Surface skimmer and filter for plants

[maknwar]

I bought an aquaclear surface skimmer and need a filter to hook it up to. Im trying to use the skimmer to suck up all the watermeal and other floating plants blocking light. Should i just get a small aquaclear hob filter? Anyone have any input on size or anything else i could be missing?

[KH2PO4]

From my experience using skimmers, they are fine to clear surface film
or dust but too wimpy for clearing bigger stuffs like those surface plants.

This thing should work.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...e-skimmer.html

[reybie]

Yeah the link KH2PO4 should be a good temporary fix. The surface skimmers would clog really fast and won't get the bigger floaters. That's a good DIY for after trimming, especially HC, DHG and those smaller leaf ground covers.

[maknwar]

I am going to try a better version. I made one of those and it didnt turn out that well.

[Naekuh]

u can lose a lot of CO2 in surface skimming.

i reciently added a sponge on the bottom of my intake, and it made more water get pulled though the top skim.

This made me lose a LOT of CO2!! no im not kidding... my mix max reactor was having problems keeping it in the lime green with 2 bps on a 10 gallon tank.

if u use one.. make the surface skimming very minimal..

[m00se]

Funny you should mention surface skimmers. I am researching how best to go about this very thing. I notice these Tom's and Fluval and Aquaclear units all look pretty-much the same except for packaging and minor things like attachments. My 40b has an FX5 on it with 1" intake hose. I don't want to choke it back at all, so I was thinking that maybe if I got two of these things that there would be enough flow out of both of them into a PVC wye then into the canister hose, it would be enough. Any advice?

I am looking at: 260829311908 on e-bay X2

Thanks!

BTW - I tried that upside down soda bottle trick. Helpful hint: Don't use a Maxi-Jet 1200!!! That thing almost pulled the silicone out of the corners!!!

[Naekuh]

my sun sun has a surface skimmer which works good.

The problem was when i added a sponge on the bottom, it reduced the flow going from the bottom, and made the surface skimmer pull more.

This also made it pull air when it was skimming, and well... i wasnt kidding about a max mix reactor having problems..

When this setup @ 2BPS isnt holding lime green on a small 10 gallon:


You know your losing a LOT OF CO2.

Anyhow.. i removed the surface skimmer and BAM, in 20 minutes i got my lime green again.

[m00se]

While I can't argue with your results, I wonder why that is? Is it agitation or just that the air-to-water interface is better now that there's no film/dust on the surface?

[Naekuh]

as it was spiraling down the overflow, i think it was losing CO2 inside the skimmer.

My canister would burp once in a while... but its no joke at how much co2 i was losing..

if u use a skimmer, have it do a small spiral.. and not a big one which goes half way down the pipe.

[HunterTank90]

Originally Posted by Naekuh

u can lose a lot of CO2 in surface skimming.

i reciently added a sponge on the bottom of my intake, and it made more water get pulled though the top skim.

This made me lose a LOT of CO2!! no im not kidding... my mix max reactor was having problems keeping it in the lime green with 2 bps on a 10 gallon tank.

if u use one.. make the surface skimming very minimal..

Which skimmer did you use for 10 gallon tank? I want to buy a small skimmer but don't know what side I should get.

[HD Blazingwolf]

EH, 2bps isn' a lot i run like 7 on my 29g with wet/dry filter and overflow box. my dc is yellow

[m00se]

I wound up putting 2 air stones on opposite sides of my tank in the back corners on a $10 walmart air pump and timer. Turn on for 30 minutes in the middle of the day when lights are off and no more scum. Works like a charm! No CO2 impact.