CPR Bak-Pak 2 Question

[mattborn]

I am thinking about buying this skimmer, but am unsure if I have enough room for it behindthe tank. Could someone who has this skimmer, measure how much room I will need when it is installed?
Also, which model should I get? The one with or without the biological filtration? I only have one piece of live rock in my 30 gallon, but am gradually going to have a reef tank as I can afford more live rock.
Thanks for your comments.

 

[tattooedlife]

You'll need 4 1/4 inches. I bought my Bak Pak II a while back, and it is a great skimmer. I would suggest the Bio-Skimmer.

 

[broomer5]

If you know for sure you want to hang the skimmer on the tank, then the CPR Bak-Pak2 is a great unit. I bought one a month ago and it really works great ! But think ahead here. If you want to eventually clean up the appearance of your tank, meaning get some of the equipment off the tank and out of site, installing a sump is really the way to go. I did exactly that, and placed the skimmer on the sump underneath. There are a lot of advantages to using the sump, for wet/dry filtration, addition of chemicals, water top-offs and so on. If I had known I was going to add the sump first, before purchasing protein skimmer, I may have decided to go another route. But I will say this, with a couple of modifications, my Bak-Pak2 is working wonderfully. Good luck !
Broomer