I would get an Aqua C Remora
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~ACRM.html
or the CSS. The octopus hangon looks to be a copy of the CPR Backpack and I am not a huge fan of the CPR but they do work
If you haven't used it don't judge it, just because it looks like a cpr doesn't mean it functions like one. I have owned a cpr bakpak for 7years and all I got was green tea and have recently switched over to a octopus bh100f, this skimmer is on my 45gallon. The skimmer works great right out of the box, its a great value, it skims well.
Heres my most recent skimmate
3 days of skimmate.
top view
Bubble view
The tank has
1 coral beauty
pair of ocellaris
sixline wrasse
bicolor blenny
yellow tail damsel
and some zoas
For more information on the octopus hob check this out, reefcentral has a thread dedicated to the skimmer.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1260766&perpage=25&pagenumber=19
Well I searched around this forum for some info on this skimmer and came up empty handed. so I thought I'd share my experience with these hobs. Althought these skimmers resemble CPRS they are no where compared to them. The body of the skimmer is bigger, the intakes and outlets are different, the pumps a needlewheel and the collection cup is different. Here are the three models,
BH100F $150~
Dimensions: 18" tall x 13" long x 3" deep
BH100 $100~
Dimensions: 18" tall x 8" long x 3" deep
BH300 $135~
Dimensions: 18" tall x 11" long x 3" deep
I own the BH100F and its on a 45gallon bow Front, the live stock is: Coral Beauty, Bicolor Blenny, 2 ocellaris clowns, six line wrasse and a yellow tail damsel and some zoas and shrooms. Before I got this skimmer I had a cpr bakpak and I have been using it for 7 years, and all I got was green tea. But before I swithced to the octopus hob I had doubts because I would hear people say its the same as a CPR BakPak but after using it there is no comparsion, my CPR never gave me brown stuff. So once I switched to this new skimmer right on the first day I started to get pee yellow skimmate which was pretty impressive. This skimmer has some bonus features a cpr doesnt have and for the price of a CPR BakPak I get more out of this. The pump is internal so you see one less pump floating around in your tank, a surface skimmer box comes in handy to skim off surface scum. And last it has a extra chamber for filtration media and a heather, getting this skimmer started may be tricky since it relies on a siphon just like a overflow box with the U tube. But once it gets started you wont have to worry about it, just like any hob these skimmers still produce micro bubbles. but there is a easy fix which is to get the cpr bubble trap.
I have been using it for 3 months and now every 3 days the outcome of the skimmate is brown and nasty,
A quick comparison to the Remora
This thing is a monster.
The BH100F skimmer would be a great alternative for those that are looking into getting a CPR BakPak, this skimmer cost the same amount as the cpr bakpak but comes with more features. The BH100 is 100 dollars is the true look alike as the CPR BakPak but this one also outpreforms it too. Koraltek from Reefcentral is using this one his 15gallon nano and its pulling nice skimmate aswell.
12 hours of skimming
30 hours of skimming
Tank shot
A fellow reefer used the BH100 on his 90 gallon and in 3 days hes gotten really nasty skimmate
This skimmer is really impressive, don't let the look alike CPR fool ya its nothing like it
There are others who have used this skimmer and have had good results from it. If you would like more information about this skimmer check out RC's octo hob thread
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...mp;pagenumber=1
Part2
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...mp;pagenumber=1
It has some good info on all the models shown above. I would highly recommend others to try it, you wont be dissappointed. Since I checked alot of forums and I never could find good information about it. If you have any questions fire away at the RC thread or post them here and I will ask the others about the other models.
Locations to buy one of these
Aquacave.com
CustomAquatics.com
TheReefStop.com
The following is a user's review of the Octopus Hang on Back protein skimmers. This review was written in the hope that it might supply a bit of first-hand knowledge and experience to fellow reefers in the pursuit of assisting them to make informed purchasing decisions. Some Comments are based off personal opinions
