Super Reef Octopus 1000 SSS pulls too much air

vbsaltydog · Dec 27, 2013

This is just an FYI to other SRO skimmer owners.

I have a Super Reef Octopus 1000 SSS skimmer and while it works OK, it didn't perform as well as I would have liked so I looked for alternate solutions. I noticed that the bubbles were not very small in the skimmer body/neck and there was a considerable amount of turbulence so I restricted the air inlet at the top of the silencer and viola! quieter operation, less turbulence, tiny bubbles, more consistent/thicker foam head and easily 3x skimmate production.

This was because the pump drew too much air for the skimmer body/neck so this mod may not offer the same results on other models but it definitely takes the 1000 sss from an OK skimmer to a powerhouse skimmer.

grapplerhayes · Dec 27, 2013

can you provide a picture of how you restricted the air inlet?

much appreciated

vbsaltydog · Dec 27, 2013

I went ultra simple and placed a drywall anchor in the air inlet which did a great job and then I added a screw into the drywall anchor to restrict the air a bit more to get smaller bubbles.

I will be replacing this by cutting a small piece of the air tubing that runs from the bottom of the air silencer to the pump off and fitting it to the top of the silencer and then inserting a valve into the new tubing but my makeshift mod is working great for now.

The skimmate in the cup is less than three days worth on a 150g system. Easily 3 times more than pre-mod and the skimmer is virtually silent now.

grapplerhayes · Dec 27, 2013

sweet!! will try that out when I get home today.

much appreciated!

vbsaltydog · Dec 27, 2013

The water level inside the skimmer will rise some when you restrict the air flow so you may want to turn the red gate valve back a bit before restricting the air flow. You are looking for a mist of tiny bubbles rising from the bubble plate with less force and turbulence in the body than pre-mod. You want a steady column of tiny bubbles slowly climbing up the neck. There should be zero turbulence in the neck. The sound of air being chopped up by the pump should be gone as well.

My skimmer sits in 5.75" of water so the red gate valve is flush with the water surface.

Give it a solid 15 minutes or so after making adjustments for the skimmer to reach equilibrium under the new setting before any further tweaking.

Happy Skimming!

Jimbo · Dec 27, 2013

I have this same skimmer that I'm not 100% happy with. Looking to give this a try. Do you have a pic of what you want the bubbles in the neck of the skimmer to look like?

I read elsewhere that you want pea-sized bubbles in the neck. Been using this skimmer going on 3 years and I will still get a random overflow every once in a while.