FEJ
Community Member
A little about myself. I'm an English guy living his dream. I retired early 10 years ago and relocated from the cold, wet, West Midlands to a small tropical island in the southern Philippines.
I've kept freshwater systems for over forty years but I'm now about to embark on a journey into the (for now) mysterious world of saltwater aquatics. I want to build a reef system but I'll be taking it in baby steps. I shall be converting my 96" x 27" x 30" tall tank that has a 48" x 18" x 18" tall sump under it. To that end, I am assembling the necessary equipment required; automatic fleece roll filter (got it), protein skimmer (got it), upgraded submersible pump (got it), lighting system (not got it), some means of reducing the temperature in the tank (to be sorted) and various other paraphernalia that I shall be asking lots of questions about soon.
Here's my first question...has anyone experienced purchasing unauthorised copies of Bubble Magus equipment?
I have recently bought a Bubble Magus AFR Elite L and was concerned to find the fleece roll has a width of 190mm rather than the 200mm width of the AFR G2 roll. I contacted Sea Side Aquatics (an authorised Bubble Magus dealer) to enquire whether they stocked the replacement roll only to be told that there is no such product as the AFR Elite in the Bubble Magus range. I was pointed to a page on their website that detailed the issue.
www.seasideaquatics.com
I checked the Bubble Magus Curve A9 protein skimmer I have bought only to find that too is not an authorised product. It's my guess that the Chinese manufacturer of the authorised goods is also producing unauthorised products to sell on the side. The protein skimmer I have is identical to the authorised product in every detail. The AFR Elite, which, according to the advertising blurb was first launched in July 2025, has pictures on the box and, in small print, states these are photos of the prototype. I reckon Bubble Magus was in the final stages of designing a new model, had laid the tooling down with the manufacturer but then shut the project down. Or maybe not shut it down but is still to launch it. Of course, I may be totally wrong in my assumptions and would be interested to learn other members' thoughts on this.
Cheers for now.
I've kept freshwater systems for over forty years but I'm now about to embark on a journey into the (for now) mysterious world of saltwater aquatics. I want to build a reef system but I'll be taking it in baby steps. I shall be converting my 96" x 27" x 30" tall tank that has a 48" x 18" x 18" tall sump under it. To that end, I am assembling the necessary equipment required; automatic fleece roll filter (got it), protein skimmer (got it), upgraded submersible pump (got it), lighting system (not got it), some means of reducing the temperature in the tank (to be sorted) and various other paraphernalia that I shall be asking lots of questions about soon.
Here's my first question...has anyone experienced purchasing unauthorised copies of Bubble Magus equipment?
I have recently bought a Bubble Magus AFR Elite L and was concerned to find the fleece roll has a width of 190mm rather than the 200mm width of the AFR G2 roll. I contacted Sea Side Aquatics (an authorised Bubble Magus dealer) to enquire whether they stocked the replacement roll only to be told that there is no such product as the AFR Elite in the Bubble Magus range. I was pointed to a page on their website that detailed the issue.
NO WARRANTY OUTSIDE OF OUR NETWORK – Sea Side Aquatics
www.seasideaquatics.com
I checked the Bubble Magus Curve A9 protein skimmer I have bought only to find that too is not an authorised product. It's my guess that the Chinese manufacturer of the authorised goods is also producing unauthorised products to sell on the side. The protein skimmer I have is identical to the authorised product in every detail. The AFR Elite, which, according to the advertising blurb was first launched in July 2025, has pictures on the box and, in small print, states these are photos of the prototype. I reckon Bubble Magus was in the final stages of designing a new model, had laid the tooling down with the manufacturer but then shut the project down. Or maybe not shut it down but is still to launch it. Of course, I may be totally wrong in my assumptions and would be interested to learn other members' thoughts on this.
Cheers for now.
