Reef Octopus SRO1000INT or SRO2000INT???

[wrxreefer823]

So the time has come for me to make my skimmer decision. I'm pretty dead set on the Reef Octopus- Super Reef Octopus (anybody out there care to try to sway me away? lol). I'm not too sure if I want the 1000INT (rated for up to 125g), or the 2000INT (rated for up to 180g). As of now, I have a small bio load... 4 smaller fish, and a small handful of coral, but surely that won't be the case for very long.

Given the water volume of my tank (total being about 90 gallons between the 75g tank, and 20 gallon sump being about half way full), I've read that one should look for a skimmer rated for about twice as much as the water volume (being about 180g). Don't really feel like spending the extra money if I don't have to though...

 

[wildman926]

You get a skimmer twice the size, only if you want to do water changes as often as well. That old wive's tale applied to older skimmers that were not as efficient as today's skimmers. Don't forget, a skimmer pulls out the good, with the bad. A properly sized skimmer is the way to go.

 

[wrxreefer823]

Thank you very much It's been a headache trying to decide what to get. Anything's an upgrade from the Coralife 65g skimmer I have though! Just want the most bang for my buck, y'know?

 

[jason2459]

For your 125 I would to the SRO2000-int

 

[errattiq]

in this case id say it depends on your future plans on upgrading. if this is it for you then snag the 1000. if your going bigger than buy equipment you can "grow into," in your case it would be the 2000.

 

[James77]

I'd go for the 1000 as well, unless as erratiq said, you plan on going larger. The best performance I have had from from skimmers were ones that were sized very close to my tank size. The worst perfroming ones were the greatly oversized ones.

I use the 2000int, and love the skimmer. I have a 120 gallon tank, and I plan on adding a 80 gallon frag tank very soon, and have no doubts the skimmer will handle it fine. You will be happy with the SRO. Ive spent up to 4 times as much for other skimmers, and I like this one far better. Cant beat a 3 year warranty either

 

[wrxreefer823]

Well as far as upgrading tank size or anything like that, the 75 gallon reef is brand new (I upgraded from a 56g column a week ago). The only thing I could see upgrading in the near future would possibly be a bigger sump or external fuge or something like that. Now for putting in more livestock and upping the bioload, yes, those plans are in the immediate future. Like I said, the bioload is small for now;

1 Occ. Clown
1 Pygmy Angel
1 small Hippo Tang
1 medium Powder Brown
A few mushrooms and leathers, and a red lobo frag
Queen Conch
Small clean up crew (need to upgrade that as well!!)

 

[NatureNerd]

Okay, so just another vote. I am upgrading from a 75g to a 90g and I am going with the SRO 1000int. I think it will be enough for me with a tank full of SPS's and 7 small fish.

 

[heckeng]

I suggest sizing the skimmer to the tank as the manufacturer recommends as well--get the 1000. I have had poor performance from big skimmers on small tanks before--mainly because there is not enough skimmate in the small tank all the time to push the skimmate up the collection cup tube, so the stuff stays in the water column and continues to pollute the tank.

 

[jason2459]

The 2000 isn't that big. I had a lx2000-hob with the hy2000 pump which is the same as in the SRO2000 with a 4" neck on my 55g. It was a beast for that small of a tank but still produced more then any other Skimmer I ever ran on that tank and I tried a lot of Skimmers and lots of mods. The 1000 would be to small. They say rated up to a 125 but is not recommended if you have any kind of bioload.

 

[James77]

but is not recommended if you have any kind of bioload.

So its rated for an empty tank?

Manufacturers that rate their skimmer honestly, which CoralVue does, give the rating as a guideline. Others like MSX are a little more precise, it usually goes something like 125g light bioload, 100g medium, 75 heavy bioload. No idea what CoralVue would suggest, but he would do just fine with a 1000. A 2000 would work well also....it is right on that fence where it could go wither way, but a 1000 would not be too small.

