and finally produce some consistent results. The pump has since quieted down and is now almost silent and unnoticeable in my living room where the tank sits.

    I'm a little disappointed however, in the bubble performance in the riser tube. At any given point in time, within the body of the skimmer, there's a million very tiny small bubbles. Great. However as they get to the base of the riser tube, they seem to merge together and form into wet fast large fat bubbles. The entire riser tube it seems, is constantly full of wet medium - large bubbles popping their way up and then at the very top is a small layer of frothy foam. I'm not a skimmer expert, and don't know if this is normal. I would imagine ideally that I would want small tiny bubbles the entire way up the tube into the collection cup with a thick stable froth on top. Haven't really been able to get that yet.

    I have noticed also, that in some way the results I see in the riser tube are connected to water level in the tank, as well as the position of the adjustable plate on the intake portion of the skimmer. At first I thought the acrylic plate was intended to serve as a sort of blocker at the bottom of the grate to only let surface water in, but it became apparent that it's much to small to serve that purpose and sliding it up/down along the grill portion, in some ways effects the type and intensity of the bubbles I'm seeing in the riser tube. I haven't been able to figure out the ideal position for this jammy yet, I might need to contact the manufacturer for a ruling on position and water level height.

    Last gripe. As well thought out as everything is, the one thing that could use help is the "U" shaped intake tube that runs from inside the intake chamber from inside the tank, over the tank wall, and directly into the hy-1000 pump. When the power goes off, the water level in the skimmer drops to match the level in the tank via a reverse siphon I guess. When this happens, air is sucked in through the silencer and I end up with a large air void in the intake tube. Once on again, it struggles to prime itself and I need to hold the silencer for a second to allow it to fully fill with water. When I close the silencer before I shut off power, the level drops correctly to match the tank level and when on again everything starts up fine. Anyone have a suggestion on how I can remedy this?


    With all that said, at the end of the day I still end up with a bunch of dark horrible smelling crap in the cup. Much more than the old Remora. And even though I don't like the bubbles in the riser tube, for me it's hard to argue with the results I've seen in the last few weeks. I've easily emptied out 8x as much crap out of the collection cup with this skimmer as I would have with my old one.

    Here's what I'm talking about.. 3 skim days in cup. First one was verrry wet as I just cleaned it and riser bubbles are very fat wet and out of control.. Gives me 1/2 of what you see right away with a green tea color. The last 2 days were much better and darkened up the skim very much.

    I've got a video showing performance and large bubbles I'm talking about.. It's acting up whenever I upload it though, so I'll post that when I get it all figured out.

    [​IMG]
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  6. brianf21

    brianf21 Plankton

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    I wonder if the silencer is also a check value. Have you tried to plug the airline onto the other post?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 18, 2010
  7. brianf21

    brianf21 Plankton

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    May 17, 2010
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    Water inlet adjustment, has anyone figured out where to position it to get dry skimmate?
     
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  9. Peredhil

    Peredhil Giant Squid

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    Any chance of getting a pic of this with a ruler or something so I can see the space? I'm thinking about getting this skimmer but worried won't fit with my light as you bring up.

    +phat P karma for a pic of it ;););)
     
  10. crank2211

    crank2211 Purple Spiny Lobster

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    Sorry for the late reply, dirty tank and not so great pics, but here's what I got.

    My tank is only 12" wide and you can see the skimmer hangs out a good 3.5"-3.75" over the water. At that point it also sits about 2" high measured from the top lip of the tank and then it begins to taper back towards the wall increasing in height but decreasing in depth out in the water. Hopes this makes sense.

    [​IMG]

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  11. Peredhil

    Peredhil Giant Squid

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    WOW, that'll be a close one... not sure if I'll get this or not... I think I'll go remeasure a few times first.

    +k for super helpful pic!
     
  12. DC_40gallon

    DC_40gallon Plankton

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2010
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    Crank,

    How are you liking this skimmer lately? It's been about a month now. Would you recommend it?

    Also what have been the pros and cons that you like/dislike about the skimmer since your last post here?