Fluval Surface Skimmer for Series 05, 06, and 07 Canister Filters - Keep Your Aquarium Clean and Healthy

Ophidia: My axolotls produce a lot of waste, and a film collects on the surface of the water fairly quickly after a water change. It's harmless, but it's unsightly. I initially purchased a knock-off of this, and it was hard to adjust and sucked in a lot of air. I got sick of it and decided to try the Fluval branded one. Even though they look quite similar, the Fluval is a little higher quality, and the skimmer has a swirled design and is heavier. The swirled design reduces noise and air intake, and it's much easier to adjust. It was also very difficult to start a siphon to fill the filter after maintenance with the knock off. Don't skimp, get the brand name one. Also, the surface scum was gone within a few minutes.

United States on Nov 27, 2023

EviEvi: The media could not be loaded.  Quick delivery, thanks amazon.
Now to the review.
This skimmer does a great job of removing surface scum and debris.
Installation is a breeze even though there are no directions.
The pictures on the back of the packaging give you a basic idea of Install.
The reason for 4 stars is because the shaft that comes out the top for adjustments came a little warped or not 100% straight.
It is plastic so I gave it a little heat and straightened it out.
I read about this issue from other reviewers.
I think this is a manufacturing or packaging issue.
Other than that, I have to say that this skimmer gets the job done.
One more thing I did not add, this unit is very quiet. No rattling or loud water noises.
I highly recommend.

United States on Apr 30, 2023

Tucker family: If everything isn’t in perfect balance it won’t draw correctly. In my case I bought two of these and one was broken beyond use out of the box. I’d like to see the mid-water inlet a little larger to accommodate a sponge filter. In a heavy loaded tank the existing Venturi clog fast. Running in 2 50gal reef tanks

United States on Apr 11, 2023

Rob : The media could not be loaded.  This Fluval biofilm remover works great with my fluval 407 canister filter. It hooks up easy. Easy to get the right setting. And I didn't realize that it also filters below the surface like a normal filter does as well so it's 2 in one filter tube win win!. It does lack of instructions but easy to figure out. Just attach to your filters suction tube lower it below the surface so that the clear section is about 2 in below the water surface allowing water evaporation room for it to lower. Adjust the plastic stem by turning clockwise or counter clockwise to the water flow that is appropriate to what you like. This cleaned my biofilm up with in minutes. Also it's an easy clean up as any other aquarium product. Great item. My only thought is why not sell this "with" the filters. Sould come with you would think. But I get it gotta make more money $$ ...

United States on Jan 20, 2023

Rex: I was having a bit of a bio film problem for the last few months. Just couldn't seem to get it to clear up. I decided to try this out, as recommended by various Youtube videos. It worked out perfectly! It cleared up the film in about 5 minutes and it hasn't had a chance to come back since. It's been hooked up for a couple of weeks now.

Canada on Jun 17, 2022

fishbaby73: This skimmer is great, easy to install and use. There is a controller bar thing that sticks out the top that you can turn to open/shut the vent holes at the bottom of the tube, which controls the rate of flow going into the skimmer. You need to adjust the flow otherwise the filter will either struggle to pull in enough water, or it will run too fast and fill with air.

United Kingdom on Mar 27, 2021

mawi: Ich wollte gerne einen integrierten Skimmer, da ein zusätzlicher Skimmer erstens bescheiden aussieht, zweitens wieder ein Kabel beim Aquarium rausgeht (und zusätzlich Strom verbraucht) und drittens muss man es einfach viel zu oft reinigen... alles in allem war zwar die Wasseroberfläche klar, jedoch die Handhabung war mir zu umständlich.

Sucht man somit nach einem Skimmer, der integriert ist für einen Außenfilter, kommt man auf das Material Glas (ist mir zu heikel zwecks Beschädigung) oder Edelstahl. Beide Materialien waren einfach nicht genügend für mein Becken, das eine schwarze Rückwandfolie besitzt. Endlich hab ich diesen Skimmer in schwarz gefunden! Erste Zweifel haben mich noch zögern lassen, letztendlich hab ich ihn doch bestellt.

Da ich noch ein Stück Rohr übrig hatte, hab ich diesen gerippten Schlauch nicht gebraucht. Ich wollte ihn auch nicht verwenden, da ich mir dachte "wie reinige ich das dann wieder?".
Eine weitere Justierung war dieses Stäbchen, womit man die Saugleistung unten am Rohr regulieren kann. Mein Aquarium besitzt einen Deckel und das Ganze war dann irgendwie zu hoch mit dem Stäbchen. Also hab ich es kurzerhand...

Germany on Sep 25, 2020

vincent erhard: tout est dans le titre, le seul bémol que je pourrais donner c'est l'apparence fragile que ça peut avoir, mais ça tiens bien, l'eau est clean a la surface, pas de bruit si bien réglé

France on Sep 14, 2020

BSpaced: Have been using for two months, zero issues. The Fluval Surface Skimmer does its intended job very well. After a very short time to adjust the skimmer flow rate, a month's worth of oily surface scum buildup was 90% gone in only a few minutes. Overnight (or less) and the water surface was immaculate.
There are a few reviews that complained of having to futz too much with the skimmer flow rate. I have found that, yes, there is some very minimal amount of futzing required to get the flow where you want it. However, certainly not worth complaining about. Perhaps my setup is more friendly to the product than others.
Here's what I have:
30 gal long, Fluval 107 (excellent), and of course the surface skimmer.
I keep the filter flow slightly less than max, which best guess is around 120 gph.

Pros:
Does its intended job very well.
It connected to my Fluval 107 hoses with ease.
Adjusting is easy.
When appropriately adjusted, completely silent.

Cons:
Instructions are lacking, but there's really not much to it.
Takes up more room in the tank than simple inlet. It might be unsightly in some setups.
Does require periodic...

United States on Apr 04, 2020

Joaquín A.: Funciona perfectamente,superficie totalmente limpia, pero cuidado con los alimentadores automáticos, si la dosis elegida es grande al caer a la pecera se expande por la superficie y parte de la comida puede acabar absorbida por el skimmer

Spain on Jan 23, 2020