 

[pkirby]

I have the 1000int on my 75 display with 30 sump holding about 15 gallons... The skimmer works amazing, am VERY happy with it and it's easy to dial in to skim wet or dry. The water exit is a little too high and has splashing... I put an elbow on it and have it angled so the water flows down to the water level in the sump instead of just falling... It's an easy $5 fix to an otherwise quiet skimmer

 

[wrxreefer823]

I do have to agree with both James and Jason... While I would be completely comfortable with buying the 1000, I don't want to sell myself short for when I do actually adding more livestock to the tank. I'm not saying I'm going to overstock the tank or anything like that, but like James said, it's right on the fence. My only fear is buying something too big, and not having enough of a bioload where the skimmer won't be effective, then I'm out $350 with a skimmer I can't return.

 

[jason2459]

So its rated for an empty tank?

Manufacturers that rate their skimmer honestly, which CoralVue does, give the rating as a guideline. Others like MSX are a little more precise, it usually goes something like 125g light bioload, 100g medium, 75 heavy bioload. No idea what CoralVue would suggest, but he would do just fine with a 1000. A 2000 would work well also....it is right on that fence where it could go wither way, but a 1000 would not be too small.

Saying a 125 would really be pushing it with any kind of bioload does not mean an empty tank. Would a 1000 work? I'm sure it would produce but would a 2000 be better and produce more? I would say yes.

No, CoralVue is not very good at rating all their skimmers as with most manufacturers. Look at the Diablo which is rated for up to a 300g tank! It's using a psk-2500 pump and more on par with the 1000 series SRO skimmers.

 

[James77]

Saying a 125 would really be pushing it with any kind of bioload does not mean an empty tank. Would a 1000 work? I'm sure it would produce but would a 2000 be better and produce more? I would say yes.

No, CoralVue is not very good at rating all their skimmers as with most manufacturers. Look at the Diablo which is rated for up to a 300g tank! It's using a psk-2500 pump and more on par with the 1000 series SRO skimmers.

It was more of a joke with the empty tank comment....
We are not talking about the diablo skimmers, the SROs are rated very well. Sicce pumps are terrible IMO.

Would the 2000 produce more? Meh, depends on alot. Bigger is not always better. I would rather have a skimmer working consistently at pulling out gunk than one that outperforms the smaller one then does so-so.

The 2 skimmers are not that far apart, which is why either would work very well. If he is trying to save a few bucks, he will have zero problem running the 1000. I would not go as far as saying the 2000 would be to large, just as I would not say the 1000 is too small.

 

[James77]

I do have to agree with both James and Jason... While I would be completely comfortable with buying the 1000, I don't want to sell myself short for when I do actually adding more livestock to the tank. I'm not saying I'm going to overstock the tank or anything like that, but like James said, it's right on the fence. My only fear is buying something too big, and not having enough of a bioload where the skimmer won't be effective, then I'm out $350 with a skimmer I can't return.

The 2000 would not be too big, the 1000 not too small. Your call .

If I were trying to save bucks and counting every watt for electric, I would go 1000. I would go 2000 otherwise since it is only about $60 more. I was struggling with the same thing between the 2000 and 3000. I feel fine with the 2000. Either one, you will like the skimmer . Neither one will be too small or too big to perform very well.

 

[wrxreefer823]

I agree completely. The difference between 60 bucks when I already so much money invested into the tank already is miniscule. I have no problem going with the 2000, but like I said before, I just don't want to purchase a skimmer that's going to be too big, and thus be ineffective.

 

[James77]

I agree completely. The difference between 60 bucks when I already so much money invested into the tank already is miniscule. I have no problem going with the 2000, but like I said before, I just don't want to purchase a skimmer that's going to be too big, and thus be ineffective.

Go for the 2000 then :beer:

I have had mine about a month and it has been a great skimmer. One little complaint I have is the water outlet splashes water out. You can make a drain for it that silences it very easily from PVC, mine is similar to a durso standpipe attached to it. U.S. PVC is too large, I made 1.25" pipe fit by sanding the outside diameter down. The 1.25" goes into a 1.25" "T"....the top of the T has a cap with a hole drilled in it, the bottome has a piece of PVC that is submerged.

I hope I described that OK, I can post up a pic tomorrow if it would help. Other than that tiny problem, it is one of my favorite skimmers of the dozen or so I have owned

 

[James77]

Picture of the drain on my 2000, makes it dead silent and does not affect performance at all:

 

[James77]

4 or 5 days of skimmate: