# Canister Surface Skimmer



## mgeorges (Feb 1, 2017)

Does it increase CO2 off gassing? Yes, a little bit but not bad.
Are they noisy? Nope, unless they are floating too high and gulping air.
How tough are they to clean? I just threw it in an H2O2 or bleach solution with the whole pipe, swapping in the old intake.

I honestly like this a LOT better though -
https://www.amazon.com/EHEIM-Skim-350-Aquarium-Filter/dp/B00D5WHBFC

Easily removed without headache, easily cleaned. On my small tanks, I throw it in "as needed", on my 29 though it has a full time spot but I only run it periodically.


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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

mgeorges said:


> Does it increase CO2 off gassing? Yes, a little bit but not bad.
> Are they noisy? Nope, unless they are floating too high and gulping air.
> How tough are they to clean? I just threw it in an H2O2 or bleach solution with the whole pipe, swapping in the old intake.
> 
> ...


I do like that Eheim Skim, too bad it's more than double the price of the canister skimmer.

What do you like more about the Skim over the canister attachment?


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## kaldurak (May 2, 2010)

How old/young is the tank? Mine just....went away after 6 months.

Off topic - do you follow OHL hockey? I'm from Erie and I am an Otters fan.


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## mgeorges (Feb 1, 2017)

Quagulator said:


> I do like that Eheim Skim, too bad it's more than double the price of the canister skimmer.
> 
> What do you like more about the Skim over the canister attachment?


Ouch. I didn't see the CAD vs USD, I was thinking they were nearly the same price.
No competition in filtration. My skimmer takes care of surface, my filter takes care of mid-low. Also, less filter maintenance because I get floating plant bits as well on the surface, be it from pruning or cory's knock something loose, dead stuff coming loose, etc. I can quickly and easily clean out the skimmer so that stuff isn't adding to my organics load, my Eheim 2217 takes a little bit more effort though.


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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

kaldurak said:


> How old/young is the tank? Mine just....went away after 6 months.
> 
> Off topic - do you follow OHL hockey? I'm from Erie and I am an Otters fan.


Go Knights Go 

Bump:


mgeorges said:


> Ouch. I didn't see the CAD vs USD, I was thinking they were nearly the same price.
> No competition in filtration. My skimmer takes care of surface, my filter takes care of mid-low. Also, less filter maintenance because I get floating plant bits as well on the surface, be it from pruning or cory's knock something loose, dead stuff coming loose, etc. I can quickly and easily clean out the skimmer so that stuff isn't adding to my organics load, my Eheim 2217 takes a little bit more effort though.


Understandable, I'm actually trying to get in the habit of keeping up on my canister maintenance, I was having issues with canisters becoming nitrate factories. I guess if that is the only big downfall I might pick a skimmer attachment up, 

@kaldurak the tank is 1 week old, but I have a 90 gallon that is 4 years old and it has the same issue.


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

I've used one on different tanks for quite some time. They'll contribute to off gassing to some extent even by just removing surface film, but it's nothing that can't be compensated. They'll also contribute to increased gas exchange and increase O2 by removing any film. There's no noise and they've no harder to clean than any other glass pipe.

Here's a good related video.


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## frenziedpace (Dec 17, 2016)

https://www.amazon.com/AZOO-AZ13123-Surface-Aquarium-Skimmer/dp/B016M86JGC
There's a cheaper alternative to the Eheim.
I have the Eheim and love it. It will trap small fish.


I used this style and liked it a lot. https://www.amazon.ca/BARGAIN-HOUSE...spons&keywords=aquarium+surface+skimmer&psc=1 It's ugly though.
I have one like you linked but it didn't work as well. Maybe my pumps too small or aquarium too shallow.

I'm a big fan of skimming.


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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

frenziedpace said:


> https://www.amazon.com/AZOO-AZ13123-Surface-Aquarium-Skimmer/dp/B016M86JGC
> There's a cheaper alternative to the Eheim.
> I have the Eheim and love it. It will trap small fish.
> 
> ...


Your cheaper model in Canada is $80  so that's out. My filter is an eheim 2213, too small?


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## frenziedpace (Dec 17, 2016)

Quagulator said:


> Your cheaper model in Canada is $80  so that's out. My filter is an eheim 2213, too small?


Sheeeet!

I'm sure that's more powerful than the pump on the SunSun 602.
What's your depth, water level to substrate?


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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

frenziedpace said:


> Sheeeet!
> 
> I'm sure that's more powerful than the pump on the SunSun 602.
> What's your depth, water level to substrate?


12" water surface to substrate


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## frenziedpace (Dec 17, 2016)

The problem I had in a 12" cube was the tube attached to the skimming cup would block the return since it was sitting so low. I had to cut it down.
May not happen to you if you have a full 12".
I say go for it.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Mine eventually sucked air into the filter and broke it. Worked great though. After that happened I just got spray bar/outflow pipe that were adjustable and could spray across the water surface and that did a really good job of breaking up the surface scum.


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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

Triport said:


> Mine eventually sucked air into the filter and broke it. Worked great though. After that happened I just got spray bar/outflow pipe that were adjustable and could spray across the water surface and that did a really good job of breaking up the surface scum.


I would run the spray bar out of the water shooting and splashing water all over everything and the scum just "moved" away from all the splashing and surface movement, but never went away. I tried all the tricks in the book, but I'm down to the last option of surface skimming.


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## Chlorophile (Aug 2, 2011)

I use the stainless steel ones like the above in my tank. Love it!
I used to change the amount of air in the float but now I just balance it by opening and closing the inlet at the bottom. 
Keeps the surface glassy smooth and I think the extra o2 lets you pump co2 even higher, far counteracting the off-gassing. 
If you think about it, adding surface water to the filter means you're getting the most oxygenated water possible and pumping it into the tank!
I now run only a moderate ripple but I just love the glassy smooth surface!


















The top down view quickly became my favorite view of the tank!

A few words of caution regarding setting up the skimmer: 
Always tune it with the bubble chamber full, cause if the air dissolves into the tank it's going to be off. 
Also should the inlets become slightly clogged with leaves or dead snails or w/e else the suction through the skimmer will increase and pull it down along with air, to prevent that once I find a happy spot for what looks like the right amount of skimming, I back it off about 20% so that when there is a little clog it won't suck in air.


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