POLL : Reeflo Orca 250/ BK Super Marine 250 / BK Super Marine 300

[Chin_Lee]

OK i have decided that I'm not going to have time to build my dream skimmer and I'm going to resort to just buying a retail product. But I can't really decide what to get.
I have about 650 gallons of water with 165g in an LPS moderately fish stocked tank, 300g in a moderately stocked FOWLR tank, 125g in a sump with a couple of dinky fishes, and 40g in a refugium.
I'm kinda narrowed down my purchase to three possibilities:
Reeflo Orca 250
BK Super Marine 250
BK Super Marine 300

I know most people will believe the BK should be the answer but I'm a fan of and always considering the Orca 250 because its reaction chamber is almost double the size of the BK and its pushing through 2500 l/hr (http://www.reeflopumps.com/nwskimmers.html) of air compared to the BK's 2000 l/h.

which one should I get?????? Polling for the most popular........

[marie]

Actually the BK supermarin 300 is pushing about 3600lph of air but then you could probably buy 2 orcas for the price of 1 BK


I voted for the BK300 because its not my money your spending

[Powertec]

I have a reeflo and i wouldn't trade it for anything.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I don't have any of these skimmers, but after some research, I voted for the Orca. Factors were comparability to the BK 250, yet at about $400USD less. The BK 300 is impressive indeed, but seems to be about $700 more, if I'm not mistaken.

[Delphinus]

Interesting question. I guess my thought though is that is either one really going to be a disappointment? Both the BK250 and Orca's are very high end skimmers that I doubt will leave you feeling down. The only real basis of comparison that I can see is 45w for the BK250 and 120w for the Orca. Depends on what you pay for electricity, you guys on the coast are mostly hydro which is cheaper than hydrocarbon generated, which might push you towards the model with the lower initial cost whereas somewhere else you might be pushed the other way.

[fkshiu]

I think they'll both be similar in skimming ability, but the BKs will be quieter, use less electricity and take up less room - that's the extra that you're paying for. So if you're planning to put it in your basement sump room and you've got enough space and electicity isn't a big deal the Reeflo makes more sense. Of course it doesn't have the name cachet of the BK.

The almost cliched car metaphor works here: the Reeflo is like a Corvette, the BK is a Porsche. The American Vette is as fast (arguably faster depending on the model) as the German Porsche and it's cheaper, but at the same time the Vette is bigger, chunkier and uses a huge V8 versus the Porsche's flat-6. The Vette also lacks the Teutonic snob appeal of the 911.

[Chin_Lee]

Thank you for all who contributed to the poll. Well its a dead tie between the Orca and Supermarine so I decided to go with the Orca. The main reason is because its external, cheaper, and Reeflo gave me one hell of a deal. Here's a quick story on good customer support:
I emailed them (Reeflo) asking then what my options are since I had bought an Orca NW pump from them in JUNE 2007 and I have come to realize that I won't be able to get around to making my own DIY skimmer. I also asked them I had bought the pump before the ORCA skimmer was introduced and I was very interested in the Orca 250 skimmer. They came back with a reply that they would sell me an Orca 250 with GOLD DART pump for $1190 shipped and if I were to return the pump to them, they will give me $230 credit for the pump. Considering I had paid about $270 for the pump, it was only $40 loss and I got a great deal from Reeflo.

Two thumbs up for these guys. I'm now anxiously waiting for the arrival of my Orca 250 skimmer with the gold ORCA NW pump.

I will update pictures after I've picked up my skimmer. I'm heading to Hawaii on Nov 5 and returning on the 13 which is when I'll be picking up the skimmer from a parcel outlet. Looking forward to it.........

[sphelps]

Wow I wish I saw this earlier, I could have probably changed your mind. First off the BK SM 300 is newer and I've got one sitting on my work bench ready for an install for a customer. That makes me one of the few to actually see this skimmer. It has two pumps but one is much smaller than the other one, it's a little bigger than the 250 but really it's basically the same so I would say go with the 250 over the 300 unless you want to run ozone since the 300 has ozone ports. I could have even taking pictures for you.

Also I can't believe someone would actually want one of those Orcas, seriously bad idea. It uses an external dart pump in a way I would almost guarantee you'll get a seal and bearing failure after about a year or so. Plus the pump uses around 150W compared to less than 50. Don't be fooled by the 120W rating look at the flow charts. The thing is oversized putting more into height than width which makes very little sense, it won't fit under a stand and results in the pump using more power than it needs and will bring in less air due to a higher static pressure. Plus have fun taking that collection cup off with all the plastic screws that will eventually were out, and that plastic looks pretty thin. Not solid construction at all, very similar to a Life-Reef which may have been good at the time but ask anyone that still has one what they think of it. Can you even clean the orca out, or is it one big piece of acrylic glued together, The BKs can be completely dismantled for a full cleaning including the diffuser plate.

For the extra $400 you could have gotten the BK 250, what a shame. The 250 would have lasted you forever and you would have always been happy with it. Maybe it's not too late??

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by sphelps

Also I can't believe someone would actually want one of those Orcas, seriously bad idea.
For the extra $400 you could have gotten the BK 250, what a shame.

Well, if it were me, I would have made the same choice. The BKs are way over priced for a bunch of plastic glued together, and the fact that I don't have $400 bills growing on trees would have been a big factor...

Congrats, Chin, on a good choice...

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Well, if it were me, I would have made the same choice. The BKs are way over priced for a bunch of plastic glued together, and the fact that I don't have $400 bills growing on trees would have been a big factor...

Congrats, Chin, on a good choice...

I would say the BKs are under priced and the orca is overpriced, the BKs use CNC machining and nothing but top quality plastic built like a rock. Nice and thick as appose to as thin as possible. The orca looks like it's ready to break before water hits it, even the pictures on the website show some parts of the skimmer are crooked. Maybe $400 is a lot but when you're already spending $1200 it's not that bad and actually I believe it's only $300 to correct myself.