I love my Deltec and ended up buying a larger one for the new build as well. Complete disassembly for maintenance or cleaning is done with a single thumb screw. No crazy bubble plates, odd shapes, or other gimmicks; the skimmer just works. With that said, support in the US is abysmal at best; Battlecorals and Marine Depot carry items but my experience with them hasn't been the best. The skimmer for the 150g was ordered on or about 20 Nov 2017 and received 24 Nov 2017. The body was cracked so I contacted the retailer to get it replaced (just the body, everything else was fine). Then I waited, and waited, and waited some more. The replacement arrived 16 Feb 2018; yes, it took almost three months! I would have pushed the issue harder if the tank build was being delayed but that wasn't the case.
The latest design (of the Deltec) will make maintenance a little easier as the down pipe flows better (an obstruction was removed that grew algae/bacteria etc. on the previous models). People can claim brand X is better or worse but if things were tested on an apples to apples basis, I doubt you'd find much difference between many them.
My opinion and I've stated it before, DC skimmers have ZERO realistic value. If the flow rate needs to be adjusted, it was improperly sized for the skimmer or there is another issue in the tank that needs to be addressed. All the DC fans can jump on the comment all you want (don't expect a reply), wont change my mind and I'm sure I wont change your mind but it's a waste of money now and when things need replaced. With the controller, you have an additional point of failure that isn't present with an AC skimmer as well.
With the minor rant out of the way, I've decided to plumb both systems into a common sump and because of that, have also decided to go with LifeReef for the system. I have the space to run an external now as well so that decision was easy (I'll take an external over an internal every time unless I'm constrained for space).
