After it broke down (about a week), performance was great for about a year, the DC pump and water level selector wheel give you a ton of options for several types of skimmate (dry/wet). Then issues started, collection cup filling fast and no skimmate, or just fizzing instead or skimming (foam), pinwheels need cleaning often and the water exit channel, under the pump plate, get clogged often, you may need to fully disassemble the skimmer two or three time per year, not hard to put together but a pain in the neck to do, as you need to remove your skimmer out the sump. Be wise setting your sump for a quick in and out and try to set the skimmer to work in 5in of water, this is what worked better for me. Not recommended, other skimmer on the same price and capacity are more easy to clean with lees possible clogging/debriefs points.

I bought this skimmer because it's brs recommended and to replace a reef octopus that needs a new pump. For the first 5 weeks I was very disappointed. At first the best I could get is tea coloured skimmate. I couldn't get the water level right. Then the pumps started cavitating out it's suction tube causing the water level to rise and fall. I could not run it on the second power setting without overflow. Then I broke down the skimmer; I hated it! Pay attention; it is not as easy as pulling the pump and undoing the 4 screws to access the needle wheels! Pieces are several if you take the skimmer all apart. Assembly is a wee bit of a puzzle. I wasn't surprised seeing the wheels with material in the pins; it's a draw back to this type of foam fractitioning. This skimmer is rocking. It's in 6.75" 17.5cm with a wide open gate at full power pulling dark dry skim! The only drawback is the skimmers performance drops off easily if the relatively small wheels get material stuck in them, thus, requiring taking it apart. Breakdown/assembly won't be as hard as I made it the first time. The skimmer more or less demands using a pre filter before it's sump chamber.

This skimmer works beyond my expectations. I read a few reviews from reef to reef about using a skimmer stand. Once I lifted the skimmer about an inch I didn’t have any issues with overflow. This skimmer produces some serious bubble head. I feel if you are wanting to run it on max power like I do then your sump water level needs to be slightly below the range indicated on the skimmer (around the “SK” letters on the skimmer).

I bought this to replace the Tunze Comline that no longer fits my tank. Unfortunately, this thing is useless. It regularly stops producing bubbles and overflows the cup with water. Or it goes the other way, and the bubble/water drops so low that it stops collecting anything. I feel like I have to check multiple times a day and usually am unsatisfied. My nitrates have gone through the roof with this thing, too, because it is so rarely working as hoped. On top of all that, with my old skimmer to clean it, I just lifted the cup; with this thing, I have to remove the whole skimmer and wrench the cup out to clean because the cup is so wedged into the rest of the skimmer.

Awesome skimmer. Started skimming within a hours of install.