Octopus 150

[Tommy Tang]

Is this skimmer any good.

NEW 2009 Octopus Needlewheel 150 Protein Skimmer

[OCT-NWB-150]

FREE SHIPPING (Continental US only)

Medium 6" Needle wheel skimmer w/ funnel neck design

* Item #: OCT-NWB-150
* Rated up to 150 gallons.
* In sump use only.
* Modified funnel neck design with bubble plate diffuser.
* Dimensions: 6" x 9.5" x 20"

* New pinwheel impeller increases the performance by 30%.

NWB-150 Instructions

Protein skimmers are applied to most saltwater aquariums to remove certain organic

compounds, including proteins and amino acids, by using the polarity of the protein itself,

from the water to stop most of them decomposing into nitrogenous waste. Because of the

intrinsic charge, water-borne proteins are attracted to the air-water interface. Protein

skimmers work by infecting numerous tiny bubbles into the water chamber, which present an

enormous air-water interface for the protein molecules to cling to. The more tiny bubbles

reside in the chamber, the more proteins it absorbs. Protein skimming is the only way of

physical filtration that gets rid of the organic compounds before its decomposition, lightening

the load on the biological filter and improving the water's redox potential.



$185.00

NEW 2009 Octopus Needlewheel 150 Protein Skimmer

Thank you

 

[sminker]

$25 more

http://www.marinesolutionsinc.com/c...3/p275/Sicce-modified-NW200/product_info.html

Octo NW200 with Sicce Pump

 

[Stuart60611]

I hope so because I just bought one. Will arive tomorrow.

 

[Tommy Tang]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14960034#post14960034 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Stuart60611
I hope so because I just bought one. Will arive tomorrow.

Let me know how it works for you.

Tomasz

 

[abaran]

I just got the DNW-200. I like mine alot.

two days of skiming,

 

[Tommy Tang]

thank you

 

[Stuart60611]

Well, I got my new 150 installed today (arrived a day late to due address error). I have mine sitting in about 9 or so inches of water and dialed in the water level in the skimmer body where the bubbles start to form to the top of the thick black piece where the cup attaches to the skimmer or at the point where the skimmer cup begins (thick black piece in the above picture). It has been running for about 3 hours and bubbles are definitely forming but no skimate at this point. I realize that skimmers take a while to break in so I hope to see skimate soon.

Two questions. First, do I have my sump water height appropriate? Second, have I dialed in the water height within the skimmer body at the appropriate level?

 

[Stuart60611]

Anybody?

 

[sminker]

8-10 inches is recommended so i would say that you are good.

some skimmers have a sweet spot though. you could do some Googling to see if anything comes up with your skimmer.

 

[Tommy Tang]

anybody

 

[Stuart60611]

Well, as an update, the skimmer is working pretty well. I am getting about 1 inch or so of fairly dark gunk in the collection cup per day. Unfortuantely, I am concerned that the skimmer is a bit undersized for my system. I chose this skimmer because it appeared to be the best reasonably priced one that would fit in the small space available in my 55 gallon sump. In hindsight, perhaps a better choice for me would have been the msx 160. Hopefully, this will be good enough, particularly combined with my fairly large refugium loaded with rock and cheateo and two reactors filled with carbon and gfo. I am not the handiest of people, but I would be interested in any fairly simple mods which would improve its performance if anyone knows of any. I am running it now in 8.5 inches of water which allows me to pretty much dial the skimmer nearly all the way open with the water line inside the skimmer body where the bubbles start to form set about 2 to 3 inches below the top of the collection cup. The result is a nice wet foam.

 

[qfrisco]

I got the 150g model last week and it's been running for about a week now. I love it, especially for the price.

I have a mini-review with a bunch of pics in a thread on my local reef club forum. Check it out here if you're interested: http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=59872

 

[Stuart60611]

gfrisco:

Curious if you have investigated any of the mods for this model. I know there is supposedly a fairly simple mod for the old nw 150 models in which you open up the venturi hole wider which supposedly greatly improves the performance of the skimmer. There is also a meshweel mod, which I think would be unnecessary for us be it that our new model comes with a pinwheel so the performance increase would likely not be that great. I am running mine on a fairly stocked 125 b/c of my small sump size restrictions and would be very interested in any mod which would materially improve its performance.

 

[Bagged94Ranger]

Stuart, i have a very similar size and bio load to yours, i just purchased an Octo Extreme 160 from a fellow RC member, ill let you know how it does...i too was concerned the 150 was not sufficient in efficiency.

 

[Stuart60611]

Bagged94Ranger:

Ya, you probably made a better choice than I did. Hindsight is 20/20. But my 55 gallon sump is really only a 25 gallon sump area b/c 1/2 of my sump is divided as a refugium. Plus, I have my sump hard plumbed so that the return is right in the middle of the sump connected to a mag 18 which takes up a lot of the floor space. I hope that my refugium, reactors, uv, and vodka dosing will be enough to make up for whatever shortcommings I have in the skimmer area. I will continue to look for any mods I can do to this one to improve it a bit.

 

[qfrisco]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15011291#post15011291 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Stuart60611
gfrisco:

Curious if you have investigated any of the mods for this model. I know there is supposedly a fairly simple mod for the old nw 150 models in which you open up the venturi hole wider which supposedly greatly improves the performance of the skimmer. There is also a meshweel mod, which I think would be unnecessary for us be it that our new model comes with a pinwheel so the performance increase would likely not be that great. I am running mine on a fairly stocked 125 b/c of my small sump size restrictions and would be very interested in any mod which would materially improve its performance.

Someone from my local reef club suggested a mesh mod, but I haven't researched other types of mods. I'm going to try the mesh mod but only after I've run the skimmer for about a month so I can tell if the mod is making a positive or negative change.

The stock needlewheel already has holes in it, so should be able to do the mesh mod without having to mod or drill holes in the needlewheel.

 

[Stuart60611]

I have heard that the mesh mod is good, but if compared with the additional air numbers the extreme pulls in using the meshwheel as opposed to the pinwheel as published by Octopus in the extreme product description, then I think you may only see a slight but noticeable improvement. However, the mod that I have read makes the greatest improvement is to drill the venturi hole larger so as to allow more air into the skimmer. My do it yourself skills are below average, but from what I have read on the old octopus mod thread here this mod is much more significant in terms of improved performance. Now I just wish someone could walk me througnh how to do this on the new 150.

 

[cardiffgiant]

I've got the old 150, and I love it.

 

[swhaley40]

Tommy, this skimmer will be fine for a 75, more than fine. I run a Remora pro/mag 5 on my 75 all SPS. Everything looks awesome. No fuge, I dose vodka and microbacter 7.

 

[Tommy Tang]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15013874#post15013874 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by swhaley40
Tommy, this skimmer will be fine for a 75, more than fine. I run a Remora pro/mag 5 on my 75 all SPS. Everything looks awesome. No fuge, I dose vodka and microbacter 7.

thank you i just want to find out what every body thinks, the price of the skimmer is attempting.

Tomasz