Bubble Magus NAC-6A Skimmer

[Ron99]

Just received this yesterday. Here's a few pics after running in water and vinegar for a while. It's currently breaking-in in an old 10 gallon tank full of used salt water. So far I am impressed. Looks very well built and it is making a nice white milky bubble mixture in the skimmer. This will be a nice improvement on my Coralife 65 :biggrin: More details to follow...

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/BMNAC61.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/BMNAC62.jpg

I also picked up this but won't be setting it up for a little while yet:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/BMT011.jpg

It also come with a really nice acrylic mounting stand:

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/BMT012.jpg

[banditpowdercoat]

How much was the skimmer and where did you get it??

[Ron99]

Skimmer was just under CDN $140 from reefshops dot com. Took a little over a week to get here from China even with the New Year holiday in there.

[Ron99]

Of course shipping was another $75 but that was split between the skimmer and dosing pump so basically it was under $180 all in for me.

[Tom R]

Very Nice Ron

Tom R

[Delphinus]

The dosing pump looks promising!

[Skimmerking]

Ron what was the dosing going for.

[Ron99]

Ron what was the dosing going for.

About CDN $285. You can also buy an add on unit for another CDN $135 which adds 4 more pumps that can be controlled by the main unit. So a total of 7 controllable dosing pumps for about $420.

[burrows14]

Looking good so far Ron!

I have no complaints about mine!

[banditpowdercoat]

Skimmer was just under CDN $140 from reefshops dot com. Took a little over a week to get here from China even with the New Year holiday in there.


WHOAAA!!! Me likey!!. I'm looking at a BM cone now :P

PS, I see alot of either Knock Off's OR, the true product that we buy here, only rebadged for North American sale. eg, the SunSun Vibration Pump in the wavemakers section. Looks an awefully like a Koralia 2. AND they even say it used Hydor tech!!! So, did they copy Hydor, Or, is the Koralia's we buyu just rebadged SunSun's?

[Ron99]

Here's a quick shot of the foaming action in the holding tank. I think it is ready for my sump today...

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/NAC63.jpg

[banditpowdercoat]

Kicks the crap outa my DIY recirc skimmer LOL

What size is your tank again?

[Ron99]

PS, I see alot of either Knock Off's OR, the true product that we buy here, only rebadged for North American sale. eg, the SunSun Vibration Pump in the wavemakers section. Looks an awefully like a Koralia 2. AND they even say it used Hydor tech!!! So, did they copy Hydor, Or, is the Koralia's we buyu just rebadged SunSun's?

Yeah, I see lots of people complaining about the quality of Chinese products but most of the products we buy are made in China. Somebody once told me a credible story about how Ralph Lauren would put an order in for 100,000 Polo shirts to the factory in Taiwan or wherever it was. The factory would charge $X per shirt plus the tooling up costs. They would then run off 125,000 shirts, 100,000 with the Polo label on them and put their own label on the extra 25,000 shirts which would sell at a fraction of the cost of the polo shirt. Same shirt, different label.

Now, that being said, there may definitely be some difference in the quality of parts used etc. for equipment depending on who is designing the specs. But a skimmer is pretty straightforward and these look very well put together. Nicer then a standard Vertex or Octopus etc. I haven't had a good look at a Bubble King or the new vertex cones in the flesh to compare but I doubt the BK is 5 times better then the BM. As for the Koralia pumps, just look at the box and it should tell you where it is made. I don't have one handy here. The Maxi-jet box I have says made in Italy. But the parts could come from China and we know how Italian cars are built so maybe that's not a great selling point :lol:

[Ron99]

Kicks the crap outa my DIY recirc skimmer LOL

What size is your tank again?

75 gallons plus about 10 or 12 gallons in the sump. Tank is lightly stocked right now too with 2 small clowns, a six line wrasse, a neon dottyback and a small kole tang. This skimmer is probably overkill but I wanted something that will allow for more stock and coral feeding etc.

[wisesam]

I am using the exact same unit and I am very happy with the performance.
The mesh wheel really gives out consistent fine bubbles. This unit skims very consistantly. One thing though is the plastic part on the pump that connects the intake piece cracked as I screw it in too much.

