# just skimming the surface



## jim532 (Aug 27, 2013)

I'd like some input before I spend money on this project.

So I get some stuff floating on the surface sometimes. some times it's plant matter, or food, or some other crud. It's kind of annoying. 

I found this surface skimmer : Aquarium Surface Skimmer

It says it can go inline with my existing filter. I don't really want to do this with my Rena Filstar XP(M). I'm not sure i want to add another canister filter as that costs a bit of money and will add more current than I want in my 40 gallon.

I was thing of getting a small hang on back filter and putting it inline with the filter intake and using that to control the crud. 

Has anyone tried this setup? is there a better solution?


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## Fishtail76 (Oct 17, 2013)

I've not had this problem but I have seen threads on this topic. Most of what I have seen, they just suggest to add more surface agitation and it should clear it up.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Your idea of hooking it up to a HOB could work.But if you really wanted that surface skimmer it isn't necessary.That is a Tom skimmer and will work well.You do have to manually adjust it to surface level,but that is no big deal.The skimmer still removes a MAJORITY of the water from the column and not the surface so it really shouldn't slow down or impact filter .It won't do anything for the plant parts besides maybe get clogged.Even my 2 dual mega overflows on my 180 load up with leaves I have to remove every 1 or 2 days.


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## lonedove55 (Jan 25, 2012)

I have tried that Toms surface skimmer before on a 26 gallon tank. It doesn't look that big in the picture, but is actually a lot larger than you think. It does work really well. The only problem I had with it was getting it adjusted just right and the tubing is kinda bulky. That stick looking thing sticking out the top is how you adjust the amount of the flow of water being "skimmed" off the surface. The adjustment stick actually has a threaded part on the other end that screws into the body of the skimmer.


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