Life reef skimmer review

reef’r · Oct 1, 2026

So a week or so ago I took delivery of my life reef SVS3. I had a long conversation on the phone with Jeff and he recommended adding 3” to the height of my skimmer so mine is 27” tall which I think is a really cool perk. Contact time is very important with a skimmer so if you have the room being able to add extra length to the skimmer body is pretty sweet. Jeff also recommended upping the pump size to a mag12 instead of the standard 9.5 due to the extra height. Another cool feature, you can talk to the guy building the skimmer and he can recommend you things to change for the skimmer to fit your needs and also move with you from one tank to the next. When I originally called and talked to Jeff, he told me to go ahead and fill out the build sheet. I told him I wasn’t quite ready to pull the trigger yet and wanted to try and get my skimmer at the time working, he told me go ahead and fill out the form and he would make the skimmer. When and if I was ready for the skimmer he would have it. After a couple of months, I shot him a message and the skimmer was on the way. I also opted for the 8” cup and when I unboxed everything this skimmer I massive. The cup lid probably weighs at least a pound, the acrylic is super thick. One thing I really liked was the lid comes drilled in the top for easy hookup for recirculating your CO2 skimmer if your running on. I did just that and my scrubber media is lasting way longer than it was before, which is sweet. I fired the skimmer up and within the first few hours it was starting to pull. It took a day or two to get the way I like it between a wet and dry skim but man does this thing pull! It pulls so good my wife knows every time I drain the cup, even when she’s on the other side of the house haha. I know there’s some talk about the noise from the Venturi type skimmers and this one really is not much louder than my previous bubble king, definitely not noticeable. A bit of a short term review, but so far I’m in love with this skimmer and am excited to put it to years of use. And if your in the market I would very highly recommend taking a look into life reef

mcarroll · Oct 2, 2026

I'm pretty sure either a Lifereef or RK2 is in my future. Thanks for posting this!

reef’r · Oct 2, 2026

mcarroll said:
I'm pretty sure either a Lifereef or RK2 is in my future. Thanks for posting this!

The RK2 looks like a sweet skimmer and I guess depending on how you setup a life reef the RK2 would be the cheaper option, just being transparent on that. But with life reef and if it matters to you there is a ton of options. If you want to run DC you can, if you want to run AC (my preference) you can. You can choose any color combo you want, he built an all clear skimmer recently that looks really slick. I have the standard Venturi, Jeff recommended starting there and if I felt the need I could later try the Mazzei Venture. I just think it’s pretty sweet that the skimmer is able to be built on to get it perfect for how you’re wanting it to run. I rarely run filter floss my tank relies solely on the skimmer for filtration, kind of a Berlin style if you will so I good strong skimmer is a must for me and this one definitely fits the bill so far. If your in the market or thinking about it I would say give Jeff a shout and if anything he may do the same thing he did for me with build the skimmer and hold it until you decide if your going to go with it or not. If not, he’ll just sell it when someone comes along looking for one

mcarroll · Oct 2, 2026

reef’r said:
The RK2 looks like a sweet skimmer and I guess depending on how you setup a life reef the RK2 would be the cheaper option, just being transparent on that. But with life reef and if it matters to you there is a ton of options. If you want to run DC you can, if you want to run AC (my preference) you can. You can choose any color combo you want, he built an all clear skimmer recently that looks really slick. I have the standard Venturi, Jeff recommended starting there and if I felt the need I could later try the Mazzei Venture. I just think it’s pretty sweet that the skimmer is able to be built on to get it perfect for how you’re wanting it to run. I rarely run filter floss my tank relies solely on the skimmer for filtration, kind of a Berlin style if you will so I good strong skimmer is a must for me and this one definitely fits the bill so far. If your in the market or thinking about it I would say give Jeff a shout and if anything he may do the same thing he did for me with build the skimmer and hold it until you decide if your going to go with it or not. If not, he’ll just sell it when someone comes along looking for one

Excellent!!

I'm looking at the bigger 72" Lifereef (same line as yours tho) and the RK5-AC.

I think the Lifereef is actually the less expensive of the two, but it's not quite an apples-to-apples comparison due to the automation on the RK5.

It'll be a tough choice before I pull the trigger!