Bubble King Mini 200 vs. BK 200 internal

[jtarmitage]

Jeremy B., I am well into building a 250 g sps dominated reef tank, with about 300 gallons total system volume. I wish that the Sequence skimmer had come out a month earlier because I really like that setup, but I can't change the setup now to incorporate a skimmer of that size. I was planning on a Barr/AO beckett and have room for the BK mini, 200 internal, and I could possibly squeeze the 250 internal in, maybe. Height is no issue. So, to the questions:

How well do the BK's really compare to the new Sequence skimmer? I really like that stable foam head and it seems to pull like a champ.

I obviously like the price tag of the BK mini over the others, but can it handle a heavily loaded 250g sps tank, and handle it well? Or, do I really need to step up?

If I need to step up, should I squeeze in the 250, or just go with the 200? At that price point, the extra $150 is basically trivial.

Thank you in advance.

Jeremy A.

 

[Jeremy B.]

The Sequence is kind of an oddity, in being that it's a dirt cheap skimmer that performs as well as skimmers that are 50% - 300% more in price than it. If you're looking for "bang for the buck", you're not going to find anything else out there that will beat it.

If you want the elite, the pinnacle of protein skimmers in overall build quality, engineering, efficiency, etc, basically everything wrapped up into one unit, then Bubble King is the answer. If you averaged out "star ratings" in 10 different categories in ranking protein skimmers, the Bubble King would have the highest average star rating of them all.

I think a Mini 200 would probably hold the system. Having said that, I think you're going to be borderline. I think I would personally opt to go up to the 200 internal or external because you would have a bit larger reaction chamber, thus producing more contact time while the water is circulating in there.

One other thing to take into consideration is future upgrades. If you ever plan on adding a larger growout system, or another show tank off the same sump, you might want something bigger on donw the road for that.

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[jtarmitage]

Jeremy, thanks for the info. Also, will you be carrying the new BK super marines that Klaus is building? Any info on those skimmers, or timeframe?

Otherwise, I think the 200 it is. If I order today, when should I expect to receive the skimmer?

Jeremy

 

[Jeremy B.]

We will be carrying those skimmers, however we do not have a time frame on them yet. To my knowledge there will be one at MACNA on display, and we'll hopefully have them in October or so.

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[xinumaster]

What is this new BK super marines?

 

[jtarmitage]

Hahn brought it up on another thread, and I also saw a thread where Klaus was discussing it on Zeovit.com. Here is Hahn's thread.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1167351

 

[Jeremy B.]

Klaus has also posted some info on when this will be available, etc, in the large BK thread in our forum here.