I would agree that the alpha 250 is a very good skimmer but the whole point of the thread was under $1000 dollars and your not going to find one for that! As far as opctopus skimmers being loud and flooding I couldn't disagree more. Maybe an ancient one but even my original nw200 was quiet. My new super reef octopus with the bubble blaster pump is a first class skimmer that performs very well!