Skimmer in fuge

[reef23]

Hi
What problems would it cause if I placed my skimmer in the fuge area of my sump?
I have a 10g sump and just added my fuge to it because I didnt like the old design. But since I did this I have no room for my skimmer(a seaclone 100 modified) in the sump or on the back of the tank.
Would it cause any problems, ie. screw up the refugiums function, mess with the algae or critters in it,etc. Based on the space I have it seems like this is my only option.
This is my setup almost exact:
note: pic is from www.melevsreef.com

[gman0526]

No problems at all, as a matter of fact is one of the more beneficial things you could add to your setup.

Skimmer in the Fuge...not bad if it means the difference in running one or not running one. Optipmally you would have it just before but after the fuge or in the same section of the return pump to maximize clean water going back into your tank. Using this arrangement (if possible) will allow for the most efficient uptake of nutrients in your water and allow for the cleanest water to return to your display without the algae and skimmer competing for nutrient removal. If this is not an option...one in the fuge wont be a bad idea as long as it doesnt stir up the sand which will wear your pump out in short order or macro algae wont clog up the skimmers intakle pump and burn it up. Just my two cents...

[Doctor_Reef]

Very nice picture... I would agree with Imaexpat2.... If it ment not having a skimmer definitely add it there...

On your 20L since I just looked at your tank stats, you could probably manage just fine without a skimmer altogether. I was under the impression we were dealing with a larger tank in my previous post. In your 20L unless you have an ungodly fish population I would forgo the skimmer. I think that once the macro algae is grown to a healthy amount it wont really be neccessary with that smal of a tank and a resonable fish load if your doing the 10 precent monthly water changes.

I noticed in the tank stats your using a SeaClone. Are you still using this, trying to get it in the sump or what? The existing seaclone is just fine in your tank as it is although there are better skimmers efficientcy wise on the market. While not a top shelf skimmer (seaclones), I use several of them and get by okay due to the economy of using them and the fact that I have a very minimal bio-load in my tanks fish wise as they are mostly used on coral frag systems. For my non nano tanks I am using a Kent TE with Mag-7 @200.00, Jebo 35.00 (had to test one out and they arent bad for the price and do work well, just dont care for the mounting arrangement) and Euro-Reef at about 300.00. On the Nanos I am not running a skimmer or Refugium on any of them and do fine with regular water changes dispite having SPS/Anenomes in them.

I really dont think you need more skimmer than you already have. If your wanting to remove it from the display and it wont fit in the pump side of the sump then I would suggest going skimmerless provided you dont neglect your tank or over feed it. But if your that determined to run one and thats not a bad thing then you can get away with one in the refuguim side of the sump as stated earlier. Again just my opinions...

[reef23]

Thanks for the replies. Heres my setup. The cheato was bought about 2 weeks ago and it was about the size of a baseball now the damn stuff dont seem to stop growing. As for the skimmer I was just wondering what if any effect it would have on the fuge. I could mount it in tank but I just moved abunch of rock around and my corals dont like having their tank messed with. If skimmerless will work cool, Ill just keep an eye on it. Btw my nitrates went from about 30-40ppm to almost nothing.Plus the ph seems more stable

Good to hear about the nitrates! Like I said on a tank that small with a fuge I would just go skimmerless unless you really have a problem maintaining water quality. I think your fuge is good enough to handle any DOM problems you might have, but running a skimmer if you had a bigger tank or more room on the existing sump would be a nice to have feature. The Fuge will definitely help stablize things for you PH wise and at the rate the Maco is growing its taking up the nutrients and the fact that your nitrates have dropped so much back that up. Just make sure you harvast some of the algae when it gets to be thick and then get rid of it to another reefer who needs it, LFS to use or pass on to another fellow reefer or freeze it to kill it then thow into the trash so it wont get spread into the ecosystem by accident like Caulerpa has in California as well as other places. If you feed it to fish you will be re-releasing the nutrients you just removed from the system back into your water and then you have accomplished little if anything! I normally run my fuge lighting on a oppisite light regime compared to my display to keep oxygen levels and Ph as stable as possible. Some choose to run the fuge light 24/7, which I have done at times. The Macro you have chosen is very good and doesnt cuase any of the potential problems that Cualerpa can cause, its also very unlikey to "melt down" on you too. In addition it makes one of the best copod breeding areas as does live rock rubble from what I have personally experienced. Good luck with your system and keep us posted of any developments as it seems like your set up very well thought out and working well!

[johnmackay70]

Another possibility is to add on more baffle (but it will make your fuge just a bit smaller) and place a PS in the new section.

[johnmackay70]

I was just looking at the pic of your sump. It looks like you might have enough room in the section with you return pump is.

[DizziDezi2]

if you put the skimmer where the return goes wont it suck up all the bugs and stuff? Could I put my skimmer, and two pumps in the beginning part where the water flows down into the sump and tehn the heater by the return pump?

[cich1]

when i had my fuge and sump combined i had the water from the tank running into the first chamber, this is also where i had my skimmer then the water flowed into the second chamber that housed the fuge the through a couple more baffles to the chamber that held the return pump.
i may have a picture at home i can post