upgrading the pump on an Octopus needlewheel 200 skimmer

[skraj011]

Are any of the bubble blaster pumps compatible with the 2009 NWB 200 reef octopus skimmer? I don't want to fool around with mods, just want to connect the union on the body with union on the pump.

thanks.

 

[Jeremy B.]

Unfortunately they are not, you would need to do some minor plumbing work to get it to work.

 

[skraj011]

thanks for the reply. How minor are the adjustments?

 

[Jeremy B.]

This would involve you cutting off the existing inlet plumbing on the skimmer body, then modifying that over to fit the plumbing coming off of the Bubble Blaster pump. If you're not very handy at plumbing, I wouldn't try it.

 

[skraj011]

the otp-3000 died on my needlewheel 200 octopus.

I just ordered the blaster 3000 from you guys. I will mod my skimmer body to accept this new pump.

do you have any more info on the mod that you were referring to?

thanks.

 

[Jeremy B.]

It's just plumbing only. You will need to figure out a way to get a metric union fitting plumbed up to the Sicce pump, or cut the fitting off the body and plumb on. I have never done this myself, but it is doable just by looking at it.

 

[skraj011]

I wanted you to know that I received my blaster 3000 pump today (to replace a burned out OTP3000). I was expecting to have to modify the union to be compatible with my NWB200 skimmer body, but it looks like the manufacturer already modified the union.

So, the pump and body were completely compatible without modifying anything.

 

[Jeremy B.]

This was a direct bolt up to the old NWB body then?

 

[lgerold]

Hi! I also would like to replace my Octopus 3000. It needs a new needle wheel impeller, and some o-rings. I've been unhappy with the amount of skimmate with the NW200, so I'm thinking I should just scrap the pump and step it up with a better pump. This is a pre-2009 re-circ skimmer. Will this require alot of modifying? I'm probably not up to a major mod, but my b.f. could probably handle a medium difficulty mod.

Any suggestions?

Lucy

 

[skraj011]

This was a direct bolt up to the old NWB body then?

that's right Jeremy. Just took the 2009 NWB200 skimmer body (pre gate valve mod) with its attached union and screwed it onto the BB3000 union! The other issue is that once attached, the bottom of the pump is lower than the bottom of the skimmer body, so I had to prop up the body about 1".

I think the pump manufacturer has modified the pumps output plumbing recognizing that we don't use metric PVC in the US.

The body can barely handle this pump, but I still have to play around with the water level though. I can tell it pulls more air b/c the silencer whistles now, I had to pull off the silencer and turn it upside down to stop the noise.

What's the recommended water height for the skimmers that come with the BB3000?

I think buying a Bubble blaster pump is worth it for those whose OTP dies. If people want a more efficient skimmer, I think (though am not completely sure) that upgrading to an appropriate bubble blaster pump is worthwhile.

 

[Jeremy B.]

Thanks for the heads up, glad to hear they're using the same union! I figured the height would probably be the biggest obstacle. Do you have the pump setup to have the outlet high or low? Let me know if you're confused on what I"m asking here.

 

[skraj011]

yeah, I don't get what you mean... What is high or low?

 

[Jeremy B.]

You can take the front cover of the skimmer and pull the screws out, and move that cover to make the outlet either point off to the side high, or pointing off to the opposite side low. Just imagine spinning the front cover around to change the direction / height of the outlet on the pump.