Octopus Extreme 200 Confusion!!! Help!!

I am looking to buy an Octopus Extreme 200 but im confused about the different manufacturers like the one at aquacave.com says it by coralvue but the one from reefspecialty.com says its not.. Whats the difference?? Why is the price so different?? Like the different pinwheel impellers and all that mumbo jumbo. Reefspecialty sells the ATB pinwheel for an extra $30. Im so confused

Aquacave:
http://www.aquacave.com/reef-octopus...lvue-2200.html

Reef Specialty:
http://www.reefspecialty.com/Protein...duct_info.html

What is the deal with this Purple ATB Pinwheel?? Is it really worth it for $30.. Also some of you guys were telling me to just get the 200.. I am planing on getting a larger tank.... SOMEDAY... Maybe a 125 or 150 but i dont want to have to buy another skimmer... Wouldnt the 200 be an OVERKILL on my 75 gallon tank. I would consider my bioload to be light having 5 small to med sized fish, 15 small frags of SPS, 7 SM. to MD. frags of LPS, some zoas and mushrooms... The bioload chart for these skimmers are as follows:

Bioload(Gal): Light Medium Heavy
Extreme 160 250 160 125
Extreme 200 350 230 175

Its only a $20 differnce between the two skimmers being $269.99 for the Octopus Extreme 160 and $289.99 for the Octopus Extreme 200. Also with the infamous ATB purple pinwheel its $299 for the 160 and $319.90 for the 200... Also what is the difference in the small pinwheel and the large one?? What would i need for my tank?? Sorry about all the questions but i come to u guys for everything and i want to do this right the first time around. Thanks in advance

 

Ah, the Octo 200!! If you haven't seen my tank thread I have been battling my Octo for a while now. Everyone I have talked to loves the skimmer and show vids and pics of it pulling out the nastiest of skimmate.... Mine on the otherhand does not. I have tried everything to no avail.
I have heard the Sicce pump is next to quiet, mine is the loudest component in the tank.
I got my from Premium Aquatics, for like $289 or something.
To my knowledge it IS made by Coralvue....
I also have the ATB pinwheel, just got it about a week ago.... notice no difference in skimmate production, just that it is tough to start up and is louder than before.
I got the LARGE pinwheel.

Its odd as like I said everyone tells me that their octos are the best thing that they have purchased for the tank... Maybe I got a dud!

Good luck!

 

I have the Octopus Extreme 160 with the mesh mod. It pulls out decent skimmate but not superdark.

The darkness of the skimmate doesnt necessarily define the quality or efficiency of the skimmer.

There are a lot of other variables that effect the performance of the skimmer for example how much water is passing through the chamber, surface agitation vs no agitation, tank size, amount of live rock, water flow in the tank, number of live creatures, size and number of fish, the water level in the skimmer chamber, salinity, bio load, feeding amount and frequency, vodka dosing etc etc etc.

So it is not really logical to compare two completely different setups with the same skimmer. The modification of the pinwheel in the skimmer however shold make it more efficient and allow it to draw more air.

 

ATB doesn't make the skimmer, it makes the Purple Pinwheel... Must've been a typo that you saw.....

 

"Mesh wheel modification can be completed by Reef Specialty for our customers for an additional $5.00 "

I would go with this option on reefspecialty. They do a great job with the mesh, its a pain in the butt to do it yourself. Its better than the PPW in my opinion.

 

Infamous, how often do you clean the mesh?

 

I think you're right. Fixed it.

Thanks.

 

check out vertex skimmers there pretty awesome.

 

Once every 2 months is recommended. Im thinking about moving to the small PPW, so i would only have to clean it once every 6 months + its much quieter

Honestly i would go with an I-Tech skimmer. They are much better than the Octopus Extreme

 

A member of our club just got an I Tech Cone, comes with the PPW and I wanna say a Sicce pump. Looks nice, his is still breaking in, alot of wet skimmate.
Eshopps Snow Cones look nice, the smallest one is around 22" tall and is geared for up to 200 gal, price point looks nice on it also!