New Skimmer Review - Bubble Magus NAC7

[RTMA]

Well my CSS 125 finally crapped out so I had to get a new skimmer. Think the fishing line mod, while increasing performance, killed the impeller balance and eventually the pump itself.

So I researched & debated a lot of options and choose this.

Bubble Magus NAC 7 Cone Skimmer

Initial Thoughts

At first look the construction looks good. The fit and finish are certainly not Deltec or ATB but it is certainly not lacking. The acrylic quality is adequate, the pieces fit together surprisingly well. As I was expecting there to be misaligned screw holes or over sized meshing, just something that would frustrate me, however there was none. Looks like Bubble Magus actually has some sort of quality control.

The bubble plate could use some tinkering, however it is certainly usable.

I am loving the new footprint. The CSS 125 was bulky and hard to situate well in my sump (probably due the fact that the CS 125 was HOB-able). This new skimmer design just seems much more elegant. The skimmer neck is much wider than my CSS125, which will allow me to go a few extra days without cleaning.

Pump maintenance will be tricker as I will now have to remove the whole body to remove the pump. Its much smaller and will not be as much of a bother to remove as the CSS125.

Adjustment

Adjustment was simple, the water level can be adjusted with a turn of the water level tube. The fit is good, doesn't seem to be able to move too much while running. Also I could use a air limiter to fine tune the water level if needed. If the airline gets blocked the skimmer will overflow (i guess like many skimmers), so I will have to ensure the airline doesn't get too gummed up (hot ro/di injection should work.)

Performance

So far this thing has been awesome. It easily outperforms my CSS125 (which is probably not a fair comparison). It was hard to dial in after I fed PE Mysis, so I kept it on the low side overnight (the PE Mysis kills the skimate production for about 4 hours). I awoke to about 1/4 inch of light green skimate, most likely because it was set to a wet skim. The bubbles were building just fine. Lots of stuff collected in the neck, so I knew it was working.
It is 10 times quieter than my CSS125 and my Aqua C Remora. I can't hear it running at all.

Longevity

This is the current unknown. So far so good. It comes with an extra meshwheel and replacement is suggested after 6-8 months or so. We'll have to see, if this becomes bothersome, I am sure that someone will have a pinwheel for this Atman pump somewhere.

At this point I would recommend this skimmer as a lower cost alternative ($220 shipped from Nuocean).

I will upload some pics of it running tonight.

For Reference - taken from NuOcean.

For In-Sump use only.
NAC7 is the newest model of the popular Bubble Magus NAC line - a economical cone shape skimmer with high performance.

Dimensions: 9.2" x 8.5" x 19.6 (L*W*H)

Cone shape, ~7" at base
Pump: ATMAN PH2500 115V 27W

Air intake: 500 LPH

Capability:
Light Bio-load: 150 Gallons
Medium Bio-load: 125 Gallons
Heavy Bio-load: 90 Gallons

Minimum water depth: 6".
For optimum performance NAC7 should be submerged in 9"-13" of water.

Includes an extra meshwheel.

 

[tank o tang]

Great looking skimmer. Let us know how long it takes to break in and all the other details. Where is the adjustment for how wet you want to skim/ air intake? I don't see any valves or a wedge pipe. After hearing about it at the meeting, I was bummed I couldn't fit it in my sump.

 

[RTMA]

Here are some photos.

During Vinegar Bath - fits easily inside a 5 gallon bucket.

It took about 12 hours to fully break in. Here is after 2 days.

The great thing now is I get a ton less microbubbles, none make it past my baffles.

In the Sump shot.

Everything has been stable, no issues, no overflows, just great skimming. can't believe I used a CSS125 for that long. This thing creates more skimate in a day then the CSS125 did in a week, and I thought that was good.

PE mysis and selcon still kill the head on this skimmer. Probably nothing can be done to any skimmer to prevent this.

 

[borcu]

why vinegar bath needed?

 

[RTMA]

Just use it to clean out any manufacturing oils that could delay break in. I could have soaked it in some sort of soap solution, but didn't want to risk it.

 

[borcu]

got it. thanks.

 

[clittrell]

Re: New Skimmer Review - Bubble Magus NAC7

If the airline gets blocked the skimmer will overflow (i guess like many skimmers), so I will have to ensure the airline doesn't get too gummed up (hot ro/di injection should work.)

My octo extreme is the same way. I end up pulling the venturi off once a month and using a drill bit by hand the clean it out. Tell me about the procedure for hot ro/di.

Thanks

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RTMA]

My octo extreme is the same way. I end up pulling the venturi off once a month and using a drill bit by hand the clean it out. Tell me about the procedure for hot ro/di.

