Converting a Internal Skimemer into a Refugium

Lewis2000 · 09/11/2016, 07:09 AM

Hi everyone,

I have an internal skimmer in my tank currently (juwel 3.0) which i have not been pleased with as i have encountered many problems with it not working properly, because of this my skimmer has been off for around 5 months- i have not noticed a difference in the tank with it being off. Anyway i have been wanting to add a HOB refugium (don't have a sump) for a while now as i am planning to add a mandarin fish at some point now that my tank is going on 2 years with tonnes of LR, I however still want to be able to repopulate and sustain the pod population in my tank. I have been thinking if i take the internals out of the skimmer(empty shell), put some ceramic media, live rock rubble, chaeto, submersable LED Light and an airstone will that provide a place for various types of pods to grow- i would assume so. Would i need to put some sort of pump in it to allow them to flow outside the grates of the skimmer or will they just come out on there own?.

any extra info would be much appreciated,
Thanks in advance, Lewis

mjstech · 09/13/2016, 12:18 AM

Guessing that since you have an internal 'skimmer' (seems like just a filter) that your display tank is pretty small. Good that you are thinking of pods/pod replacement, but as most would say be careful as they could eat their supply and may not eat frozen. To each their own though.
There are other hob refugiums, CPR and Finnex makes some if you do not want to mod what you have.

09/11/2016, 07:09 AM	#1
Lewis2000 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Scotland,UK Posts: 46	Converting a Internal Skimemer into a Refugium Hi everyone, I have an internal skimmer in my tank currently (juwel 3.0) which i have not been pleased with as i have encountered many problems with it not working properly, because of this my skimmer has been off for around 5 months- i have not noticed a difference in the tank with it being off. Anyway i have been wanting to add a HOB refugium (don't have a sump) for a while now as i am planning to add a mandarin fish at some point now that my tank is going on 2 years with tonnes of LR, I however still want to be able to repopulate and sustain the pod population in my tank. I have been thinking if i take the internals out of the skimmer(empty shell), put some ceramic media, live rock rubble, chaeto, submersable LED Light and an airstone will that provide a place for various types of pods to grow- i would assume so. Would i need to put some sort of pump in it to allow them to flow outside the grates of the skimmer or will they just come out on there own?. any extra info would be much appreciated, Thanks in advance, Lewis

09/13/2016, 12:18 AM	#2
mjstech Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Glendale, AZ Posts: 735	Guessing that since you have an internal 'skimmer' (seems like just a filter) that your display tank is pretty small. Good that you are thinking of pods/pod replacement, but as most would say be careful as they could eat their supply and may not eat frozen. To each their own though. There are other hob refugiums, CPR and Finnex makes some if you do not want to mod what you have. __________________ My current 29 Gallon tank build thread. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577872 Current Tank Info: 29 Gallon glass - started 5/23/16