Bubble King Skimmer

[Will C]

I am upgrading my skimmer for my 90g mixed reef, total water volume is is ab 120g w/ medium bio-load. Are the bubble King (180) skimmers worth the big $'s?
Thanks in advance!

[James77]

IMO they are not, and I have owned the 160.

The pros of it were the small footprint, it being one of the quietest skimmers, and built well.

My Super Reef Octopus skimmed far better at 1/3 the price plus more warranty, but a bit louder and not as easy to break down.

Look at the new JNS skimmers coming out, they use a Sicce pump. I have the Omega 150 skimmer, very quiet and built well. I like its performance, others have had mixed reviews. There are just so many skimmers that will perform as well or better than a bubble king with lower prices.

[ReefRockerLive]

IMO, they are no longer worth the money especially when you can buy an RLSS R6-i skimmer at a fraction of the cost. Many who have used RLSS have given their skimmers two thumbs up.

Bubble King skimmers are excellent performers and are suppose to be super silent. When you look at brands like RLSS, ATB, Reef Octopus, JNS, then look at BK, you'll see that the extra cost is just for the brand.

[Allmost]

well just the red dragon pump it self makes the BK skimmers "worth it" rather then just having high price for no reason [or for just the brand name] the RD pump is very quite and nice IMHO.

Vertex skimmers I like though ... they are great. I switched my BK with a vertex Kone 2 years ago. RD pump as well.

but as others have said, other skimmers have done alot and have improved over the years ... so if you are looking to save some money there are other options out there :)

[Will C]

my sump is plumbed into my basement so I am not concerned about noise. Noise seems to be the major difference between the BK and the skimmers suggested. Any feeling on the Deltec skimmers? Money is always an issue but I am more concerned w/ value. I'm ok with spending more for high quality equipment

[Allmost]

there is more into it. also the amount of air drawn, the Efficiency, and the overall design ... meaning amount of air, with respect to flow and volume of the skimmer and so on ...


Deltec is great, but same price range as BK ...

[Kattes]

my sump is plumbed into my basement so I am not concerned about noise. Noise seems to be the major difference between the BK and the skimmers suggested. Any feeling on the Deltec skimmers? Money is always an issue but I am more concerned w/ value. I'm ok with spending more for high quality equipment

I've been somewhat deltec exclusive for.. maybe too long? The good thing with deltec is that they are balanced, no BS type of designs with plenty of R&D behind them that just work. My favourite thing about them is definately stability and balance. No sudden overflows, no noise, no nonsense and absolutely no need to worry about the skimmer not doing it's job. The new pumps are also quite impressive in their power/performance ratio. And I've never had one fail on me in any way, but as with anything mechanical, it's only a question of time and quantity of units involved.

However, when looking at value, I'm not so sure anymore. I can get them for very tolerable prices and deltec has brilliant customer support in europe, but what I've read about their US distributor hasn't been too flattering. So while for me it's practically impossible to justify anything else, I don't really think americans are necessarily in the same boat and I think you can definately get the same raw performance from a more affordable design. And if the brilliant customer support is taken away.. eh, starts to seem a bit iffy. And the same goes for bubble king. Premium is as good as the people standing behind. But if I've understood correctly, BK is doing better these days? After all, skimmer is a tube with air and water in it, the magic comes from how the parts fit together and how the customer is treated. With so many companies trying, many are bound to hit the nail on the head even without extensive r&d. And if they're also providing good service, paying premium for a recognized brand is more like hats off to those who put in the work than an absolute guarantee for performance superiority. And given how many brilliant shops you have in US in regards of customer service, I probably couldn't justify going for a premium brand in the OP's situation.

If the most active skimmer aficionados of RF central are correct, the aquamaxx stuff seem to have the same kinds of traits that I appreciate about the deltecs but with a far more attractive price tag. Never seen or heard one though. Personally I'm somewhat allergic to anything with sicce written on it due to past experiences, but I'm sure they do something right these days to get so many manufacturers to go with their pumps. And if the service is good and fast, a pump malfunction isn't going to be an unbearable nightmare anyway. Maybe look there?

[Drae]

Red Dragon or not... no way! Deltec clown the BK line IMHO but... there's some skimmers out now that are very well balanced and if noise isn't that big of a deal go with a proven sicce pumped skimmer ( aquamaxx, jns) or take a calculated risk with a rlss (I like this line big time) and use the money you save on a fully equipped apex or put it towards that sexy new ATI fixture. That's jmo.

[Will C]

Thanks all for the good advice/opinions. I will follow up w/ Aquamaxx and JNS. Eventually I'll post some pics when I get the skimmer set up.