Comments: OK i'll start by saying this thing is built very well and is a piece of art however looks are not everything. I ran this in my 90 gallon reef for over a year and this is my overall experience with it..I would not recommend using this refuge with the 175 or 150 with a reef tank larger than 125 gallons. Remember that this sump is meant for slow flow. It will not work with anything over 300 GPH. I know from experience. If your growing anything in your fuge dont waste your money with fancy aquarium lights and just go get a low Kelvin rated home depot light. again Murphy's Law
<br />Pros:
<br /> Build is solid
<br /> I got no bubbles back into the tank
<br /> Built in skimmer great for space saving
<br /> skimmer pump is OK
<br /> Most important it did good for filtration
<br /> If you can dial skimmer in daily then it works great.
<br />Cons:
<br /> VERY hard to access filter socks for cleaning. pain in the butt
<br /> skimmer is hard to dial in. i found myself dialing it down just so i didnt have to deal with it after awhile.
<br /> very shallow refuge. It could be deeper for more volume
<br /> bubbles gulore get trapped in the refuge from the skimmer.
<br /> pump for skimmer got stuck a few times but runs good and is quite
<br /> the slitts in the return from refuge chamber got clogged i have to clean them off about twice a month. Maybe from too much flow. The slower the better with this refuge.
<br /> cost way too much for a 90 gallon saltwater filtration system. again it claims 175 however I would argue that with a heavily stocked reef.
<br /> Filter socks get clogged every 2 or 3 days and are hard to clean. Although you can cut a small hole in the bottom to allow run through however you will lose some mechanical filtration. Once they clogg they overflow into the skimmer chamber which is very loud.
<br />
<br />I gave this refugium filter a four because it is a solid filter and will do waaay better than any trickle/wet/dry type filter or hang on the back for sure. It'