# ADA Surface Skimmer



## Pg92 (Nov 23, 2013)

If you get that or vuppa they do work and down the road can be used on smaller tanks as filters also, you just have to keep water level at perfect height. Never heard of using peroxide but I have used it for BBA, poured half a bottle in my 60p and it didn't kill any fish, plants or shrimp.


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## Ach1Ll3sH33L (Mar 1, 2012)

you may look into 'Toms surface skimmer" 
not sure what your filter setup is. skimming the surface is always a good idea to keep gas exchange at a constant rate, any film, debris, etc that lies on the surface will effect this.
The ada skimmer does require adjustments as the water level in the tank lowers, can be a pain in the summer. 
I have a 6 gallon tank that developed this issue as well, i used an airpump and ran the line into my tank without an airstone, the larger bubbles will break the surface film up, it runs for 30 min. before my lights come on. 

so a couple different options you can try, the airpump being the cheapest.


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## Animanganime (Sep 28, 2012)

Thanks for your wonderful advices guys, Ach1Ll3sH33L I am definitely interested in the air pump idea, the Vuppa is quite huge for my 20 long tank and of course it is not exactly cheap. One thing before I go out and buy an air pump, the 30 min period it runs before the light is on, it effectively removes all the surface cloudiness, or just part of it?


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

A surface skimmer is your best bet. Toms works great and it's cheap. I don't see how an air pump is going to fix the problem.


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## Animanganime (Sep 28, 2012)

Has anyone used the non-ADA Vuppa from Hong Kong that I posted earlier?


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## Pg92 (Nov 23, 2013)

I'd almost just go with the ada one man, not because it's ada but at least you know what your getting. That stuff from Hong Kong might be cheaper but is it really worth it?


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

Google the Eheim Skim 350. It gets much better reviews and is a lot cheaper than a Vuppa.


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## Pg92 (Nov 23, 2013)

+1 I completely forgot about the eheim one


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## creekbottom (Apr 5, 2012)

MiSo said:


> I don't see how an air pump is going to fix the problem.


Using an airstone in the tank - the agitation from the bubbles breaks up the surface scum which then can be picked up by the filter. It doesn't solve the problem, it just gets rid of it.

I've got the ehiem 350. Great little machine but not the most easily hidden. It is easy to clean and reassemble - they really thought about that when they designed it.


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

I should've said I don't see how a air pump would be a viable option because the amount of air you'd need to push wouldn't help out your tank at all. You'd out gas whatever co2 you're pushing into the tank. A skimmer is your best option.

After using eheims surface skimmer and toms, I'd go with toms. It's way cheaper and does the same thing. The skim 350 looks interesting, never tried it, but for price you can't beat toms.


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## puopg (Sep 16, 2012)

Check out my makeshift overflow using a canister filter. Been working a few days now, but well see if it continues to work well. Air pump just breaks the surface and sends the crap down the overflow box which then the filter can suck up. Main problem I encountered the other day was the JBJ modular surface skimmer (the overflow box hehe) water fell down too slowly and caused the filter to drain the box when the water level decreased too much. Then the filter took in all air and would stop. oo slowly and caused the filter to drain the box when the water level decreased too much. Then the filter took in all air and would stop. 
Water level is kept up using a ATO unit. 










This is a mini L for size


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

The overflow box works great, I have a corner overflow on my 60 gallon that does all that plus provides a place to hide all the equipment and there is no visible piping.


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

Nice tank!


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

The Ehiem is really far better than the Vuppa.
I've heard this from over a dozen folks who have owned both.

But a skimmer box, overflow is the best solution overall.
Careful, if evaporation is too much, you'll run dry.

Sumps are better for this reason.
The Mame overflow is not cheap if you can fanagle one, but it the best overflow for smaller tanks.


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## Animanganime (Sep 28, 2012)

Thank you guys so much for such wonderful comments, so what I am doing now after some experimenting is quite simple and effective.
Once a day I would feed the fish, the food would float on the surface and break the thin layer of film apart, after the fishes' done with the food which typically takes like a minute, then all I have to do is to raise the DIY outflow up so it rests on the edge of the tank, the water could come out like a waterfall and pull whatever that is on the surface to the bottom of the tank. It takes 5 to 10 minutes for the surface to be crystal clear.

I will make do with this method for now since it's free, and will probably move on to something more convenient when I can't stand this any longer. The overflow box or the Eheim Skim seems promising for sure.

Thanks everyone, you guys have been extremely helpful


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## Ach1Ll3sH33L (Mar 1, 2012)

using an air pump with an airstone will break the surface tension, and get the layer of film to break up and into the water column. run this in the morning before co2 comes on to break the surface film and it should stay clear till for the lighting duration. 

The toms surface skimmer and eheim work the exact same way, eheim is a bit more expensive but comes with the full piping, whereas the toms you have to hook up to an existing intake. you can get a toms skimmer for around $10...cheaper than the air pump maybe..and much more effective.


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## Bushkill (Feb 15, 2012)

puopg said:


> Check out my makeshift overflow using a canister filter. Been working a few days now, but well see if it continues to work well. Air pump just breaks the surface and sends the crap down the overflow box which then the filter can suck up. Main problem I encountered the other day was the JBJ modular surface skimmer (the overflow box hehe) water fell down too slowly and caused the filter to drain the box when the water level decreased too much. Then the filter took in all air and would stop. oo slowly and caused the filter to drain the box when the water level decreased too much. Then the filter took in all air and would stop.
> Water level is kept up using a ATO unit.
> 
> 
> ...


