New Reef Octopus Regal 150sss Skimmer

[Dolelo96]

Just setup my new Reef Octo Regal 150sss. The instructions really don’t go over breaking it in. I watched an old video that said leave it “open” for 2-3 weeks, soit’s at the lowest water level, to break it in. Does anyone have experience with this skimmer? How long did you leave it “open”? It already foaming, just very low. I have it in a RSR 425xl, 7 inches of water (on a stand). Previous skimmer was a Vertex Omega. They’re built completely different (not that it ever worked right)
Thanks!

 

[Peace River]

Just setup my new Reef Octo Regal 150sss. The instructions really don’t go over breaking it in. I watched an old video that said leave it “open” for 2-3 weeks, soit’s at the lowest water level, to break it in. Does anyone have experience with this skimmer? How long did you leave it “open”? It already foaming, just very low. I have it in a RSR 425xl, 7 inches of water (on a stand). Previous skimmer was a Vertex Omega. They’re built completely different (not that it ever worked right)
Thanks!

@Jeff@CoralVue - can you help with this question?

 

[Billldg]

LOL, I switched from a Vertex Omega 180i to a Octo 150sss. I had mine dialed in a few minutes. I will recommend not to raise the bubble line to the top of the cup as it will overflow quickly. I had mine at the middle of the vessel and raised if needed to get the skimmate I was looking for. The instructions are a little poor, so I played with the adjustments a little to see how it worked, but I started with the pump on level 3 and then raised it to level 4 and played with the gate valve to raise and lower the bubble line. Oh, and I found that the water level they recommend is spot on, 8 inches.

 

[Dolelo96]

I need to get a new skimmer stand. The lowest I can set it raises the skimmer to 7 inches. Right now, the pump is running at 5. I think I’ll go lower the setting

Thanks!

 

[theMeat]

Nice skimmer. Should take a week or two to break in. 7” is the bottom of what’s recommended but should be fine. Would run on 4-5 and leave gate valve all open for a week then give it a try at adjustment.
Why you no likey vertex?

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

If I have a tough skimmer to break in, I will run it in a remote sump that does not go to anything and pour skimmate in it to make it go crazy.

 

[Dolelo96]

Nice skimmer. Should take a week or two to break in. 7” is the bottom of what’s recommended but should be fine. Would run on 4-5 and leave gate valve all open for a week then give it a try at adjustment.
Why you no likey vertex?

Ugh, Let me count the ways. Got it April 2017, and it would never stay “dialed in”. I can’t tell you how many times it overflowed and I had it locked in with the screw. Sometimes it needed to be raised to 7 inches, other times 8.5. When it worked, it was awesome, but it got to the point I had to turn it on and off manually when feeding the tank because I never knew if it would overflow. Getting through to customer service was difficult and spare parts non-existent. It just didn’t have consistent performance, at least for me.

 

[theMeat]

Weird
Did you try adjust the air venturi directly connected to pump?

 

[Dolelo96]

Yup. The one time I got through to customer service, I spent an hour on the phone and video chat with him. He had me tank everything apart, put back together, raise/lower, adjust the valve, etc. The biggest problem was keeping it dialed in. Black Friday came and hubby gave me the okay for a new one. Holidays are over, so I got it installed today.

 

[theMeat]

Has been my experience that vertex is more stable but who knows.
Found on the vertex, pull air/venturi all the way out/full air, and use gate valve to adjust. Never had to change once dialed in. A cup full a week. With ro have to play with gate valve to collect that same cup of thick nasty a week. Not trying to be a negative nelly, it’s a sweet skimmer, Enjoy what Santa brought you