i love the sicce psk 2500 pumps, they are freaking awesome!!
if you do the mesh right, were talking 1200 lph of air @20w, some can even get it up to 1300 with a little venturi and outlet modification. and, you can use the inexpensive qo3000 as a replacement pump if it ever craps out on you.
but if your a noob, then this pump isnt for you... it will outperform anything in it's price/power range, create the finest bubbles and fattest foam head you ever saw (unless you own a bk), but it does have restart issues that will befuddle the typical equipment tard, or person unwilling to get their hands wet. mesh can be tricky...
and i like the new octopus design very much! unlike don, i think the build quality is good, and excellent if your going to actually compare it to an asm skimmer build quality, wich has the strength of uncooked pasta. the other thing too is that if you dont like their standard of quality, then you wont be buying any octopus, euroreef, xtreme or reeflo skimmers either, because the bodies are all coming out of the same factory. i think they are par for the coarse in that price range, and really, a great deal for the money your paying. if you want something that's going to be built like a tank then your not going to be looking at $200-$400 skimmers anyway because none of them are in that price range.
so all and all, if you can deal with having to mod the mesh on the pump and maintain it, and learn the secrets of restarting this pump, then your not going to beat the performance for the cash with any other skimmer on the market. and as for the "fragility" of the skimmer? i say whatever... be careful with your investment, all it does is sit in the sump unless you touch it..or go spend $500+ on a real skimmer...lol
these skimmers get the skimmerwhisperer seal of approval!!