This is far and away the most efficient way to skim surface proteins. You'll see the haze disappear within minutes. If you've seen any SW systems, they all employ surface skimming along these lines. 

If you're seeing them at the water's surface, dispersing them won't help at all, since they've overpowered your filtration system.

If you're handy and can install an ATO mechanism, the overflow box doesn't need teeth either. The only down side to skimming boxes / methods is evaporation. If you install glass covers that are "custom fitted", the problem is alleviated to a great extent, but doesn't go away completely. It just buys you time, but that may work fine for most. Daily topping off gets old fast, and makes being away from home for a couple of days a real nail-biter.

When I see it develop on a tank, I think of it as the "canary in a coal mine". It tells me the tank is producing more waste than the filter system can handle, I'm behind on water changes, or water changes need to be a bit bigger. Dissolving that film into the water column most likely will take water quality further downhill.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

plantbrain said:


> The Ehiem is really far better than the Vuppa.


Better how so? Plastic over SS? 

I know that the Vuppa had years of R&D to make it a good design to skim surface water. Just have to watch the water level. ATO for that. 

Sump is useless unless you are dealing with very large volumes on freshwater planted. Hence why ADA uses canisters even on their 180's. I think they use sumps on the 400-500g jumbo displays which is where the benefits of a sump on planted are actually useful. 

Sump also detracts from the purist aquascaper tank, true aquascapers need every inch of space and overflow's are too bulky (preinstalled ones). HOB are too dangerous to risk a flood. Mame's are grossly over rated IMO.


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## Pg92 (Nov 23, 2013)

Green_Flash said:


> Better how so? Plastic over SS?
> 
> I know that the Vuppa had years of R&D to make it a good design to skim surface water. Just have to watch the water level. ATO for that.
> 
> ...


+1 and man don't you already know why all these ada knock offs are better and why the eheim skimmer is better!?!? They are cheaper hahaha


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

The eheim is automatic adjusting. I've owned the vuppa and sold it. I had to adjust the thing two times a day. It was not worth the effort. I also did not like the clamping system installed on it.


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## Ach1Ll3sH33L (Mar 1, 2012)

Couesfanatic said:


> The eheim is automatic adjusting. I've owned the vuppa and sold it. I had to adjust the thing two times a day. It was not worth the effort. I also did not like the clamping system installed on it.


Exactly this, people assume ada is somehow better without actually using the product. Does the vuppa work? yes.. its also larger than say the toms/eheim skimmer, requires its own power source, and needs to be adjusted quite frequently. toms/eheim essentially float on the waters surface, you adjust it once and it self adjusts as the water level increases or decreases. If it took ada years to create the vuppa..they should really fire the head of the R&D department, you can create a vuppa with a used water bottle and a small pump..you can even use a fancy voss water bottle :biggrin:
just cause a product is cheaper, does not make it inferior


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## Ach1Ll3sH33L (Mar 1, 2012)

Green_Flash said:


> Sump also detracts from the purist aquascaper tank, true aquascapers need every inch of space and overflow's are too bulky (preinstalled ones). HOB are too dangerous to risk a flood. Mame's are grossly over rated IMO.


you must not have very much experience when it comes to sump's. If your h.o.b fails and floods, its from lack of maintenance or user error. I wouldn't run a sump on a tank less than 50 gallons, but the advantages they provide outweigh any negatives you can think of, big, bulky? ill take a healthy tank with 70ppm of co2 and happy fat fish over a canister filter any day.


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

Ach1Ll3sH33L said:


> you must not have very much experience when it comes to sump's. If your h.o.b fails and floods, its from lack of maintenance or user error. I wouldn't run a sump on a tank less than 50 gallons, but the advantages they provide outweigh any negatives you can think of, big, bulky? ill take a healthy tank with 70ppm of co2 and happy fat fish over a canister filter any day.


Gonna agree here. I use a sump on my 20g (and will be using one on my 60P) with a Mame overflow. Looks better and is far more functional than any lily pipe I've ever seen (fiddling with Vuppa/raising lily pipes, who has time for that? let your filter do the aeration and surface elimination for you). Customizable as can be with multiple pumps and needle wheel CO2 + reactor in the cabinet beats CO2 tubing going into the tank and cleaning the glass diffuser frequently. Maybe I'm just biased. Besides, sump is hidden in cabinet and clear tubing running from a nice glass overflow looks wonderful. Better than lily pipes, IMO.

But, at the end of the day, everyone will have their own preferences. :thumbsup:


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Ach1Ll3sH33L said:


> you must not have very much experience when it comes to sump's. If your h.o.b fails and floods, its from lack of maintenance or user error. I wouldn't run a sump on a tank less than 50 gallons, but the advantages they provide outweigh any negatives you can think of, big, bulky? ill take a healthy tank with 70ppm of co2 and happy fat fish over a canister filter any day.


A hob overflow can fail, it is not fail safe, any number of accidents could happen. Not saying they don't work or can be maintained safely, but it is just another (unnecessary) variable to deal with. 

You don't need 70ppm of Co2 to have a healthy tank, and having healthy fish is the very basic principle of all aquariums. 

@Freph, I like sumps on saltwater and would never do a marine tank w/o one, but on a planted, a canister with SS pipes and inline diffuser is pretty easy to maintain as a sump and in most cases is the easier and more practical route to go with. But like you said, it is a personal preference. I originally commented to point out that sump is not "better" or the "best" for all setups. And the same is true for the Eheim vs Vuppa, neither are the optimal solution, even if the Vuppa looks nicer and is more durable, it does need adjusting and is more expensive.


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