The Bubble-Magus Club

[sharkbyte1023]

Thanks guys. I did not do a vinegar bath. I do that as a clean up after they have been running for awhile. I figured i would give it a few days to settle in but i do not like those larger bubbles. Where are you guys keeping the water level in the body?

 

[rtparty]

rtparty,

thanks for the heads up on the skimmate making you sick! If mine produces skimmate similar to yours,this will be the first time I'll be looking forward to nausea!LOL!

Tivo

Mine is only currently sitting in a sump curing rock. Maybe 20 gallons of water and like 15 pounds of rock. It took sometime to get that nice foam head. The first few days I was getting frustrated because it was producing large bubbles and very wet foam.

I just had to remind myself that Victor at ATB and Rob at Marine Solutions both told me to give it a little bit before casting judgment. I am sure glad I waited because I am very impressed considering I spent $100 on mine. (Marine Solutions screwed up my original order and gave me a huge break)

Just for everyones info, I have mine sitting in 8.5" of water(constant) and the wedge pipe is set at like 3.5 or so. The foam head is probably half way up the collection cup/neck area. When something is in there to pull out it foams up nicely and dump most in the cup.

Hope that helps

 

[reeftivo]

Wow! 8.5 inches is great! I read at least 10 inches of water is suggested and mine is running at 11 now with my wedge pipe at 3.5 like yours. I would like to bring down the sump level to around 9 inches so I may try it once it's broken in. Thanks! I got mine for 120-nice deal as well! Victor at ATB sent me a pm offering it at the discount but I picked it up locally at CADlights new shop here in Ontario CA for the same price. Victor is the best!

Wish they would have modded these to use an aquabee instead of the Atman. I think they could easily handle 500gph given that my wedge pipe is half closed right now.

 

[reeftivo]

NAC6 has now kicked in! I was beginning to get concerned. Before setting it up in my sump I had given it a good vinegar bath and ran it in my mixing tote for 72 hours to speed up the breakin. After installing it, I was beginning to get concerned after 48 hours with no foam head. Then last night right at the 48 hour mark I decided to give my open brain coral some silversides because he was looking neglected and "POW", 2 minutes after the silver sides went in, I looked down and nothing but beautifull foam. It is very wet right now so over the next few days I will be finding the sweet spot. I'm very impressed by the build quality and value of this skimmer. It's already way ahead of where my ATB was at this point in regards to skimmate, density and foam production. I'll be @#ssed if I ended up spending over $650 for a skimmer that will be out performed by a skimmer less than $200 bucks.

So far so good!

I need to get some pics up.

Tivo

 

[reeftivo]

Forgot to mention the only downside so far! The Atman pump never restarts after power down. I have to attach an airline to the silencer each time I plug it in, then blow air into the line to get the pump started. I'm sure its the mesh! Once it starts its fine and moderately audible (not too loud/not silent).

 

[rtparty]

That is weird tivo. I can shut the power down, pull the skimmer out and restart it with no issues. I never have to blow into the silencer. Maybe I got lucky?

 

[reeftivo]

Yep! Wierd! It started with no problem several times when I ran it in the garage but once I put it in sump, it wont start up without the airline. Very strange! I have the NAC3 also and maybe it's just hit or miss with the Atman pumps. From what I've read about them they are fairly unreliable. I think maybe the mesh has loosened up but with it doing so well right now, I hesitate to take it apart to check.

 

[andyrm66]

How does the NAC6 OR 7 compare to a Vertex IN80? It would go in a 40breeder.

 

[sammy113]

I've never had problems after power down. Always turns on quick. Now what I want to do is to get a float valve to prevent the skimmer to overflow when the power comes again and the sump has the water level high. Anyone with this setup?

 

[r-balljunkie]

I've never had problems after power down. Always turns on quick. Now what I want to do is to get a float valve to prevent the skimmer to overflow when the power comes again and the sump has the water level high. Anyone with this setup?

if you have an aquacontroller, i believe you can put a delay on eqpt restarting when the power go's off.
i have my skimmer tied into my main pump to go off, if the main pump is not operational thru my controller, to avoid overflows.

c

 

[dallascowboys2]

hi everyone is there anybody who can tell me which skimmer is better the bm 180cs or the bm200p i see one is cone shaped and the other is just a cylinder does this matter? also one has an aquabee pump and the other a sicce pump is one of these skimmers better than the other any advice is appreciated thank you

 

[Jettin]

I was looking at the 180CS and BM200P myself, got suggestion from our supplier here in New Zealand to go for the 200P, better pump, pulls more air, rated for larger tank.

