Skimmer on the JBJ Nanocube 12DX
- Thread starter gussy
- Start date
mikeguerrero
Active Member
Gussy why do you want a skimmer on the JBJ cube?
Mike
Mike
Most people agree that skimmers are a good idea. Especially if you plan on having fish. Since most folks want at least a couple fish, then a skimmer is a good piece of equipment to have. This is the one think I think that JBJ should have fixed with their new lines of cubes. There are folks that run skimmerless, but they are the minority by far. With a nano it's a really nice thing to have because they do a great job of removing waste, and the margin for error is so small with nanos, but they're not really necessary because you should be doing weekly water changes with a nano anyway.
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mikeguerrero
Active Member
I would never question the efficiency of a skimmer. But to place it on the JBJ 12 gallon is not pratical. First, since the tank is only 9.5 gallons to begin with, water changes are not hard and should be done religously each week. This will help with cleansing your system and keeping in good trace elements.
Secondly, The chamber in the back has room for the placement of Chemi-pure that by nature removes impurities from the tank, it also has resins that help promote growth of beneficial bacteria.
Thirdly, I believe that a skimmer in that size of a tank is overkill, I'm talking about the efficiency of removing too much from the tank. Some of the floating nutrients in this small of a tank are needed by the filter feeders.
When I do a thorough cleannng once a month I only run my Micron filter just 20 minutes any longer and thats alreadly pulling out too much nutrients as well as it picks up the debris. It's just not practical on such a small tank that could be properly maintained by water changes.
If you were to have a fish only tank than it might be okay, but there is no where to place it in, only that you smash the canopy in the back and this would render your fans useless. And you know about the overheating issue in these tanks?
So I being an owner of the 12 gallon cube, would put a big VETO on a skimmer on a JBJ 12 gallon tank.
Mike
Secondly, The chamber in the back has room for the placement of Chemi-pure that by nature removes impurities from the tank, it also has resins that help promote growth of beneficial bacteria.
Thirdly, I believe that a skimmer in that size of a tank is overkill, I'm talking about the efficiency of removing too much from the tank. Some of the floating nutrients in this small of a tank are needed by the filter feeders.
When I do a thorough cleannng once a month I only run my Micron filter just 20 minutes any longer and thats alreadly pulling out too much nutrients as well as it picks up the debris. It's just not practical on such a small tank that could be properly maintained by water changes.
If you were to have a fish only tank than it might be okay, but there is no where to place it in, only that you smash the canopy in the back and this would render your fans useless. And you know about the overheating issue in these tanks?
So I being an owner of the 12 gallon cube, would put a big VETO on a skimmer on a JBJ 12 gallon tank.
Mike
Gussy,mikeguerrero said:
To answer your question, there isn't any easy way to use a skimmer with a nanocube. I've seen pics where people have cut/modded the canopy in order to use a small hang-on-tank skimmer. Generally I think it looks kinda rough, and as Mike said, as long as you religiously do weekly water changes you should be fine without it.
That said I still think that skimmers are a good idea, especially on small tanks. My wife is running a small skimmer on her 10g tank. There isn't much in there, and she's got an aquaclear 500 as a fuge. The skimmer pulls tons of skimmate out of that little tank. She only has a tiny pipefish, and a small (maybe 3/4-1in) algea eating blenny in the tank. It pulls a full two cups of nasty green skimmate out every week. And this is with weekly water changes.
I love the completeness of the nanocubes. But if I were to buy one I'd have a small fuge that sat flush with the back custom-built that I could add a small skimmer to. My boss did this with his 18g tank. It looks like it's part of the tank, and it only cost him about $25.
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mikeguerrero
Active Member
Incysor,
I guess I just like the cubes design, clean cut and I've seen the picks of ones that are smashed in the back. Looks ugly. So I have a bias opinion on the skimmer for my tank.
I know myself, so If JBJ launched a skimmer that fit the cube, I would be on it. Beause the water changes weekly would catch up to any loss of trace elements pulled out by the skimmer it would balance itself out.
But for gussy sake, save yourself money and just concentrate on the water changes. Use the extra cash for a nice piece in that tank.
Mike
I guess I just like the cubes design, clean cut and I've seen the picks of ones that are smashed in the back. Looks ugly. So I have a bias opinion on the skimmer for my tank.
I know myself, so If JBJ launched a skimmer that fit the cube, I would be on it. Beause the water changes weekly would catch up to any loss of trace elements pulled out by the skimmer it would balance itself out.
But for gussy sake, save yourself money and just concentrate on the water changes. Use the extra cash for a nice piece in that tank.
Mike
Thanks for your help guys!
I plan to put the tank in front of the fireplace (never used and capped), I thought that adding a skimmer would add some safety margin. I plan to put a small fish or two in there. My original plan was to get the 12DX or 24DX. Since I will have a hidden cavity behind the tank...which is were firelogs normally go, I could put some type of a fuge or sump...or I could find a small skimmer that could go into the Nanocube. If I were to put a sump or fuge, I had planned to drill two holes (nicely) in the back. Since the cube will be in the livingroom, how it looks is very important.
I guess I could try it without any skimmer for now and see what happens.
I plan to put the tank in front of the fireplace (never used and capped), I thought that adding a skimmer would add some safety margin. I plan to put a small fish or two in there. My original plan was to get the 12DX or 24DX. Since I will have a hidden cavity behind the tank...which is were firelogs normally go, I could put some type of a fuge or sump...or I could find a small skimmer that could go into the Nanocube. If I were to put a sump or fuge, I had planned to drill two holes (nicely) in the back. Since the cube will be in the livingroom, how it looks is very important.
I guess I could try it without any skimmer for now and see what happens.
mikeguerrero
Active Member
Hi gussy,
I don't think you'll go wrong either way. I will link you a couple post where I saw the skimmer placed in the back of the cube. However, I have not seen it on the Deluxe model or the 24 gallon.
Mike
I don't think you'll go wrong either way. I will link you a couple post where I saw the skimmer placed in the back of the cube. However, I have not seen it on the Deluxe model or the 24 gallon.
Mike
