Modify Protein Skimmer w/ External Pump

[ranvan]

Hello, I have a Coralife 125 skimmer which is three years old. I use it as a hang over the back skimmer. I have no sump. Recently, I have noticed that it raises the temp of the water by a couple of degrees at most. Perhaps the motor/powerhead that drives it is going bad.

My question is...has anyone modified a protein skimmer to use a pump that sits outside of the water so as to avoid raising the temp of the water?

It looks rather easy. But that could be deceiving.

[thominil]

I wouldn't think that it is the pump creating the extra heat unless the impeller housing is dirty which could be causing extra friction and the heat. I would just grab a new skimmer as the coralife skimmers are junk from what others have said. You can buy a Reef Octopus skimmer from www.aquacave.com for about the same as what the coralife skimmers cost and have the external pump already on it. Be warned though, external pumps will create some level of noise.

[Kurt_Nelson]

Agree with thomnil... that pump on those wouldn't up the temperature much - unless you have it on a 10g tank or something. Only way I can see it increasing the temperature any noticeable amount is if the impeller was stuck and it wasn't pumping. But you'd notice that because the skimmer wouldn't be working.

Just for reference, the pump on my skimmer uses about 45W, and on a 46g tank it makes no real noticeable temperature increase.

[ranvan]

It seems not to be a problem anymore.

I had a MJ900 with a modification right next to it, and I have since moved it (and taken the mod off). The temps seem to have stabilized.