Another Newbie Question on Surface Film
 

Instead of hijacking the thread I though that I would ask a slightly different question.

I am running the aquaclear surface skimmer on an aquaclear 50 solely for dealing with the surface film which is sitting right beside my HOB skimmer.

If I hook the surface skimmer up to the intake on the skimmer, is all of the film skimmable?

You could also direct a power head towards the waters surface so that the surface scum gets knocked down into the water. Then your skimmer and Aquaclear can take care of it without any changes to your current configuration.

surface film
 

you could also put a small sponge at the top of the tank to attract the surface film-just clean it with your water changes

I am actually also running an AQ110 which has good surface flow and it seems to just push the film into the less turbulent areas of the tank where it accumulates.

I am already running the HOB skimmer and now separate surface skimmer just wondering if I combine the surface skimmer with the HOB skimmer, is all of the surface file skimmable?

Assuming so, since it should be all biological, just wanted to confirm before I combine the two.

Yes, the material is all skimmable. It's mostly organic protiens with maybe some dust that collected on the top but your skimmer will handle it just fine. There are HOB skimmers that come with surface skimmers for just this purpose. Anything that doesn't attach to the bubbles will just get rejected back into your water column and get picked up by your mechanical filter.

thanks, I am actually running a prizim which I think does have a surface skimmer add on, but didn't want to go through the effort of sourcing it or further investing in less than an ideal skimmer ...

for $20 the AQ surface skimmer is cheap and universal a good bandaid solution.