China made skimmer - Bubble Magus-BM150
 

I bought this skimmer after reading some of the posts on Reef Central and decided to post a review on Canreef. I elected to purchase the bigger model (BM-150). The skimmer reviewed on Reef Central was the smaller one (BM-100). The 150 is slightly bigger in size and comes with a Aquabee 2000 pump. The drawback with this model was that it only came in 220 V plug in.

My system has a total volume of approximately 160 gallons and I was previously running a Euroreef RS-135.

Assembly was easy and I noticed the acrylic is actually thicker than the Euroreef.

I have been running the skimmer for one day now and still playing around and adjusting with the water level. I know that it may take while for everything to break in. Right now, the pump does not turn over when I plug i the power, I need to either lift the skimmer high enough so that air gets into then intake or I blow into the venturi to get it started. I find this very annoying. Once the pump turns over it runs fine.

The skimmer runs virtually silent and I noticed right away that it produces a lot more micro bubbles than my Euroreef. Right now it seems to be running wet.

Here are some pictures

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...k/P1000903.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...k/P1000921.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...k/P1000917.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...luk/Oneday.jpg
After running for about 6 hours

Gary

Hi,

Where do you purchase and how much it cost? Also, you require a transformer for running the skimmer ?

e bay is where you get them. i was looking at the nano one that comes with just the skimmer body and the NW impeller then you just buy a MJ 1200 to run it. I could not find anyone that had bought one on RC so i got a tunze insted.

I had a friend purchase the skimmer from a retailer in Hong Kong on Fish street. They brought it back for me after their vacation. I didn't need to pay and shipping or duty so it ended up costing me about $230. I do use a voltage converter.

nice small bubbles and the bubbles look more dense than your euroreef's. I'll come check it out next week.

Wow, that is impressive.

I have seen these on ebay before. They have a bm-100 for north american applications..rated for 600 litres
Wondered how they worked...seem like a good idea and design.
Tagging along for follow-ups

Of course it's a good design - it's a direct rip-off of the BK Mini.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s...ID=ps-rebkm200

link
 

found the link on e-bay:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Bubble-Magus-BM15...2em118Q2el1247

Love that name...Bubble magus
It's like some sort of protein skimmer transformer....:razz:

Hmm....... interesting........ next time I am in HK I'll have to check fish street :)

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

$1129 vs $249 for a couple of hundred of material, can see people going for the Magus. Now if Aquagiant would start bringing them in...

Also in HK I am pretty sure you can get the aquabee in 110v version :)

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

LOL, the whole story is even better than anything one could come up with narcotic-induced high!

tagging along to find out how well this performs.....

...and then people wonder why good quality skimmer manufacturers start producing their skimmers out of country cheaply to try and lower the price :lol:

That's because whoever ripped off the design didn't have to spend thousands of dollars and man hours in research and development - old Klaus did it for them for free.

And it helps that labour costs in the paradise of the proletariat is a tiny fraction of what it is in der Fatherland.

I honestly wonder why guys like Klaus even bother nowadays.

BTW, from the specs the Bubble Magnus is probably closer in performance to a BK Mini 160 or 180 ($879/$999). So the comparable prices do get closer after factoring in shipping and duties for the Bubble Magnus.

Hmm, it needs help to get the pump started? And you're using a voltage converter? Can you elaborate on that plse. If it came directly from HK and has a 220v plug then you definitely need a 110V to 220V transformer.

Second day of running the skimmer. The height of the "bubbles" level is at more of a constant level today. One big difference I noticed from my Euroreef is that the crud doesn't build up on the inside of the tube. I am guessing that it is because it is running "wet" at the moment. Can anyone tell me the main difference between "wet" and "dry" is?

The pump seems a little easier to start, I still have to "blow" into the air intake to get it start turning otherwise it try to turn and just makes "clicking" sounds. Hopefully it will turn on its own after the break in period. I am using a 220 to 110 converter.

I cleaned the cup in the morning and here is a picture I took after I got home form work (10 hours).

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...ercleaning.jpg

"Wet" looks like tea "dry" looks like cowboy coffee with chunks in it :mrgreen:

[quote=geeluk;338122]

The pump seems a little easier to start, I still have to "blow" into the air intake to get it start turning otherwise it try to turn and just makes "clicking" sounds. Hopefully it will turn on its own after the break in period. I am using a 220 to 110 converter.

I cleaned the cup in the morning and here is a picture I took after I got home form work (10 hours).
[quote]

I'm still not sure about the voltage converter business. If the pump is designed to run on 220V (Hong Kong and European standard) you need to convert the 110V supplied by our North American standard up to 220V in order for it to run properly. If this converter you are using is designed to convert 220V to 110V, that's exactly the opposite of what you need it to do. You're trying to run your pump with 55Volts?? because your 220 to 110 converter is taking the 110 from your house and lowering it.... confused yet?

