Bubble King Comparison Question
 

@slief - hey bud I have a question. what is the major difference between the Royal exlusiv Bubble King line. Its very confusing and is there a performance difference as well. For example:

-Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Deluxe 200 External Protein Skimmer $2141.98

-Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Deluxe 200 Skimmer + RD3 Speedy VS14
$1,803.99

-Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Supermarin 200 Protein Skimmer
$1,539.00

-Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Mini 200 Gen 3 VS12 Protein Skimmer
$1,207.48

-Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Double Cone 200 + RD3 Speedy
$1,144.99

- Royal Exclusiv Mini Bubble King 200 VS13 With RD3 Mini Speedy Extra Slim
$1,199.00

- Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Double Cone 200 Protein Skimmer
$1,068.39

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You must be looking on one of our re-sellers websites who doesn't remove older versions of the skimmers. I think it's done as a conspiracy to confuse unknowing perspective customers. :thumbsup:

-Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Deluxe 200 External Protein Skimmer
$2141.98
This is the previous model Deluxe 200 which has been replaced with the one below.

-Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Deluxe 200 Skimmer + RD3 Speedy VS14
$1,803.99
The Deluxe is the flagship model that is designed to have a wider tuning range and is a terrific skimmer for both dry skimming and wet skimming.
The Deluxes are made very a very heavy acrylic and have a hand welded upper body. These are VERY heavy skimmers. Because of it's wider tuning range, it also has a wider range than the comparably sized SM and will handle lower loads better than the SM when you get to the lower end of the tank size range.

-Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Supermarin 200 Protein Skimmer
$1,539.00
Supermarin is also considered a flagship model. It is designed with wetter skimming in mind. It's the most popular model in the US. Like the Deluxe, it's made of a very heavy acrylic that is much thicker than the Double Cones. These are VERY heavy skimmers. The upper body where the cylinder meets the taper is also hand welded on the SM.

-Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Mini 200 Gen 3 VS12 Protein Skimmer
$1,207.48
Old model with the old Red Dragon One Pump. That model has been replaced by the updated model with the RD3 pump.

-Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Double Cone 200 + RD3 Speedy
$1,144.99
The Double Cones have a formed body (upside down wine glass) instead of hand welded like the SM and Deluxe models. They use a lighter acrylic matierial than the SM and Deluxe. They will dry skim and wet skim and tend to be very popular due to the performance and lower cost than the SM and Deluxe line.

- Royal Exclusiv Mini Bubble King 200 VS13 With RD3 Mini Speedy Extra Slim
$1,199.00
The Mini's are designed as a no compromise space saving skimmers for sumps with Minimal space. They have the skimmer pumps inside the skimmer body to reduce their foot print. They are made from very heavy material and weight a lot for their size. There are two variations within the Mini's and the Extra Slim in particular relocates the outlet side of the skimmer to further reduce the footprint to accommodate narrower skimmer compartments.

- Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Double Cone 200 Protein Skimmer
$1,068.39
Old model that has been replaced with the Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Double Cone 200 + RD3 Speedy

One thing I want to note regardless of the model you might decide on. Be cognizant of the recommended tanks sizes. You do not want to oversize these skimmers. They are very conservatively rated and perform best when you match them to your load. I always suggest basing Bubble King skimmer sizing decisions on the display volume and not the system volume because the displays are where the load is generated and our sumps and refugiums help reduce load. Skimmer sizing is based on theoretical loads. At least that is the way Royal Exclusiv does it. At the lower end of the tank size range, it's assumed that you will have a heavy load. When I say heavy load, we are talking about 1/2" of fish per display tank gallon. Skimmers need sufficient dissolved organic compounds (proteins) to create foam. In the absence of DOC', you get bubbles that burst at the surface instead of foam. This is because the DOC's stick the bubbles and allow the bubbles to bond together into chains that become foam. As the skimmer sizes increase, the need for more DOC's increases. In the absence of enough DOC's, you will end up with a skimmer than is less consistent.

I hope that helps reduce the confusion and shed some light on the line! :beer:

@slief you are the man!!! And I say that expressively because i follow the forums and your respondence is not grey area and allows us to hopefully in the future become a slief (I mean the respectiveley) in order to grow the hobby and help out other reefers as well. I got these models from aquarium specialty. I guess hey have an outdated model on their website still. Question have you ever had a lifereef skimmer?

