Ron makes a good point, of course skimming is very important, and there is no doubt that the Remora C is the best of all the HOB skimmers. However, we all have a budget to work with, so if you go the Bak-Pak route to save some green, here are some tips:
I have both. The Remora C and three CPR Bak-Baks. The Remora looks nice, and it's quiet, efficient and trouble free. It was also expensive. The bak-packs can work almost as well if you take the time to tweak them a bit. In fact, get used to tweaking them often if you want them to come near the performance of the Remora. But the adjustments are easy once you get the hang of it, and infrequent if you keep your pump clean.
First off, the skimmer part of these things are basically all the same, identical for the most part, so go with the cheaper one. Or, if you are fortunate enough to run across one of the double sided ones new or especially used, grab it. There was one went on our sell/buy forum a while back that I just missed. But buy the bak-pak without the pump unless it comes with a MJ. Because it’s the pump that makes the difference in these skimmers. Don’t use a Rio or any of the inferior power heads. A good MJ1200 that is clean and in good working order runs them perfectly. You can modify (Drill) the MJ to improve the performance, but just keeping them clean really helps; a vinegar bath every couple of months will keep these babies foaming.
Secondly: toss the bio-bale and stuff the return compartment with Cheato algae. Clip a cheap clamp-on spotlight (s) to shine onto the back of the return chamber and you have a combination HOB skimmer and Fuge. If your feeling really energetic, you can worm a length of airline tubing through the return chamber down and up through the second chamber and back down into the bubble chamber and put a wooden air stone just bellow the collection cup. This will increase your bubble output almost double, but if you do this make sure to leave a loop of airline tubbing long enough that you can pull up with your fingers to change out the air stone as they become clogged. Don't worry about micro-bubbles. Having the return packed with macros will eliminate micro bubbles escaping back into the tank, (Don't buy the worthless bubble trap) The Chaeto algae serves as a nice haven for pods, as well as a good source of nitrate export, and it grows like crazy in these things. Just squirt a little DT's in in once a week to feed the micro-fauna. Mine is working alive with mini Brittle Stars, Mysid shrimp, copepods and a few aptasia. :roll: I highly recommend these simple DIY mods to these knock-offs. I have three spotlights on all three of mine, and my trates are always <5, and and in one system I keep enough pods cultivated to feed a green mandarin without a sump/refuge in a fifty gallon tank that is less than a year old.
Last of all, put a three inch long section of pipe insulation cut down the middle over the lip of the tank under the intake pipe. This will eliminate the vibration that makes these suckers so noisy. The only complaints you ever hear about these skimmers are, Noise, Micro-bubbles, and constant adjustment. What I have written above will eliminate all of these problems.
There you have it. More than you really wanted to know about Bak-Pak HOB Knock-off skimmers.
