And here it is: the amazing Octo Elite 200-S skimmer! Super performing, extremely compact, and designed for aquariums up to 1000 liters. We can’t wait to test it!

Octo or, as it was previously known, Reef Octopus, is a world-famous company, known for its pumps and for the skimmers using those pumps. On the official website, Octo underlines the fact that they’re the first company to build both skimmers and pumps, obtaining the maximum synergy between the two worlds. We just have to learn more about them!

Octo‘s catalog of skimmers is extensive. It includes both cheaper skimmers and more highly-performing models like the Regal and Elite lines, of which the latter is pretty interesting because of the extremely compact configuration. In Italy, where living space is always tight, it meet the market’s taste. The craftsmen designing Octo‘s pumps surely want to maximize their performance.

The Elite 200-S skimmer is professional-grade, and has white and red Acrylic and PVC; referencing the brand’s colors. Smart detail.

Technical characteristics of the Octo Elite 200-S

• Suggested aquarium size: up to 1500 liters;
• Skimming pump: Octo VarioS 4-S
• Treated air: 1,500 l/h (we’ll test this parameter);
• Treated water: 1,600 l/h;
• Power consumption: 40 watts;
• Sizes: base space 32.5×25.5 cm;
• Cylinder diameter: 20 cm;
• Height: 60 cm;
• Requested water level: not declared (we suggest 20 cm);
• Cost: about 980 euro ($1058 USD)

The skimmer is conical, it starts from the 20 cm of the diameter of the base and the neck is 12 cm. The air is sucked by a muffler on the exhaust system: the air pipe is partially inside the same drain pipe, then it goes out and enters the base of the skimmer. In this way it occupies very little space.

The pump is assembled vertically, with the impeller facing downward: in this way the skimmer creates the foam downward and then it goes up to the glass’s neck. The glass has a floating connection to the controller of the pump Octo VarioS 4-S, so that you can control the fill of the glass. Nothing more to say, it’s very useful! It also has a drain pipe of the glass to empty the skimmer into bigger containers or directly into the waste.

The glass is extracted by rotating it on its own body. You’ll need two hands to do it. You can set the skimmer by turning the drain pipe that blocks the exit, which is at half height on the side of the skimmer.

The skimming pump and the performance

The pump that manages the Octo Elite 200-S skimmer is simply monstrous. In fact, the pump is an Octo VarioS 4-S, which is the VarioS 4 with a needle impeller for the skimmer. It’s set for a maximum of 1,500 l/h of treated air and a maximum of 1,600 l/h of treated water – an almost equal ratio. But the Octo VarioS 4 pump is on its own a beast, with 40 watts of power consumption, 4.5 meters of hydraulic head and a 4,000 l/h flow rate. A mix we can’t wait to try!!!

Give us a couple more weeks to finish our measurements, because this beast is already on in Simone’s tank, and then we’ll let you know…

[We thank OCTO for providing us the skimmer Elite 200-S]