[banditpowdercoat]

Ya I would love to see a BK in person, compare it to the BM. I sure don't think BK are worth the price from what I have seen in pictures. Just because it's made in Germany, or Italy, does that automatically make it best? And ya Individually hand crafted, be it skimmers or cars, sure does jack up the price, due to the labour involved. BUT, no way can a human ever get the precise repeatability as a machine. To build a few things exactly the same is great, To build 1,000,000 things exactly the same, that takes a machine

[Ron99]

Finally got this into my sump. Having some mesh impeller issues that apparently aren't uncommon but it looks like replacements will be sent out to me. It's been running a little over 24 hours now.

http://images51.fotki.com/v424/fileTBfJ/06814/7/998787/7315742/NAC64.jpg

Been pulling some nice dark skimmate already even with the minor impeller issue. This is 24 hours worth from a lightly stocked 75 gallon tank.

http://images51.fotki.com/v423/fileMOeI/06814/7/998787/7315742/NAC65.jpg

[lastlight]

oh kickass! What is the minor issue? Is that a Sicce or Atman in there?

[JDigital]

oh kickass! What is the minor issue? Is that a Sicce or Atman in there?

Advertised that it has the ATMAN..
http://www.reefshops.com/bubble-magus-bm-nac6.html

[mseepman]

I have the BMQQ for my nano tank. It's great!! I got my stuff from www.nuocean.com and they were very reasonable for shipping and everything. I see even Reefspecialty in the US is starting to carry the BM line as they've been solid performers, especially for the price.

[Ron99]

Yes, it's an Atman pump. the problem is that sometimes the meshwheels bind and then the impeller won't turn. Mine was very moisy and then stopped running. I temporarily removed the lock ring from the front of the pump to reduce the pressure on the impeller and it runs silently at the moment but I'll need a to swap in a good impeller so I can run it with the locking ring on.

[mark]

skimmer is nice.

see you mentioned dosing pump, which one, what do you think of it?

[Ron99]

So it has been running for 12 days and has been pulling some nice yucky stuff out of the water:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/BM2101101712.jpg

Eeewwww, smelly!

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/BM2101102.jpg

So I'd say it's working fairly well.

[Ron99]

skimmer is nice.

see you mentioned dosing pump, which one, what do you think of it?


Sorry, missed the question. It's the Bubble Magus dosing pump but I haven't set it up yet. Looks nice and it powers up and runs on manual mode.

[Coleus]

How long does it take to collect full cup?

[Ron99]

My tank is lightly stocked so about 6 or 7 days to fill it. It skims fairly dry.

[Chase31]

doesn't look like its working very well, your going to have to donate it to me:mrgreen:

[Ron99]

doesn't look like its working very well, your going to have to donate it to me:mrgreen:

Well I would, but getting it out of the sump is a bit of a pain. I have a used Coralife 65 I can send you :mrgreen:

[Chase31]

thats pretty much what i have :p

[Coleus]

Well, I don't have much experience with other skimmers so I can't say much whether it is a better product than other brand. I tried out the BM 160 and so far very happy with it. Although beside it is a little bit louderthan my aqua-medic, it absolutely produces more skimmage.

Here is screenshot of 3 days running on my 155Gallon tank ( you see the color is kind of dark brown because of N/P pellets)

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=237&pictureid=2752

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=237&pictureid=2750

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=237&pictureid=2747

[RuGlu6]

Skimmer was just under CDN $140 from reefshops dot com. Took a little over a week to get here from China even with the New Year holiday in there.
Nice skimmer, i went on their website and found a lot of good things.

I wonder how quiet is it?
Is the pump silent?

[Coleus]

if you get from China make sure it is 110V. I got mine from nuocean. Mine is in living room so i don't really care about the noise, the pump that produces air buble does make some noise like boiling water.

[Ron99]

Nice skimmer, i went on their website and found a lot of good things.

I wonder how quiet is it?
Is the pump silent?

It is pretty quiet. If I listen for it I can hear it but it is barely noticable. The sound of the water going over baffles in the sump and return pump are louder.

[pangp]

did anyone have to pay any additional fees (customs, brokerage, tax, etc) on top of list price + shipping when you purchased from reefshops?

[Coleus]

i never did when i ordered from reefshops.

[pangp]

awesome!! also has anyone tried the "air standby" shipping method? if so, how long did it take?

can't wait to order my new BM NAC-6A!!

[Ron99]

did anyone have to pay any additional fees (customs, brokerage, tax, etc) on top of list price + shipping when you purchased from reefshops?

I didn't but in my experience it is hit and miss. Depends on the Canada Post employees mood when they process your parcel :biggrin:

So you may have to pay.

[banditpowdercoat]

Nice thing about Canada Post is you will only pay the taxes and $5 brokerage. Not a percentage, like UPS!!