Is this a good HOB skimmer?

Dual Bak-Pak Hang-On Protein Skimmer by CPR Aquatics - AquaCave
Does anyone have any experience with this skimmer? Do you guys think this is a good skimmer for a 75gallon?

 

so i gues you dont have a sump?

 

I'm borrowing the single CPR bakpac from a friend running on a medium to heavily stocked 55, and it isn't cutting the mustard (however it's only a temporary arrangement). I doubt a dual back pack would be much better especially on a 75.

 

Ya no sump I have a 29 gallon tank I could turn into a sump for this tank but the idea of a sump to me seems kind of intimidating for some reason, I'm not too good at setting things up. The plumbing part is what scares me. Is setting up a sump really that difficult?

 

i think its easy, if you have a sump you can run nice big skimmer on your 75.

 

Hmm maybe sometime but right now I don't think I'll benefit from a sump too much.

 

Not at all

most cheap skimmers don't make froth, so they don't do much. you could mod it...put an air stone in the skimmer. that helped my 29 buck skimmer.

should make brown-black stuff in the cup"s" .if new tank then green water.

As far as plumbing in your overflow+sump. I hard plumbed it in. That was my 1st time doing any PVC piping anything....Get blue+purple pipe dope stuff. 1st the purple"cleaner" goes on then the blue"glue"

it does have to be right on IMO within a 1/4-1/2 from sump to tank doesn't matter so much..For mine it was the overflow to sump that was/had to be right on. I did have to add 1" of wood to lift the sump up. but it's not much money if you have to cut it and re-do some parts. measure and right it down..then measure again.

 

Sumps are easy dude. They intimidated me at first as well, so you are definitely not alone there. It's just a matter of getting good equipement and putting in the plumbing. PVC work is easy also. Primer and regular PVC cement to make the connections. I used one inch PVC to do mine. I just did PVC from the overflow down and use plastic hose for the return.

If you do the sump, you can put almost all of your equipement in there. AND get a really good skimmer to boot. That is the most beneficial thing about a sump IMO. The ability to choose between a variety of good skimmers. Look into a 20g long for your 75g. It is a good size.

I actually took a 20g long, siliconed a piece of acrylic to create a 12"x12" section for a refugium and put a piece of eggcrate on top of that (the acrylic) so macros couldn't float out. Then I modified my plumbing to feed the fuge separately and presto......Sump/fuge combo. And a fuge is a wonderful way of controlling nitrates and phosphates. Seriously, I think it is in your best interest to start this project. There are enough of us on here that have done it before.......we can guide you noooooo problem.

 

To answer your question on the skimmer (HOB), I am with Bogie. It is not powerful enough. If you do not build the sump, you may want to consider the Deltec line of skimmers. They make some good HOB skimmers, but they cost a lot of $$$$$.

 

Heck I would take a Coralife Superskimmer over a Bakpak anyday.... In my eyes they are one of the most poorly designed skimmers I have seen. Never a good froth, little to no skimmate production and it has bio media in there?!?

If you want a good cheap hang on, go with the Coralife, Octopus, or the new Eshopps, the Eshopps has a bubble plate and a slight cone before the cup, looks like it could be a great little HOB skimmer.