The 180CS isnt that much bigger than the NAC7.

 

[spy_spy]

here's a video of my NAC6A:

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[reeftivo]

Based on the large bubbles sticking to the chamber , it looks like you just recently set it up. What level of water do you have it at?

 

[reeftivo]

NAC6 is pulling better air numbers as of day 5. It is up to 15scfh (420+lph) and getting better. I'll post pics this afternoon. As of now, this may well be the skimmer I keep on my system. So far it has outperformed my ATB, Octo nwb110 and ASM skimmer hands down at this point.

I'm still having the start up issue but that being said, I'm very, very happy with this purchase.

 

[reeftivo]

NAC6 update

Numbers are better (15scfh-420+lph). It was difficult to get a non reflective shot since the RMB meter is kind of big. The ball is just at the 15 mark but bounces higher so I averaged it to about 15scfh. The color of the skimmate is getting darker each day.

These pics are at 36hours,

 

[rtparty]

NAC6 update

Numbers are better (15scfh-420+lph). It was difficult to get a non reflective shot since the RMB meter is kind of big. The ball is just at the 15 mark but bounces higher so I averaged it to about 15scfh. The color of the skimmate is getting darker each day.

These pics are at 36hours,

:beer:

Lookin good my friend! Mine is still foaming like crazy and looks just like yours. Now to get it on my new tank and let it run on that when I can.

I think for the pump only pulling 15scfh, the skimmer does a very good job. Makes me wonder why there is no much hype to get pumps pulling 100+ scfh.

I have mine set at 4 right now and it is still a little wet for me.

 

[reeftivo]

Thanks Ryan!!

Holy smokes! over 100scfh? shoot, thats over 2000lph. You only need around 400 to get real good skimmate. Maybe some of those guys are dealing with big systems-who knows?

Anyways, this sucker really has me impressed. It doesn't seem to be particularly sensative to feedings except when I feed rotifers. It seems to stop producing for about an hour or so. If I feed spectrum, cyclopeeze or frozen, it still pulls great. I have noticed some salt creep right where the red ring is around the cylinder at the taper. I don't think it's from any slashing but could be from the first time I pulled the cup off to clean it. Hopefully thats all it is and it's not a bad seam. If it's a bad seam then I'll have to seal it eventually.

You mention yours is set at 4 right now-correct? what is your water level at?

Thanks in advance!

Tivo

 

[rtparty]

Thanks Ryan!!

Holy smokes! over 100scfh? shoot, thats over 2000lph. You only need around 400 to get real good skimmate. Maybe some of those guys are dealing with big systems-who knows?

Anyways, this sucker really has me impressed. It doesn't seem to be particularly sensative to feedings except when I feed rotifers. It seems to stop producing for about an hour or so. If I feed spectrum, cyclopeeze or frozen, it still pulls great. I have noticed some salt creep right where the red ring is around the cylinder at the taper. I don't think it's from any slashing but could be from the first time I pulled the cup off to clean it. Hopefully thats all it is and it's not a bad seam. If it's a bad seam then I'll have to seal it eventually.

You mention yours is set at 4 right now-correct? what is your water level at?

Thanks in advance!

Tivo

I think some of the new Bubble Blaster pumps are pulling upwards of 100 scfh. I find most people have too much skimmer on their tanks. They complain they can't get good skimmate and are really not impressed. Then you find out they have skimmer that is rated for a 250 gallon tank on a 55 gallon with light bioload. LOL

Yes mine is set at 4 and the water level is 8.5" constant. When I go check on the skimmer there is foam galore in the cup at all times. So I know it is pulling crap at all times.

It is funny you say you have issues with rotifers. I had issues when I dumped a cube of reef plankton into the sump to let it decompose and let the rock start curing. The skimmer shut down for like 6 hours but then it came back better than before. The skimmer didn't react when I put a cube of mysis in though. Maybe the smaller stuff gets caught in the mesh?

 

[reeftivo]

I think you're right!

Too big a skimmer and you'll skim everything out quickly then won't have enough bioload to continually feed it in order for it to produce.

The skimmer didn't kick in unti hour 48 so technically the pics are only 24 hours of production-I'm pretty pumped up about this affordable skimmer!! My ATB multi skimmer only produced clear water for the first week and that sucker was $650.