Skimmer question

BarbH

Back in October I started thinking about setting up my first saltwater. Since than some of my original plans have changed. I am now planning on converting my 50 gallon freshwater to a saltwater tank. I will be going sumpless on this and will start it off as a fowlr and after gaining some experience I may make it a reef setup . What I was wondering is if anyone has had any experience with the bubble magus NAC5e skimmer? I have someone local who has offered to sell me one for a $100. From what I have found online about the skimmer it does seem to be a good skimmer. The other option I was looking at is the coralife super skimmer. This is being done on a budget of about $900 in which I will need to get a stand for the tank, the one I have right now is metal not good for a salt setup. I am also planning on investing in an ro unit. Another question is with ro units I am looking for one that is portable since I live in an apartment which means doing anything with the plumbing is out of the question. I am looking at a unit sold on ebay made by Titan Water sold for around $75 if I remember right off the top of my head. Any opinions on the company or unit? Or any others that I should check out that are reasonably priced? Thanks for your help, now just to wait for that refund money to come in so I can get started on my build.

Tazman

I have the Titan RO unit. Have had no problems with it at all. If it is just the RO unit and not with the DI unit attached, that can easily be purchased from airwaterice.com.

I am new to saltwater myself so am still learning on skimmers, I only have a 29g tank, so am not going to offer suggestions on which skimmer would suit your needs.

There are plenty of people who will be able to help you with everything you need to know. Their experience has been invalid to me.

Best of luck.

BarbH

Thanks tazman for the info on the ro unit, will be doing some more searching online to try to find the best deal. I figure that the unit will pay for itself in no time along with having the convenience of not having to run out to the store to get water especially on the initial setup, trying to haul 50 so gallons of water home just to think how many trips that would take and than hauling it up the stairs...makes me tired just thinking about it.

Tazman

I would recommend getting the TDS (total dissolved solids) meter as well from the same supplier I posted earlier.

It will give you an idea of when the membrane will need changing and if the unit is functioning properly, this not only applies to the TITAN but also to any RO/DI unit, if it does not already come with the unit.

Am 45 minutes drive to/from the nearest LFS that has RO/DI water so even with a small tank like mine, it already has paid for itself right off the bat.

teddyzaper

you should look at the Bulk Reef Supply ro/di because its the same price and has some nice features. As for skimmers, the NAC5e is ok, but i would really go with a bakpak skimmer. CPR Bak-Pak Protein Skimmer

Very reliable, and probably the nicest HOB skimmers out there.