Aquarium Surface Protein Skimmer,3W Fish Tank Protein Skimmer,3 in 1 Aquarium Oil Skimmer for Sea and Fresh Water, Internal Filter Wall Mounted Fish Tank Surface Protein Skimmer

Super simple setup. Adjustable direction of spray. Cleared up filmy surface really fast. It is a tiny unit which should not be thought of as a whole tank filter. I think this will be perfect for as-needed use.

I only gave this an average rating, because it probably does well for a SMALL tank - do NOT think of trying to use this on anything more than maybe a 20 or 30gal tank! I needed one for a 125gal and this was WAY too small! I ended up returning this one & going with the SunSun unit - it's literally twice the size! All of these skimmers function pretty much the same way - and yes, you have to be careful with any floating foods!

I bought two of these. One went into a 55 gal reef tank, another into a 20 extra high nano reef that’s just getting started. Both tanks had a significant amount of oily film on the water’s surface, and this filter completely took care of the problem in ten minutes on both tanks. However, the blue strainer had started bobbing up and down by the next day while a huge amount of micro-bubbles were shooting into the tank, and then it just ended up getting sucked down into it’s lowest position. I tried adjusting the position of the filter to get the strainer to stay in a good spot, but the only way I found to make it do that was to move the slider to the lowest-power position. This didn’t really reduce the surface-cleaning effectiveness of the unit, but it obviously reduces the flow and filtering that is provided to the tank. Honestly, you could glue the strainer in place so that it doesn’t bob around, and then just watch your water level and you’d be all set. I’m definitely happy with these; the surface of each tank is completely clear. The unit is pretty small and very quiet, and the price is quite affordable. My biggest gripe with the design is that the power cord comes out of the bottom of the unit, which is annoying and cumbersome. I realize that the pump is located at the bottom of the device, but there’s got to be a way to have the cord come out closer to the top. I’ll be interested to see how this type of product evolves during the next few years.

This little thing is great for what I needed. My tank was developing a small amount of environmental mold on top of the water. I would just get a surface oil in my display area that wouldn't suck back into my AIO chamber filtration allowing that to fester. A lot of folks say these don't last long so I'm running it in a timer for 5 mins 4x per day. The little blue piece pops up when it shuts off and I feel like this could be a huge problem if you are running it this way without a lid. It will pop completely off, nothing holds it on besides the suction of the pump. I have mine set up to where when it pops up it has a little room to stop sucking water (and lock the gunk in the chamber) but it can't unseat itself cause it hits my lid. Running it only a few minutes also prevents the micro bubble issue some people are encountering. It's plenty effective enough on my 25 gallon in just a few minutes for what I needed. It's not going to replace something more heave duty like a protein skimmer. I don't hate the extra oxygenation either. It's really a lot smaller than I thought it looked as well which is a bonus for having to run it in the display area. Barely bigger than my powerhead.

Pump body easily pops out from base housing causing pump to a premature failure of pump, however when everything is working it works quickly to clear film on surface. The housing design need work as well as a more reliable pump, good for small tanks when running for a handful of minutes at a time overall product needs work.

UPDATE : After a year of daily constant use this filter has lost its power, I’ve cleaned it and it just doesn’t produce the flow it did. But for the cost a year of use is great. I’ve had this for 3 months now it is constantly running. It is great at moving the surface water and preventing bio film. It’s a handy surface skimmer as well I clean the filter sponges out one a week and there is always gunk in it. I am using it in a 40 gallon tank for a nap turtle. It should not be used as a primary filter that’s not what it’s for.

This is a drop tube, with a sponge and a tiny pump. Pump actually worked ok. But is a basic filter. It will NOT remove proteins at all besides what falls into it.

No more cloudy oily residue on my water surface! And it took care of it in less than 15 minutes. Wow if I knew it would be this easy I would have bought this years ago. Why did I wait? I got so sick of it. This little waterfall is so quiet, I actually enjoy lifting the top to listen to it. It's easy to adjust too. I saw a few reviews that said about adjusting but it was a breeze.