Thanks for the kind words. I always enjoy helping others and sharing my experiences. I had a feeling that's were you were seeing those models. :lmao:

I have not had a LifeReef myself but I know people who use them and know they make great products and their skimmer design is timeless. That said, at the heart of every great skimmer is it's pump. If you were to go with a LifeReef skimmer, I would suggest not skimping on the pump. Noise, efficiency, heat transfer and long term reliability would all be things that I would take into consideration if I were going that route. Obviously, I am a Bubble King guy. I was long before I got involved with Royal Exclusiv's US support so my choosing of a Bubble King had nothing to do with my present affiliation with Royal Exclusiv. My choice wasn't just because they had a beautiful skimmer design but also because the Red Dragon pumps have always been considered the best skimmmer pumps ever made and the RD3's are no exception.

I've always been unbiased when it comes to good quality products. Especially those backed with great support. For those that can't or don't want to afford a Bubble King, LifeReef has been one of the few other brands I recommend to people. While I love my Bubble Kings and wouldn't change due to their quality and performance, the LifeReef skimmers work well and their cost is pretty good though a good pump can add significantly to the cost. Especially if you want the ability to fine tune the skimmer via the pump which is something that make the RD3 based skimmers stand out among any of the other skimmers on the market. The ability to fine tune in very small increments is something that no other skimmer pump on the market offers. :thumbsup:

@slief do you sell the Bubble kings. I'm planning on purchasing all the equipment in the near future and want to prepare myself with how much all is going to cost. I'm not skimping on price what so ever. Nor do I want to get Jerked by some of the retailers out there and since your the one thats giving great advice I would love to take your recommendations.

You can buy them direct from Royal Exclusiv at royalexclusiv.com or through one of our resellers.

Thank you @slief where can i find your other resellers?

Premium Aquatics and Aquarium Specialty are our two biggest resellers and the ones that actually keep inventory of our products.

@slief I'm sold on the Bubble king. Now I'm piecing all my parts together. That way when I purchase everything it will all be in one shot. I'm going to be purchasing the new red sea reefer 625 XXL fits perfect in my living room. Thats a 133G tank. Definitely going to heavy stock it as time progresses with the tank. Obviously not all at once. I would love to go with the best of the best for all of my equipment as I'm not trying to keep purchasing my way up to what I want. Do you think that the Bubble King Deluxe 200 is too much for this setup. Down the road as well I will be adding a frag tank to the main sump as well that will be in my basement with the sump. Or should I play it conservative and go with a Bubble king Double cone 180? Also I saw that Royal Exclusiv will be launching their dreambox 2.0 which has a rollermat. That is something I'm incorporating with this system. Wanted to know if you have any information on the release on that? Thanks my man you been much help from your friend in NY

I'd stick with the 180. It can handle anything you throw at it with a 135g display. The frag tank won't have a heavy fish load so it won't really add to the load.

Regarding the new Rollermat based Dreamboxes. There is one model that is being built right now with more to follow. Because of the design, these will be pretty large sumps which is the case with the currently released model. Since you will be running a basement sump setup and not running the sump below the tank, that shouldn't be an issue.

Here is a link to the model that is currently being produced.
http://royalexclusiv.net/Dreamboxes/...5cm::1594.html

@slief definitely not a issue of space. Will the price be the same of the sump now or will it be more?

Not sure what you mean. The prices listed on the site for that Dreambox are in Euro. There is the Euro to US conversion, crating cost and of course shipping from Germany to you.

No worries. I was just trying to see if you knew the prices of the dream box 2.0. I know it's not out yet and was wondering if it was going to cost the same as he 1.0.

The version I linked to above is actually shipping now and orders are being taken. :beer:

Slief Which bubbleking skimmer would you recommend for a heavily stocked 220 reeftank with sps? Probably will have 4-5 large tangs and few wrasses and clowns, and small schools of various anthias.
I was thinking of using either the supermarin 250 or deluxe 250? Would these be overkill? if so which would you recommend? Also the way they state the sizes for the skimmer is confusing as hell. Can you list the sizes of these skimmers in inches?
Thanks

Definitely not the SM250. I run that on a 500 gallon display with over 70 fish in it. Many are large tangs. I’d suggest either a SM200 or Deluxe 200. These skimmers are conservatively rated. If you truly had a heavy load, possibly the Deluxe 250 but what you’re describing doesn’t sound like a very heavy load for a 220 sized display and you would likely experience inconsistency with a 250. Especially with the SM250 which needs a heavier load than the Deluxe due to it’s design.

I run the bubble king double cone on my 240 gallon sps tank with about 30 fish in it including 5 tangs, angel fish, rabbit fish etc. what some would call a heavy bioload. The skimmer keeps up with it and doesn’t miss a beat. In fact ive considered adding 10 more fish or so. I feed 5 times a day with an auto feeder.

Corey