I use AquaClear powerheads with the 'hang on the side' bracket as well as a heater when mixing new water in a rectangular rubbermaid type plastic tub. Generally allow it to mix for a couple of days and put the heater in the day before the actual water change. I like to match the temp and salinity of the new water as close as possible for adding since I have to add to the display due to being sumpless at the moment.
The skimmer I'm using as mentioned is a DIY that came with the system and as soon as I figured out how to use it, I powered it up. Many folks run systems successfully without skimmers, but I think it involves more frequent water changes to keep the quality to a point where it's livable for the inhabitants. Personally, even if I was running FOWLR, I'd still be using the skimmer. Tanks with plenty of fish produce more 'crap' and protein for a skimmer to skim. Make sure you do plenty of research before jumping on to the skimmer bandwagon. There's a lot of stuff out there and all have their pros & cons. You can easily spend and extra grand for the latest and greatest which may only improve performance over an older model marginally. And yes, there are some very junnky ones out there too. There are times when good is good enough. If money is no object, knock yourself out, ha ha.
I used a Remora C HOB with a Mag 3 pump for a while since it came with another used system I purchased. Why am I back to the dated technology of a DIY wooden air stone skimmer? Frankly the Remora didn't work well for me at all. It was incredibly noisy and only ever produced a mild tea coloured skimmate. The only good thing about the Remora was that I could fit it in between the wall and the display.
Since modifying my old skimmer with a monster DIY wooden air stone and upgrading the air pump, it's working better than ever. I run it fairly dry so it takes a while to fill up the plastic bottle I use to collect the liquid skimmate, but the dry paste I scrape out of the collection cup every week is testament to the good job it does. And it does it silently and with very low power consumption, maybe 15 watts total with the air pump and small AquaClear powerhead. I'm pretty sure my next build with basement sump will include another DIY skimmer with wooden air stone, but I'll make it at least a six footer since there will be no limitation with respect to room. IMO there's no substitute for contact time with skimmers and the best way to get that is slow flow with a very long tube.
Here are several photos. I also built a dedicated side stand for it since I didn't actually like hooking it on the side of the tank. This necessitated further modifications in the form of a longer return line. The pics are a little dated showing the older air pump and using store bought air stones.
Here's the stuff that will need to be exported by other means without a skimmer. And this is old school, so take it from there. I'm getting much nastier stuff after my mods.
