CoralVue Technology BH-2000 Octopus with External 2000 Pump for Aquarium Filter, 125-Gallon

I needed to replace my Coralife Skimmer which I have had for about 12 years. Now while I have come to terms eventually with my old skimmer, I could never trust it and when it came to taking it off for a long overdue cleaning I just couldn't bring myself to take a chance and put it back on my tank ( I have had a few overflow issues in the past). After some research I decided to take what felt like a leap of faith and buy this skimmer. So far, I am very happy with the purchase.Unlike the Coralife which requires you to adjust the water level which can very and cause problems the BH-2000 is designed to automatically control water level and foam output is controlled by raising or lowering the collection cup, a much better design. The intake and outtakes are well designed and are hard pipe not tubing a plus. As others have said, there is a lack of instructions that come with this device, and a real lack of information, making it difficult to know if it would fit my tank which has a 1.25" plastic rim (it did). I would also be skeptical about the claimed ratings as with most aquarium equipment. This skimmer is about right for my 75 gallon tank. The pump is also somewhat noisy, through it did quiet down a lot after a few days.None of this however was deal breaker as the the device is easy to assemble, and is well designed. In fact, I have far more trust in this design than I ever had in my last skimmer which is worth its weight in gold. It seems to skim very well after only a few days and I wish that I had know what I do now before I purchased my last skimmer. I would buy this skimmer again.This item was shipped in its original box, wrapped in plastic. When it arrived it had been obviously treated harshly by the shipper, so I was concerned about what I would find inside. Everything survived, except the collection cup which had a fracture in one of the upper corners. Since it was in an upper corner and not quite all the way through it won't affect the performance, but this should have been shipped in another box.As someone suggested I left the return elbow off which lowered the height of the return water level and helped quiet the water flow. This also served to lower the water level in the foam chamber which makes the system less likely to overflow which for me was also desirable. Once installed, the main issue seems to be the pump rattling which depending on how sensitive to noise you are may be a deal breaker, but I don't find it to be too much of an issue, and it did quite down quieta bit after a few days. The main concern for me is that I don't get an overflow if the power was interrupted. The system drains back if power is off, and when it turns back on, water control is automatic by design so I don't see this as a potential problem (at least with the return elbow removed), unlike another skimmer which will remain unnamed.

I bought this protein skimmer for my 75 gallon tank because I do not have enough room in the sump for one of the in-sump skimmers (I have since turned my sump into large refugium that only houses the heater and GFO reactor). I know that it says it needs to have at least 2 days to break in, but it was pulling out a dark, thick skimmate from the first day that it was working. I chose not to use the sponges that came with the unit, but I still do not have any issues with microbubbles going into the main tank. It is fairly quiet, and I would say VERY quiet compared to the other skimmer that this replaced on my tank. It is strong and durable with a very powerful pump. No leaks and no issues thus far. I am very pleased with this skimmer and I would recommend it to anyone who has a tank 100 gallons or less who does not have enough room in the sump for a comparable sized in-sump skimmer.

Great protein skimmer, pulls lots of stuff and you don't hear it. Its currently on my 75 gal with a decent bio load not too much. Micro bubbles go away after a few days. I have had it working for a year now with no problems that were due to the machine failing all the problems I had were because of how it was set up. Make sure you keep the air hose up right, if it falls down water will come out of it, specially if the power goes out ! I did have a few problems if the power would kick in and out when the skimmer came back on it would have overflowed if we weren't there but other times it was totally fine so it might just be how we set it up as the instructions are not the greatest. would buy again.

Came with a broken piece. The plastic clip that is supposed to hold the hose was broken off when I opened the box. There was broken up Styrofoam all over the componets which was a chore to clean off. And the instructions to assemble it are terrible. I had to find a Youtube video. I'll review again on how it actually works after I install it but the delivery, instructions and packaging def was not up to par.

*Package arrived on time.*However, a small part to hold the air tube in place was broke = poor quality control (a quick super clue solved the issue).*Unfriendly Instruction: provided a sheet of product assembly and that's it, you have to figure out on your own the rest. It's not hard to figure it out but if you're not used to build or assembly thing together yourself then you might have problem with this skimmer.*Product description didn't list the product dimension so I was base on the online picture and I was wrong, it's bigger than I thought so I have to modified my tank a bit, I have to drilled my tank 2 new set of holes to fit this skimmer in my setup (I'll take the fault on this part but giving a actual item dimension is still a plus).*I used this on my FOWLR 110G tank and I have to say it's very powerful skimmer, after some adjustment its started to pull the bad stuff out of my water.***UPDATE***Overflowed after power outage. It's just keep overflowed after power came back.This gonna be nightmare if power went out while I'm not home...Probably came back with floor filled with saltwater and might have a change short circuit all equipment below the tank.I think I'll return it and look for different brand name.