Well not much has changed yet, dang job keeps getting in the way of my hobby......don't they know how irritating it is to have to go to work all the time. . However one thing has changed, i will not be using the Reef Octopus skimmer, for a few reasons.
1) it's to big
2) it's to big
3) It has a very specific level of water it needs to sit in to work just right, and my 14" deep baffles just are going to get along with it, nor do I have the room to raise the skimmer in my sump due to stand requirements. Not to mention the water levels always changing due to me not having a ATO system setup yet.
4) it's loud, louder than my wife would like to hear
( and that is the main reason it has to go, gotta make the wife happy. A happy wife is a happy life)

It's not as if it's a bad skimmer, it's just not right for my exact sump. Now if I was only planning on having a 8.6" - 9" max level it would work great, except the noise of course. I even went as far as trying to figure out how to plump a secondary sump tank to only house the skimmer, plumbed into the main sump. Luckily there are some great reefers out there in our community, thanks old man .

So I'm going back to my original plan. An Avast marine works "peg leg" with recirculating kit added. I talked to the guys at Avast, and they've reassured me that they've tested the CS1 "pegleg" particular model in up to 20" of water and it still ran perfect. So just gotta save up some more green.

I did order one of there MR5 media reactor's for carbon, and all I can say is quality. Got the order in two days, all emails, and questions were answered within minutes of sending. Definitely two big thumbs up for these guys so far.

Though if anyone reading this can answer this one question for me, whats a good "pelletized" carbon brand. It's the only recommendation from avast is to use pellet carbon, I guess it tumbles better IDK, just trying to get the best reaction out of my reactor, and also what pump does everyone recommend? I was going to use a standard Maxijet 1200.

Next purchase, next to the skimmer, will be another MR5 reactor for GFO, and if theres room, maybe a davy jones locker.

Since my skimmer plans kept going back and forth, I haven't even glued the baffles in place yet, grrrrrrr. So if there's anyone experienced in building sumps and gluing baffles. I'd love some help/company, ( I have a six pack of 8.6% home brew beer my buddy makes, and possibly a frag or two to give away. My schedule is busy, but I'd really appreciate it. PM me for my contact info, unless I know you and you already have it.

Other than that, I'm still battling hair algae issues, keeping my alk stable, and keeping my mag stable. Though once I get my calcium levels under 800, things should start getting better. I hope.