[kitten1506]

Hi every one, we need some advise... my husband and I just had our 125 g crash (long story in a different thread by Jimmyd1) and are starting fresh. We have new live sand creating an approx. 1 inch bed around the rock - not under, 100 lbs of live rock, 40 lbs of base rock, a marina c360 canister filter and we have 2 Coralia 4 power heads on order at a LFS. We also have a Coralia 3. Now, when all crashed we were using the "All flow" in tank protein skimmer with filter. But we gathered that it is really not that great of a skimmer, specially sitting in the tank. We have looked at the Reef Octopus Dual 300 HOB skimmer. It states its max load being 135, but varies by bio load. Does anyone have any recommendation and or experience with this skimmer. :fish:
Thank you

 

[Loverotties]

Welcome to TRT!I havn't but I hear alot of people like Octopus!

 

[ckusnierek]

WELCOME TO TRT!!!

Sorry about the past crash.
I do like the Octo skimmers but I have a personal rule to get a skimmer rater about 1.5-2 time your total volume.

I would look for a skimmer in at least the 200g range.
Tunze DOC would be good it's a in tank skimmer rated at about 250g

In the long run you may consider adding a HOB overflow and adding a sump.
The extra volume would be good for stability and would significantly open your skimmer options...

 

[aquawolf]

I agree with Chris, is there any possibility of you being able to add an overflow and a sump? That would open up a lot more skimmer possibilities for you.

 

[JimmyD1]

Hi, Im Kitten's husband.
We have heard numerous people talk of the benefits of a sump; however, all it takes it one possible drawback and we are scared off. Leaks! If there were a way of guaranteeing no possibility of a leak, then we might consder one. As long as there is a possibilty of it flooding our living room we arent interested. Yeah, a sump may work much better, but we can accomplish what we want without one.
Jimmy

 

[aquawolf]

I understand completely. In that case, research the hang on skimmers and see what will give you the most bang for the buck. A good HOB skimmer for that size tank will probably not come cheaply; however, once you find the one you want chec Craigslist and the classifieds on here as you never know what people are getting rid of out there.

Best of luck!

 

[jenglish]

I hate to tell you this but I have had floods from my HOB skimmer in the past. Granted, it was from doing something really stupid You can put several failsafes on a plumbed system to make leaks less likely and minimally destructive (i.e. only lose 5% of the water or so).

 

[aquawolf]

Good point Jeremy, I almost forgot about that happening as well.

 

[Fat Tony]

With a properly setup sump, your chances of leaks are minimal, you have better odds of not having a flood with a sump than you do with a HOB skimmer IME

 

[JimmyD1]

Wow, I guess that may change things..

I guess it makes sense that whenever you have a device that sucks water up from in the tank and it is held anywhere other than inside the tank, you run the risk of it leaking. I guess I am a little prejudice since when I think of a sump the thought that if something goes wrong I'll have 125 gallons of sea water all over our carpeted living room. Now, I know that its not likely, but its possible. Well, if its MORE likely with a HOB skimmer than a sump, then there goes that benefit.

With just a little thought it also makes sense that what ever level the overflow is at in the tank, then you could only lose water from there up. So, if your overflow is (for instance) 3 inches from the top of the tank you would not really lose much water if you did have a problem. I suppose that is one of the safeguards?

The next obsticle is the sump itself. Im a pretty handy guy and build all sorts of stuff, but I would not feel comfortable experimenting with building my first sump. That may lead to a bad first experience with sumps. Can you buy one already manufactured for your size tank with all the options you would want? Where?
Thanks for the eye opener,
JimmyD

 

[cutietwo]

I have a HOB octopus and I love it. never had a leak either *knock on wood* and it's been running for almost a year. If I could though I would do a sump with an in-sump skimmer because they work better than HOB's do. I just could not because I have no room in my stand for a sump

 

[Fat Tony]

Exactly.. I suggest a HOB overflow like the Lifereef or Eshoppes... but not the CPR

also, if you follow the link in my signature to the 135 build thread and start on page 3 you will see how easy it is to build your own sump..

 

[aquawolf]

You can follow Tony's thread for building your own sump.

Another good site to learn more about sumps and see many designs is http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

If you are using a good overflow, the sump can be designed to hold all of the water that could drain from the tank and drastically reduce the chances of a flood.