Made My Decision - PM RL100

I finally made my final decision and purchase on my skimmer that is part of my sump upgrade.

I have decided on the Precision Marine Red Line 100.

I chose this skimmer over several models including Reef Octopus, Vertex, Euro Reef, and Bubble Magus to name a few. The decision was not an easy one. The major factor in the decision was the Made in the USA label. The reputation of Precision Marine also contributed to my decision.

Some strikes against the other models include:

Reef Octopus - accounts of the pumps failing prematurely on these units

Vertex - accounts of noisy pumps

Euro Reef - this was a close second however lost due to ~$20 lower cost of PM

Bubble Magus - these seem to be on back-order and availability is sparse

 

im sure many will beg to differ on those negatives.

reef octopus uses different pumps.... which pumps?inaccurate statement

vertex.... what does noisy mean???

bubble magus... when I here back order that means high demand :-/.... sometimes....

 

I have the Redline 125 and love it, very good skimmer. Build like a tank

 

can you update on its performance, I have an aquac ev that i love, but I am setting up a small office tank and I will probably buy a used skimmer and one of yours came up on list

 

Agreed.

Reef Octopus is manufactured by CoralVue. Very respectable company, great skimmers, not sure what you mean about the pumps. They're easily replaced (good chance under warranty) if need be.

Bubble Magus - excellent looking skimmer. High demand typically equals a good product.

I've seen good reviews on the Vertex as well, haven't heard anything about noise when I researched myself. They're working with Royal Exclusiv, makers of the Bubble King, so again, I see no reason not to buy one of those skimmers.

 

So my new skimmer came in, but unfortunately it suffered some damage to the collection cup, presumably during shipping. However thanks to Brian at TB Aquatics and the folks at Precision Marine I had a new skimmer cup within a week. Thanks guys!

 

The footprint of this skimmer is advertised as 8.75 X 7.75. Also, the RL100 is not currently available, so I went with the RL125 which is 3.5 inches taller at 22".

Here are some photos of the dimensions:

 

The included pump is a Precision Marine RLP1000 which is advertised as an 18W needle-wheel impeller:

 

Looks like a great skimmer, make sure to take some pics of the skimmate!