Sorry, my mistake, it is actually a 110 to 220 Volt converter. This is the actual converter I purchased.

http://www.voltageconverters.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=VC100W

Ah, that sounds better! I would have been surprised that you could get the pump running at all the other way. Cool looking piece of equipment, I like the fact that it can do either conversion.

You might want to just double check that the shorting wire on the back panel is set to the correct input voltage.

The one the OP posted is a 220V version.

The US 110V version comes with American 3-pin plugs, a different needlewheel and doesn't have restarting issues.

http://www.nuocean.com/media/catalog...B/AB2000-1.jpg

for sale from the States http://www.nuocean.com/skimmers

I read on RC that some people had the same starting problem you did and when they opened the pump up, they found the area where the impeller turned to not be very smooth. A little cleanup of the plastic in there and they don't seem to be having the same problem anymore.

Please keep use updated every once in a while :)

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

I ordered one 2 days ago for my 70 gallon cube which isn't up and running yet, no converter needed, it's all set to plug in and go, I ordered the BM100, cost me 160 canadian including shipping (USPS), what the hell, if the pump dies in a year, it's 40 bucks for a new one, there suppose to be very well made.

I ordered it from here.

http://www.nuocean.com/skimmers

How is the water level inside of the skimmer adjusted?

Mine's not up and running yet, but I would assume it's by turning the Blue stand pipe., you should be able to adjust the water level inside the skimmer by just turning the pipe, this will open and close off the water inlet at the bottom.

Yes, the water level is adjusted by the standpipe. The pipe is cut at an angle and the level is adjusted by turning the pipe. According to the instructions, the skimmer is supposed to sit in a water level of 27-30 cms. The water level in my sump was higher so I have mine sitting on egg crate.

Overall the skimmer is running very well. It is very quiet and produces a nice wet skim. It is sensitive to feedings, the bubble level drops down for a little while during feeds. I think this is the case for most skimmers anyway.

Hey Wayner let us know how your 100 runs.

I took a chance and ordered the BM160
 

I ordered the Bubble Magus 160. Price was very reasonable and it is external recirculating. It took a couple weeks to arrive via shipping, but was well packed with a double box.

This skimmer uses an Aqua Bee pump. I installed it this weekend, after a bit of creative thinking how it would fit. Ultimately I did not want to drill the sump, so I have it sitting beside the stand running external.

I flooded the cup once - in a newbie error getting the water level correct, but once it was adjusted and left alone, it began skimming about 4 hours after install. I have to say the skimmer appears to be very solid and well built. The pump fired right up with no issues whatsoever.

I'll let you all know in a couple of weeks how the performance is after it is fully broken in. Thus far, it seems to be skimming well, although skimming wet - I'll leave it as is for awhile.

Because it is beside the stand, sound was a big concern for me. This skimmer is very very quiet. The fans on the constellation light fixture are louder.

Any new updates?

soooooo?
 

Wayne, it's got to be up and running by now! :biggrin:
How is it for you?

Talked to Geeluk (original poster) recently & he's still extremely pleased with his BM skimmer.

Hi Alan, are you back:biggrin:, it's not up yet, I'm slow, I need a sump, a pretty simple one, to house the skimmer, return pump, heater, a baffle or 2 for microbubbles, and a hole drilled for a float valve, which LFS can do this in a short period of time, any suggestions.

bump...any more info guys?

My take on the BM160
 

I ordered the BM160 to run externally with a feed pump to supply.
Firstly - it was very well packed - double boxed with peanut packaging - and the skimmer itself is very solid, very well built.
I put it together - instructions are rather scant, but figured it out. Because of the way my sump is constructed, I opted to plumb it over the top of the sump instead of drilling. Made a mistake on the plumbing in that the return pipe going into the sump was too long and it ended up under the water line. I figured this would be a good way to keep it quiet and reduce microbubbles - however, this caused backpressure in the skimmer and I could not keep the water level stable within the skimmer.

After I figured this out and cut the pipe - it really began to rock and roll. This skimmer is just awesome. I have it running on a 90 gallon reeftank and I have to empty/clean the cup about every 4 days with dark/black chunky skimmate.

I would highly recommend it. It took about a week to fully break in. First few days skimmate was fairly light coloured - but now it is very dark. I could not put it under the stand as I had hoped, so unfortunately it sits beside the stand - and is very very quiet. It uses an AquaBee 2000(?) pump and have no issues with it not restarting.

For the price, I don't think you can go wrong with this skimmer. Build quality is superior to the german skimmer I had, half the price and far far more effective.

How do you get at the pump in this skimmer? It looks like you have to reach to the bottom of the skimmer and pull the pump up through the neck of the skimmer?