Surface Skimming

[moldrik]

Hey guys,

I've been running my tank for a little while now and everything seems to be going ok. My skimmer is one of those Aqua-C hang-on ones. The one thing is that the intake jet sits at a decent height difference than the surface of the water. I'd like to as much as possible be skimming from the surface.

Should I simply raise the intake jet to the surface? I'm wondering if having it possibly suck in air as well be a problem?

Thanks.

[Borderjumper]

They make a surface skimmer box for the Remora. The pump fits inside the box.
http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=ps-acremza

[mike31154]

When I was running the hang on Remora C, I hooked it up to one of those small 'bobbing' surface skimmers. There's a little circular slotted cup on a stem that sits inside a vertical tube. This cup floats on the surface. An adjustment piece runs through the circular cup affair to the bottom of the tube which is slotted and threaded. This allows adjustment of how the skimmer cup rides on the water surface. Your intake gets teed off about halfway down. So you end up taking some water through the slots at the bottom and some through the little skimmer cup at the top. The advantage to this little rig is that it automatically adjusts to changes in tank water level (within reason) so there's less chance of sucking air.

With respect to the skimmer box mentioned earlier, I've read that quite a few people are not that happy with it, it's very bulky and mounting the pump can be a headache. Since the Remora C can be fitted with different pumps, make sure yours will fit in the box if you decide to get one. Not sure a Mag 3 will fit, if that's what you have.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=pf-acpskm