I owned a lower end skimmer before even tho it was a great beginner skimmer. I then purchased a bubble king I have since purchased a second
and third bubble king. They are almost identical skimmers if not the same as the vertex for me the answer would be simple. On a side note how quiet is the sicci pumps in the other skimmer, I had bought a sicci return pump and its terrible for noise. In my experience if u keep snails out of the impellers the rd pumps are bomb proof.

According to the csc450 review, they are quite silent, to be quite honest, the sound is a non issue in my setup, the sump is in the basement. Haven't found a single unhappy customer of the bubble king or vertex, would love to hear other people's skimmer choices on the 3-400 gallon range. On my 75 gallon. I did my homework(obviously not enough lol) and went with a remora pro, that I was never truly happy with. Definetly have more time than money, so really want to explore every possible avenue with this purchase.

for the 1800 lph of air and 38watts power useage of the alpha 250 paying $1200ish seems pretty crazy when you could go with a RLSS r10-i with 1800lph of air draw and 40watts power usage and a controllable pump for $749. Or the CSC 450 with 1680lph @ 52watts for $800. Or even JNS skimmer (which has very solid reviews on RC by Mojo (he is the USA version of Skimmer King) and many others.

I get paying for a name, but all three are solidly built skimmers with great power efficiency and big air draw.

Good luck with your purchase and lets see some pics and a review with whatever you get.


http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/vt...0+Gallons.html

http://reefsupplycanada.com/cgi-bin/...ada&item=59262

https://www.goreef.com/CSC-450-Cone-...umpS-500G.html

Now you really have me thinking Nick, thanks for the suggestions. Has anybody had or know of anybody who has used the rlss db10i. Would love to hear their reviews on them.

There is WAY more to skimmers than strictly numbers. I like Bluetang had multiple lower end skimmers and finally broke down and bought a BK and now on #2 (as I upgraded the tank) I am a firm believer in getting the best skimmer you can. Save money in other places

i have not seen any customer reviews and i know that not a large amount have been released yet. But here is what i could find.

http://blog.aquanerd.com/2012/09/the...he-volute.html

I too, have been looking for reviews and haven't found anything yet. I like the variable speed pump idea, and the needle wheel concept, but can't find a single soul, who runs one and can give an assessment.

I agree subman, I think the skimmer is the most crucial component, and I'm not opposed to spending more for a better product. I never thought it would be such a difficult decision. Besides the numbers mentioned before, and the craftsmanship of the product itself what is the other measurable variables.


I guess I am wondering how big of a difference one could expect, from just comparing the three nick mentioned.

Poor analogy, but I have friends that won't use anything but Callaway Golf clubs, and swear they are a better clubs, and I have friends who play with much less expensive clubs, strikingly similar in build, materials and have used both, now in that case I would buy the less expensive ones because, speaking for myself couldn't notice a difference, however if I could notice a difference I would gladly justify the callaways.

Besides those numbers what else should a person look for in a skimmer?

Good Day:

Here is link to a post with various articles on filtration and skimming from The Greater Victoria Aquatic Society:

http://tgvas.com/Forum/showthread.ph...otein-Skimming

Michael