Well I just saw your thread and im sure you have made a decision by now but my brother used aquamaxx, not sure which model, but he went through two pumps in a 5-6way month spand. I purchased the cone 2 prior to his issues and I have not ran mine yet since my 180tank is not finahed yet. If I have issues with mine ill buy a Vertex Protein Skimmer as the crew from Sam speaks highly of the unit