Deepwater Aquatics HOB Hang-On-Back Skimmer - By JNS

This is one of the better hang-on-back skimmers you can get. Interestingly, it occupies about the same position as the  AquaMaxx HOB-1 /JNS VS-1 from the same manufacturer. The build quality is very good. It uses the same pump and is a similar size; but there are some significant differences.The most obvious difference is the collection cup. The Deepwater Aquatics (DA) skimmer has a neck and cup design reminiscent of the Aquamaxx/JNS ConeS CO models, utilizing the taper resulting from an angled cut across the skimmer neck. It's pretty effective; and the resulting crannies aren't as difficult to clean as one might imagine. The HOB-1/VS-1, on the other hand, has a more conventional cup design that differs from most other skimmers primarily in that it is square rather than round. This, unfortunately, results in some very hard to clean crannies at the bottom of that skimmer's cup. The HOB-1/VS-1 does have an overflow outlet on its cup that you could route into a bucket in the case of a collection cup overflow; the DA skimmer is missing such a feature. Overflow just goes back into the reaction chamber through the same hole that it came into the cup. (In instances of extreme overflow, things might get messy.)One doesn't so much adjust the water level in either of these skimmers; rather, one adjusts the height of the reaction chamber above the fixed water level. In the HOB-1/VS-1, that's accomplished by adjusting the position of an O-ring around the collection cup that affects how far the cup/neck piece slides down into the skimmer body. In the DA skimmer, the reaction chamber is attached to a panel that slides up and down one side of the skimmer body. A tension screw is used to fix it in position. The sliding mechanism works well; however, the bottom end of the reaction chamber tends to catch on the bubble diffusion chamber, making a particular point of adjustment much more fiddly than it ought to be. (I find I have to nudge the pump's intake pipe to move the diffusion chamber a bit to give the reaction chamber clearance.) Still, I like the adjustment mechanism of the DA skimmer better.What really sets these skimmers apart from one another is ease of disassembly. The HOB-1/VS-1 is a bear to take apart. It has a removable panel that separates the reaction chamber from the rest of the skimmer body that fits *very* snugly and can require a lot of effort to remove (on the one I have, at least). By attaching a cylindrical reaction chamber to a panel that easily slides out, the DA skimmer cleverly solves the problem of compartmentalizing the reaction chamber while keeping disassembly easy.All in all, this is a great skimmer that improves incrementally on the HOB-1/VS-1 design.Note: The outlet pipe diameters on both the DA skimmer and the HOB-1/VS-1 are identical; so, the DA skimmer can also utilize the bubble reducer sold for the HOB-1/VS-1.

Skimmer is working great, but I do have a couple of concerns, the noise coming from the silencer is not really silent, no matter how hard I tighten the screw its still noisy, the other problem is when I place it in the top part of the skimmer where it mounts to the intake, then the silencer will take in water, luckily I caught that before it flooded the kitchen. I was able to modify the silencer to supress the noise a little.My other gripe is with the amount of air bubbles that this thing produces, so much that I am unable to see my fish. Hopefully it will minimize once it breaks in, hopefully!The slanted cup design works as advertised, easy to adjust and quickly started skimming from day one.I am using this skimmer on a 10g tank btw fits perfectly with a little help from some of the packaging foam, to keep the weight off the tank.For the price I paid, the silencer really shouldn't have to be modified to make it silent, but I guess thats part of the fun is to tinker with it. Also added some dual pvc outlets to lessen the bubbles coming from the output tube. Overall good a good skimmer and it does what its suppose to do without all the fuss and worrying about water levels.****Update****After using it for a couple of weeks, it has not sprung a leak at one of the seams. I really was hoping this was not the case but it was.

Veryy good. If it overflows which is rare. Rube a piece of salamon on the tip of the skimmer and it will kill the bubble" as oil brakes down bubbles" overflow fixed :)

The best HOB Skimmer I've used, and comparable to my good In-Sump ones.Pros: Great Build Quality Well Contained Components Interesting Cup Design that works wellCons: Its BIG, alot bigger than it looks in the picture, 15 inches tall, 9 wide, needing at least 5-10 inches of clearance Micro-bubbles, but not many

Excessive amount of micro bubbles. Constant overflowing. Too much of a headache. Save your money