Reef Octopus BH1000 HOF skimmer

I ordered the same model for my 40 gallon. I hope it's not too much skimmer for the 40.

 

I had similar problem on my BH-100F overflow box.

I used this to fix it:

 

I dont think it will be to much to be honest
it may work less harder than it might have to on a larger tank
but thats not a bad thing

Thats a great idea Peredhil
I hacksawed about 1cm down and then a couple of cm in and removed that section of the box - so I could lift it higher so now the back end hits the euro brace and is flush with it, and the front end sits just 1cm out of water - so now water can only get in through the teeth and not over the top
just like your idea above
Steve

 

Thanks guys, this thread has helped make installing the skimmer much easier. I had to mod it a bit, but it's working well and producing skimmate after only 24 hours.

The skimmer is not as big as I thought and fit nicely on the 40 breeder.


I had to cut the intake tube down so the basket could be moved up high enough. I also used Peredhil's glad lid idea to cover the basket.



There was quite a bit of water being splashed up from bubbles breaking coming out of the return. I bent a piece of acrylic and hung it on the back of the tank to block some of the splash.


To block the noise coming from the drain section I placed a small piece of acrylic over it. The skimmate in the cup is from the first 48 hours of running.

 

This is an older pic now, but you see the black square on the left?

That's a big sponge thing with a hole in it. I pushed the skimmer return into that and that captures the bubbles/splashing.

 

Ive been running 2 Reef octopus HOB's on my systems for years. I have no complaints. Priming them can get a little frustrating until you figure out the secrets and it seems you found out about the bubble salt creep too! Other than that I'd say take the sponges out they aren't really good for anything but causing problems!!!!!
If anyone needs any tips just PM me!

 

I've been running this skimmer for a while. It's worked out really well so far. I have only come across one issue. Sometimes the water level inside the overflow box lowers and causes the skimmer to run wetter. I think there may be salt creep building up in the air intake that's causing this to happen. Has anyone using this skimmer had a similar experience?

I would have removed the intake hose to clean the intake, but the pump is external so I believe the skimmer would need to be drained. I was thinking about squirting some RO/DI down the air intake hose to try and clear out the salt. Has anyone come up with a clever way to clean it without draining?

 

That has not occured for me as yet Clonefarmer
but I have taken the skimmer off twice since its been set up, to give it a thorough clean anyway

at water change time
I turned everything including skimmer off (safety 1st)
started my syphon in the skimmer to get 80% + of the water out
lifted skimmer off, poured remaining saltwater into the bucket
and then cleaned out skimmer in the sink

I do this to remove any debris that got into the base
and aslo because I can then easily remove the black sponge bubble diffuser over the bubble plate and clean that off (chopsticks are awesome for this task IME only need one and you can use it to poke out the sponge and then to poke it back to where it belongs when its clean)

so at same time everything is getting cleaned out, and thus far my skimm quality has been consistent

 

Ah, I haven't cleaned the skimmer body yet. Good idea siphoning the water out at a water change. My main concern was where the water from the skimmer would drain to as well as trying to keep maintenance to a minimum.

I took the black sponge out before I started running the skimmer. The sponge seemed like it would collect debris and it was in a difficult spot to reach.

Squirting a little RO/DI into the air intake hose helped fix the problem for now. There was probably some salt creep building up in the intake. Although it's working better now I'm sure the salt will build up again If the skimmer isn't removed and cleaned.

 

I'm thinking about putting a Reef Octopus Hang-on-the-Back 1000 OCT-BH1000 on my 29 gal sump.

Is the surface collection box adjustable? I'll have to lower it a few inches because the water level isn't all the way up like a DT is.