The HOB skimmer market has always been disappointing to me. Most models i've ever seen/used are useless and no more than glorified air-stones. They seldom work efficiently and require constant tinkering to get them to pull anything out. The industry standard has always been the CPR backpak/aeroforce series, but this company has discontinued all production. The CPR skimmers also rarely work well for tanks larger than 30-40 gallons IMO. I discovered that Bubble Magus makes a HOB skimmer (an excellent skimmer brand that many members use). This model is rated for 60-120 gallons.
I purchased one from a whole-seller mostly out of curiosity to replace a CPR aeroforce 1. The aeroforce worked decently but was inadqueate for my 50 gallon aquarium, as I keep mostly SPS and large NPS gorgonians. The skimmer simply could not keep up with my bioload and keep my DOC's low. After unboxing it, I was blown away at how huge this model was. I hooked it up, and after a few day break-in period started pulling out some serious nastiness. I highly recommend this skimmer to anyone with a sumpless aquarium, especially if they keep delicate corals.
Pros:
-Incredibly powerful foam production
-Excellent air & water control so you can dial it in for your needs
-Comes with silencer so no 'hissing'
- Pump sits behind tank so not visible in aquarium
- Comes with drain outlet
- No microbubbles
Cons:
- Slightly awkward to prime, you have to keep your finger over the venturi for a few minutes as the water fills up.
- Pump was very loud for a couple days but subsided as it worked the bubbles out.
- Large footprint, 11.4" long and 6" wide
All in all, though I had to pull my tank out a few inches from the wall to get it to fit, it was worth the effort and money. My SPS colors are coming back with a full force and diatoms on the sand bed are disappearing quickly. I do alot of vodka/amino dosing and this skimmer can handle it very well. Finally I found a HOB skimmer that works just as well as it's in-sump cousins.
the skimmer just set up on the front of the aquarium for a break-in. The tank is 36x18x18 for size reference.
36 hours of foam production.
The Bubble Magus NAC5e will be available at Aquatic Warehouse in the next few weeks.