Bubble King or Reef Octopus, sizing ... ???

[SoloSK71]

My 11-ish year old ATB skimmer is finally starting to show signs of failure, surface crazing/cracks around the ports where water enters and leaves the body, stress cracks around the screw holes, and it is getting to be a complete pain to cut mesh-wheels.

My next tank is going to be about 300G total system volume and I am looking to get a very good controllable, DC, in sump skimmer that is "+1" to my tank size needs.

I am trying to decipher the advertising speak for Royal Exclusiv and Reef Octopus but so far I am not having a lot of luck.

So far, it looks to me like I am looking at a Reef Octopus 300 series, either in sump or space saving. So far, easy enough.

However the Bubble King are all over the place. I think I would need something like a SuperMarin 200 or a Deluxe 250?

Can anyone who has owned either of these makes/models comment?

Charles

[MitchM]

I have a BubbleKing Royal Exclusive 250 external.
I've had it for about 6 years. Expensive, never had a problem with it, enjoy working on something that's high quality.
I purchased mine from Wai's.
It looks like there is quite a price difference between a Reef Octopus and a Bubbleking, so you'll have to decide that for yourself.

[SoloSK71]

Is the 250 the right size for that volume?

Charles

[MitchM]

It depends.
Do you "overstock" or "understock" your aquarium?
Your aquarium will be healthier if you "understock" in general.

[Bblinks]

I ran the supermarin 250 on a 300 gallon system heavily stocked with a 60 gallon frag system and 100 gallon sump. It was the work horse and the heart of the operation. Bbk or bbk, there is my choice.

[SoloSK71]

Thanks, that helps.

Charles