- Reef Octopus's Essence 130 protein skimmer
is filled to the brim with thoughtful design choices
that make the regular use and maintenance
of a protein skimmer a simple and easy process
by avoiding things like thumb screws and sticking
to clever and well-placed clips,
assembly and disassembly ends up being
really fast and frustration-free,
plus it's compact, simple to dial in, quiet,
and produces a great skim, which is something
reefers have come to love about Reef Octopus skimmers.
When you open up the box, you'll find the skimmer body,
the collection cup, the riser pipe,
the diffuser plate, the venturi,
some silicone tubing for both the venturi
and the drain port on that collection cup,
as well as the pump and the user manual.
The Essence 130 is a compact skimmer
with a roughly six-inch by eight-inch footprint
while sitting at around 20 1/2 inches tall
which means it should fit quite comfortably in most sumps,
even compact cube models.
It is rated by Reef Octopus for heavily-stocked
reef systems of up to 75 gallons,
which sounds about right based on its size
and considering how most reefers stock their reef tanks.
Unlike the majority of the skimmers from Reef Octopus,
the Essence is actually constructed
mostly of injection molded plastic components
instead of acrylic and PVC.
This actually gave them the opportunity
to use some great little components that makes it
quite a user-friendly skimmer to work with,
while also giving it a really nice fit and finish.
Getting it set up is really simple,
and you're gonna get your first look
at some of those components that I was just mentioning
as you set it up.
For starters, instead of thumb screws
to hold the base plate to the body,
you've got quick release clips, which is fantastic.
You'll also notice pretty quickly
that the pump has a clip mount as does the standpipe.
There's also a cutout and silicone bushing
for the pump cable to hold and seal it in place.
Everything goes together very easily but also firmly,
and there isn't a single thumb screw to be found.
Okay. I fibbed a little bit.
There is actually five hidden thumb screws
but I'll show you where they are in just a bit.
Once you've got it all together,
you can drop it into your sump.
It's rated for a water depth of seven to eight inches,
so if you have an adjustable baffle or a skimmer stand,
adjust it accordingly.
To adjust and dial in the skimmer,
you've got a single point of control
with the ability to add a second point, if needed.
The main point of control is a gate-style riser pipe
that will allow you to adjust the water height
inside of the skimmer body and essentially,
whether you want a wetter or drier skimming.
The gate works quite well, and it has firm clicks
as you rotate the knob, along with graduated markings,
so you can always keep track of which settings
work best for your tank.
If you would like to add a second
point of control to adjust the air to water ratio,
which can be helpful, especially if you have
a lower-nutrient system with less waste,
it's as simple as adding a small inline valve
to the venturi line.
Speaking of the venturi, the air silencer
on this skimmer is actually hidden
in the collar at the neck.
That red collar is actually hollow
and baffled to reduce the sound of the venturi
just like a traditional air silencer,
but without it hanging off the side of the skimmer
like we usually see.
The skimmer also uses thick silicone feet as well
to reduce vibration, which really helps
to keep the skimmer quiet.
Reef Octopus did also make sure that the air silencer
was removable and serviceable, and it easily
threads on and off of the body
if you ever need to disassemble it for cleaning.
On the topic of cleaning and maintenance,
this skimmer is going to be a breeze to work with,
which I was really happy to see.
First off, the collection cup is a fair size
so you won't be stuck cleaning out
a smaller collection cup super often.
Plus it has a drain port and an included silicone tube
if you'd like to use an external waste collector.
When it is time to clean the cup out,
rather than a typical press fit design
that we see on many skimmers, the Essence uses
a twist-and-lift design, which is far less likely
to cause a spill when you're removing it.
When it is eventually time to take the skimmer apart
for a full cleaning, all of those simple clips
and the complete lack of thumb screws
makes the process really fast and frustration-free,
which is a big leg up on most of the skimmers
that are out there, and I know what you're thinking.
"Thomas, didn't you say there were
thumb screws hidden somewhere?"
Yes, I did say that, and I'm about to show you them.
The only thumb screws on the Essence are expertly hidden
underneath the skimmer body and actually serve two purposes.
First, a single thumb screw in the center
holds the pump clip inside of the body in place,
and second, each silicone foot is actually
the head of a thumb screw responsible for holding
each of the four quick release clips in place.
If you remove the thumb screw,
you can actually remove and disassemble the clip,
so if they ever gum up and need to be cleaned,
you can do that, which I can certainly appreciate.
If these types of ease-of-use features
are something that you can also appreciate,
you can check out the Essence and the pile
of user-submitted reviews by clicking right here.
(upbeat music)