Skimmer??

[cpage101]

Question: is anybody familiar with seside aquatics skimmers. I am looking at the CS3.5 this is exactly the same as the bubble magnus NAC3.5. The seside has a better pump.
Here are the specs.: SKIMMER Capability : 100L-300L(25G-80G) Pump: Sicce SK200 Pump power: 110V 60Hz air intake : 200L/H Dimensions:115*170*435mm ( 4.5" * 6.6" * 17.1 ") cylinder: 4" Water Level :8"-10"

[dkeller_nc]

Yes, I have the CS 5.5. As noted, Seaside takes Bubble Magus bodies and replaces the cheap 'n crappy pump with a Sicce pump, which are bulletproof and silent. Highly recommended when budget is a big part of the decision.

[cpage101]

Thanks this is what I have found out . You just don't hear much about them.

[jason2459]

Yep, as mentioned in your other thread on this. It's a very good value. Much better then the bubble magus counter part like dkeller said.

[cpage101]

Gonna go in here 338564

[jason2459]

Looks good. I like the stand.

[cpage101]

Thanks jason2459

[dkeller_nc]

What size is your tank? It looks like a 4' long 75 gallon. If so, that model may be a bit small for your purposes.

Edit - Sorry, I had the Seaside Aquatics number incorrect. I have the Seaside Aquatics ES5 (http://www.saltycritter.com/protein-skimmers/seasideaquatics/sea-side-aquatics-es5-protein-skimmer.htm) model, which is based on the Bubble Magus "Curve" series.

[cpage101]

Only a 40B with 20g sump 338601

[chilli_reef]

Personally I feel the biggest bang for the buck is simplicity.
I have a 240C running on a 75g standard aqueon. No snails or crabs yet. Seven fish. Three green chromis, one blue devil damsel, one yellow tail damsel, one percula clown, and one smiths damsel. I feed heavily to make sure they all eat. Specificaly my clown. It drains I to a cheap'o acrylic wet dry I bought off eBay meant for a 125 I think. The simplicity is a skimming monster for my purposes. And I paid $230 and change for it shipped.
It has a DC pump which is pretty slick. I run it at half power.
The skimmer is rated for a 125 heavily stocked, and put to a 240 lightly stocked. So if I ever upgrade tanks to a larger dimension I'm set. Its really quiet and super easy to tune. Not finicky about the sump level either.

[dkeller_nc]

Then I'd think the Seaside ES5 should work well. I have mine on a 50 gallon cube with about a 25 gallon sump, and in my opinion, it's the right size for the application.

Another option for slightly more money, but that still uses the Sicce pumps would be the AquaMaxx ConeS skimmers.

And the ultimate in build quality for a skimmer that uses the Sicce pumps would be the Vertex Omega series, in this case the Vertex Omega 130. If you choose to buy it from Bulk Reef Supply, and are willing to wait until the first Saturday of February to order it, you can get 10% off by joining the BRS Reef Central group buy. For instructions on how to sign up, visit the BRS vendor forum on Reef Central.

[cpage101]

Dkeller_nc I went with the SSC CS3.5 (based on bubble magnus NAC3.5) I am not planning on a full reef display type system so bio load will be not as bad. I am just building this as a coral grow out /frag system maybe with a fish or 2 at most. Do you have an opinion of the Eheim compact 5000 return pump? Looking at this and the sicce-syncra-silent-4-0-pump-951-gph.

[dkeller_nc]

Given your tank's size, I think both pumps are way too big. Won't hurt anything, but will be more expensive to purchase, run and will heat the water to a greater extent.

With respect to quality and reliability, eheim universal hobby pumps are the pinnacle of small submersible pumps. I've had a 1250 running on a 20g nano since 2004 with no issues whatsoever.

Sicce Synchra Silent pumps are also extremely well thought-of. I've less long-term experience with them than the eheim hobby pumps, but I do run 4 of them on various tanks and they're dead silent, efficient, and well-built.

For your tank, I would choose the eheim 1250 in the universal hobby pump line, or the 1000 model in the compact series. If you want to go Sicce Synchra, I'd suggest the Sicce Synchra 1.5 or perhaps the 2.0 if you want to run reactors off of the return pump.

With respect to reactors, I'd strongly suggest running a separate pump. It makes maintenance much easier. I run mine with Sicce Synchra Silent 0.5 pumps; they're very efficient, relatively inexpensive, and extremely compact.

If you have some reason for wanting ultra-high turnover in your tank, and especially if you live in an area that has expensive electrical power, you might consider the EcoTech Vectra M1 DC controllable pump. They're definitely a more expensive option, but compared to the Sicce 4.0, it would provide the same flowrate at about half the amount of power. A bonus would be the ability to use EcoTech's battery back-up (the same one that's sold for the Vortech pumps). It's a more efficient option than a charger/inverter and a deep cycle marine battery, and it's also cheaper if you just want to provide flow in a power outage.