From what I have read, you use very hot ro/di into the air tube to dissolve the salt creep.

I used to remove the venturi and do the same thing with a drill bit. I actually enlarged the air hole on the CSS125 to reduce the time it took to clog.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tapatalk Rules! Love it on my 3GS.

 

[Bonvivant]

Do you think this skimmer can be modified to accept a reef octopus bubble blaster pump?

 

[RTMA]

Hard to tell, I think it may fit inside, however you may have to enlarge the water intake opening and the bottom of the bubble plate. Looks like you would lose about 1/2 to 1" in height because the blaster output is father away from the pump. The other way would be maybe house the pump externally but you would still have to rebuild a bubble plate and somehow plumb the feed (enlarge hole, uniseal, etc). Maybe use the bubble plate assembly from the Octopus Needlewheel 150 Protein Skimmer. Ofcourse that would enlarge the overall footprint.

I think the atman at 500 lph is a good fit for this skimmer. Probably not nearly as efficient or powerful as the new bubble blasters, but certainly serviceable.

 

[RTMA]

Replaced my first meshwheel. The collar behind the wheel cracked. No wonder they ship with two. I am hoping this was just an anomally. Replacing wheels every two months will not make me a happy camper. On a good note, I did need to clean it anyways.

Need to look into a pinwheel for this Atman.

 

[RTMA]

Cracked a second meshwheel. Contacted Chris at Nuocean (great service!) and purchased a new meshwheel and pinwheel. Should have it tonight. Hopefully the Pinwheel will do a better job. Two meshwheels in 8 months is not great, but this things skims like a beast. Lets hope the pinwheel has better longevity.

 

[Wood_Duck69]

Just wondering what sort of pin wheel you got for the Atman pump?
Also wondering what is the depth of water you have it sitting in?

I've had mine for a few months and I just cant get the skimmate any drier. At the moment all I can get it light coloured wet skimmate. It seems that if I turn down the water level I get virtually nothing and turning it up slightly just gives me watery skimmate.

Any ideas?

 

[RTMA]

Looks like they make a pinwheel for the atman. Installed and works great so far. You can ask Chris at nuocean.

I believe in my old sump it was running in something like 9" of water. Sounds like your running it too deep. I think I may have the same issue in my new sump, which is about 10.5" and I can tell is too deep. I may have to build a 1.5" stand for it.

Good luck.

 

[RTMA]

Here is a pic of the skimmer running with the new Atman 2500 pinwheel. We will have to see about the longevity, but the performance is about equal. Researching the topic of Pinwheel vs Meshwheel has provided the consensus that a pinwheel will pull more water and less air, but much less maintenance, as there is no mesh to degrade. Hopefully this is good bye to the recommended "replace meshwheel every 8-12 months" from Bubble Magus.

That is about 12 hours of skimmate. Skimmer has seemed to have leveled off and is running fine in about 10.5 inches of water, although I am running it at the 4/5 water level settings.

I should also note that as of the 8+ months I have had it, the airline has never clogged. The volute was designed pretty well to keep any real water from nearing the air opening.

Just saw on Glassbox-design.com (Here )that BM has released a new slope skimmer. That Hero 180 looks sweet. No need to upgrade at this time, but this thing looks awesome.

 

[SPotter]

Joe,
Is that an Advance Acrylics sump you have? I am getting ready to order one as well as a new skimmer. I have the NAC3+ on my tank now and it does a good job but I want to get something bigger as I am starting to feed heavily so I have been looking at the skimmer you have. How do you like the sump?

 

[RTMA]

Joe,
Is that an Advance Acrylics sump you have? I am getting ready to order one as well as a new skimmer. I have the NAC3+ on my tank now and it does a good job but I want to get something bigger as I am starting to feed heavily so I have been looking at the skimmer you have. How do you like the sump?

Yes it is. Loving the sump. John really took the time to go over my design and understood it from the start. Took about a month to have built and shipped. You can see more details about it in my build thread. I figure I have about 100 gallons of total water volume and for the size, this skimmer is perfect. I feed PE Mysis every other day and Spectrum pellets on the opposite days, with Nori about every two / three days. I don't think I overfeed at all, just has worked for me. The skimmer handles it all just fine.

 

[SPotter]

Do you have a link to your build thread?

 

[RTMA]

If you click on my name and then click on Visit RTMA's Homepage! That will take you there...or the link below.

Joe's 75 Rimless SPS Build

 

[SPotter]

Thanks Joe! I'm really excited to get mine. I was ready to order a custom sump from glasscages when I found John on eBay.