FluvalSea Mini Protein Skimmer, 5-20 Gallon, Black, 14324 (6-Piece Set)

I have a bacteria bloom. So I put this on and opened the air valve all the way open. This is after 8 hours. This thing does the job.

Update 3/21So a couple of things to note. Putting the air valve in the cup lid was ridiculously hard. Not a problem I encountered during the first skimmer I ordered and returned but it was a ....welcomed problem.... with the first skimmer, the valve would come off the lid easily and needed to be in the exact position to not move the lid nor disconnect itself from the lid. With the second skimmer, after shoving the valve into the lid with sheer strength, it doesn't move now which keeps the lid in place and valve from coming off. Also, the knob on top of the valve I had to take off because it was sealed. I have it completely removed as it serves no purpose, since , it's clogged. I tried putting a needle through it but it feels like there's a pieces of plastic inside. Now, after some diy with silicone, the skimmer is working beautifully! Has been taking out gunk and keeping my water nice and clean. A lot of alterations to get to this point but it is finally doing its job.I ordered the skimmer for my fluval flex and though it's ideal for the tank and the evo, it does have a huge design flaw. The casing on top does not seal correctly no matter what and leaves a small opening between the cup and housing. Water ends up going back into the sump area which defeats the purpose of a skimmer. I used some silicone to seal the tiny gap as my skimmer options are limited. Water level is finicky but the gap is a huge problem. Returned the unit and ordered a second one and same gap is found. Diy steps will be needed

I gave this 5 stars, because as nano skimmers go (and I've tried 4) this one is the absolute best, even if it took a while to adjust, and even though I made a few mistakes at first. So I'm grading on a curve :)FIRST: Don't make the same mistake I did! I have a Fluval Evo 13.5, so I read the instructions too quickly and thought I didn't have to install the brackets that hold the skimmer front and back housings together (the front and back of the skimmer split open so you can clean it easily) because it was already sized perfectly for my back chamber. But, NOT installing these pieces made the skimmer really loud because the skimmer pump caused those pieces to vibrate against each other. Once I realized the issue, it was too late; I had already thrown the other extra pieces away. So I ordered another one, just to get those two pieces--they're that important! Once installed, the skimmer quieted way, way down, and in about 2 weeks, it got even quieter when it broke in (it's at about 15db, 4 feet away, measured with an app on my phone). One thing to tweak, though, is to make sure the skimmer is seated as far back against the tank's back glass as possible (away from the tank's display/overflow), so the front inlet has enough space to draw in water from the tank's overflow. I used a piece of air tubing and slid it in between the skimmer and the front of that back chamber, just to push the skimmer away from the tank overflow. That was the trick to get it to start skimming properly. Once I further tweaked water level in the chamber (the largest knob on the top) and opened the air to about 80% open (the smallest knob on the top), it skimmed super efficiently, was quiet, and I've been super happy with it. [Hack: to set the air at the right level, close the small knob all the way counter clockwise, then open it clockwise about 2-3 twists of your fingers.] You'll want the water level/surface turbulation happening right at the bottom of the collection cup. If the tribulation is happening IN the collection cup chamber, it's too high and you'll skim too wet, and it will probably overflow in no time; back it down so the water line/turbulation is exactly level with the bottom of that cup. It won't produce skimmate immediately. Give it a few hours to start producing those large bubbles and skimmate). The hardest part was getting it dialed it. But once that's done, you don't need to touch it again. When you do water changes or pour something in your tank, it will stop skimming for a bit--don't touch the dials! It will start producing skimmate again in couple of hours. Once you've got it dialed in, you'll be impressed. I sure am.

I loved it. It cleared my tank and made the water look clearer but it’s just too loud for me. I’m not sure if they are all like that but mine was

Great skimmer that I added to my fluval evo saltwater fish tank. Works great to keep tank clean. Would purchase again.

I have a Fluval AIO 13.5 gal on my light stand, next to my bed that I set up end of January 2021. I added the protein skimmer about 2 weeks ago. It works great. I don’t have anything else to compare it to but it did add noise (gurgling) and will add lots of micro bubbles depending on what type of filtration system you have. I swapped out the sponge filter that came with my tank for filter floss and that helped a lot with the micro bubbles but as far as sound goes, it’s the only thing in the tank that I can hear the most.Additional tank information:I have a collection of coral, a bta, two clowns and a scooter. I keep my valves on the skimmer wide open and the tank stays super clear. I feed fish daily and spot feed corals and anemone 3x a week so the bio load is fairly light. You can see and hear my tank on IG under salty.bishes.I would recommend this skimmer for nano tanks. Fits perfectly in the Fluval 13.5 gal AIO.

This skimmer, in theory, should work well. As you will read in many other reviews, it is very difficult to get dialed in correctly. I was using on a Fluval edge reef tank and it fits in chamber one just fine but its actually designed to run in chamber 2. You will want to run filter floss and biological filtration in chamber 1 prior to the skimmer. The problem is that it does not fit properly in chamber 2. It does not go down far enough to operate properly all the time. There are skimmers better than the fluval for around the same price. Better yet, don't use a fluval edge as a marine/ reef aquarium ( i would only use it for freshwater at this point) and buy a better tank and setup for a marine tank.