So, I was so excited to post a picture I didn't talk about the skimmer.
First off, the "reviews" I have read on build quality are definitely over exaggerated. Some people say it is almost as good as a Bubble King in quality.. I will say this about it, NO WAY is it comparable in quality to a Bubble King, not that I expected it to be either though, but the hype on the net will make you think otherwise.
As far as functionality, A+ in my book so far. It is by far the quietest skimmer I have ever seen and not heard.. literally silent. My remora skimmer which is inside my stand and behind closed doors I can hear over the Bubble Magus skimmer, and my ear is ON the Bubble Magus skimmer, it is that quiet. Bubbles seem good and skimmer started working 5 minutes after plugging in. Started working immediately but first sign of any skimmate came about 5 minutes after running. Again though, the Bubble King skimmers seem to have more bubbles, bigger chambers, and more uniform. The bubble plate in this skimmer leaves room for upgrades IMO, but it seems that anyone can make a replacement bubble plate at home to practice trying to make a better one, which I have seen a few people on RC already attempting to do.
So.. my initial review of the skimmer:
Build Quality: 6
Functionality: 8
Durability: ?
Pump: 3
Cost: 9
Overall: 7 out of 10. Replacing the pump with a better quality one would bump it up to an 8 and replacing the bubble plate with a better one would raise it up to a 9/10 on my scale, but standard out of the box I give it 7 out of 10 because it is a good skimmer for the price ($250).
Just to give some frame of reference, I am replacing a AquaC HOB Remora skimmer with this one and this skimmer has pulled out in 1 hour the same amount it is taking 1 week for my Remora to pull out, although my Remora is failing and the reason I bought a new skimmer. It used to work a lot better a couple years ago when it was new. I used to be able to fill the cup on the Remora daily when it was new, and that was with the cup at the highest position, now it is at its lowest position and I can let it go 1 month and it won't even fill the collection cup 1/2 way anymore.