Skimming my 20 gallon

[emac]

the prisms tend to loose suction really fast for some reason and you always have to reset the syphon. im a big fan of the aqua c skimmers. check out the aqua c nano skimmer. plus the skimmers are made with black acrylic so you dont get alot of growth in them like most other skimmers and better yet they aren't really affected by water evaporation. its more money but you will save in the end. the bak pak's work well too. for the most part they have the same design just the air injection system is different.

i wouldn't bother wasting your money on the current, oceanic or rio nano skimmers.

[Bbristow]

I almost hate to post this because the skimmer that I found to be really great currently isn't available. I have a 24g aquapod and sapphire aquatics out of Houston made an awesome skimmer for it. They were making skimmers that fit each specific nano model. This skimmer works very well. You might post for a used one.

The other great option that I have found is the Tunze skimmer. I don't have experience with this one but I have heard great things about it from my own research. Most people put the sapphire and the Tunze at the same level of quality, and I think they are currently the best available for a nano tank.

It does cost more than others out there though.

http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=1436#

Someone really good at acrylic work could model a skimmer after the Sapphire come really close.

[stoneroller]

I modded the impeller on a Prizm with fishing line to increase production. I think it skims pretty well but don't have much to compare it to. There's also a mod to increase the diameter of the air intake to pull more air; haven't done that though.

[Hydramatic]

A couple weeks ago, bought an AquaC Remora HOT skimmer(with the maxi-jet 1200) from the store emac works at and I'm running it on my 20-high, and it has worked splendidly. The stuff it pulls out isn't exactly black like on larger tanks, but it is about like dark urine, 'cept with chunks of fish poo in it. I'm pretty sure it is overkill, but I like the fact that I can pretty much feed as much or as little as I want and not worry about nitrate ****es and the like.

Since I've had it on there, I've been able to go about a week and a half between water changes with tests reading near zero for nitrates, zero on nitrites, and zero on ammonia, with alkalinity and such being at perfect levels.

The Remora skims very well for a HOT. My tank inhabitants couldn't be happier....

...ok maybe if they had a halide, but that's another thread!

[tony]

if you buy new get the new octopus HOB skimmer

if you need/want to save money go with a cpr bakpak. it will skim that 20 splendidly

[merlin0883]

have a cpr backpack. works better than my sea clone 100. Got an octopus hob to replace cpr. it works soooo much better than the cpr that i took the cpr off. I highly recommend it. you can get a few different models. either the normal, one with a space for mechanical filters, one that surface skims with a space for mechanical filters, or a double powerhead double catch cannister model. i got the surface skimming one cuz i always have my arm in the tank, target feeding or rearranging, and oils occumulate on the surface of my tank. it was only $160 new. fyi