# Neo Flow Premium - goodbye standalone surface skimmer?



## erwin123 (14 Jul 2021)

I've not connected it yet, just testing out the 'fit'. But I'm excited if this can really replace my standalone surface skimmer, thats one less piece of bulky equipment in my tank! The only downside is that it doesn't come with a Lily Pipe extension but fortunately I have a plastic Lily Pipe extender for my green Eheim outlet which I could just plug in. It will be connected to my Fluval 307 so hopefully there is enough flowrate to make the skimmer work.


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## Tom Delattre (14 Jul 2021)

I'm interested to see what you think about it. I tried it a few weeks ago and I was really disappointed. I couldn't tune the skimmer part correctly. It was either doing nothing or sucking up a lot of air doing a lot of noise.
Besides there's a lot less room for water evaporation / water level change because the skimmer is smaller. So the one or two times I succeeded in tuning it up, it started doing noises again after a day or two. 

Envoyé de mon KB2003 en utilisant Tapatalk


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## LondonDragon (14 Jul 2021)

The only issue I see with running a surface skimmer is that if you run it all the time, it will affect your CO2 in the tank.
I have one in my tank but only run it when CO2 is off, when CO2 comes on the skimmer goes off, having one on the filter pipe makes it impossible to switch off.


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## FishKeeper55 (14 Jul 2021)

I just don't understand why is on outflow section, all the scum will just get blown back in to water unless I'm missing something


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## plantnoobdude (14 Jul 2021)

@LondonDragon just inject more. more O2 for fish which makes it harder to gas them. which is particularly useful when trying to push co2 levels, e.g 60ppm.
@FishKeeper55 the scum it's self isn't the problem. the scum accumulating on the surface and preventing gas exchange is. even if it were on the inflow, the scum would still be circulating and blown back into the water.


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## Wookii (14 Jul 2021)

Agree with @FishKeeper55, to me the whole point of the surface skimmer is to actually physically remove the surface protein scum, dust, bits of leaf and other crap from the surface film rather than just send it back around the tank.


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## Driftless (14 Jul 2021)

Yes, I am turned off by the skimmer being attached to outflow as well.


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## Gill (14 Jul 2021)

Just been watching the video on these, and will be getting a set. As I have a glass poppy set, but it may break trying to get it under/thru the bracing for my tank. And as this is in section can alter to the tank. Have been wanting to go back to lilly pipes but was stuck with the bracing cutout being so small.


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## Courtneybst (14 Jul 2021)

@erwin123 I've ordered a set so I'll let you know when I set it up!


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## Aqua sobriquet (14 Jul 2021)

Wookii said:


> Agree with @FishKeeper55, to me the whole point of the surface skimmer is to actually physically remove the surface protein scum, dust, bits of leaf and other crap from the surface film rather than just send it back around the tank.


I think perhaps the idea is that if it’s taken from the surface and moved into the main water column it can be processed by the filter?


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## plantnoobdude (14 Jul 2021)

@Courtneybst these are available in uk?


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## Gill (14 Jul 2021)

plantnoobdude said:


> @Courtneybst these are available in uk?


Yes at Aquarium Gardens, just ordered a set to try out
Neo Flow 13mm


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## plantnoobdude (14 Jul 2021)

Gill said:


> Yes at Aquarium Gardens, just ordered a set to try out


thanks!


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## erwin123 (17 Jul 2021)

It seems to work. The air bubble that bobs up and down gives feedback that there is water flowing down the skimmer column.

Unlike my bulkier standalone skimmer, one disadvantage is that it doesn't have that much leeway in terms of water level changes because its so small.  I'll let it run to see how many days of water evaporation before the skimmer stops working/ starts sucking in air.


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## Psfor (23 Jul 2021)

I've set this up in my tank and it performs better than at skimmer on the water outflow (EA type).   This is what it repaced.  As others have said it doesn't remove large debris like leaves, but it does completely remove surface film by incorporating it into the body of water.  The filter does the rest.  I've added a filter guard to the water outflow. 

A benefit of the 'plastic' is it is in sections so you can angle the flow.  The surface ripple on the surface is now a new feature and looks great at night.

The water level is no more of an issue with this setup - even with the high level of evaporation in the hot weather.

I'm impressed.  My biggest concern is keeping it all clean.  This picture was taken just after a water change (I put the lights on to take the picture)   EA Aquascaper 600 - 2 months after planting


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## Aqua sobriquet (23 Jul 2021)

Thanks for the input Psfor. I’m wondering now if I could make one of those for my stainless steel output pipe?


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## seiryusly93 (30 Jul 2021)

erwin123 said:


> It seems to work. The air bubble that bobs up and down gives feedback that there is water flowing down the skimmer column.
> 
> Unlike my bulkier standalone skimmer, one disadvantage is that it doesn't have that much leeway in terms of water level changes because its so small.  I'll let it run to see how many days of water evaporation before the skimmer stops working/ starts sucking in air.



Hey @erwin123 
did you have any issues tuning in the skimmer? I'm finding it really difficult to establish a bubble in the column


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## Garuf (30 Jul 2021)

I think I'll be going back to lilys, I just received 3 sets for my tanks and I can't get the things to skim and not suck air, I'd like it to sit on the rim of the tank too, the included hanger puts the top some 3cm higher than the rim and it just looks wrong. 

Anyone got any helpful hints before I ditch them?


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## erwin123 (30 Jul 2021)

The starting point is to set up the skimmer without the 'cap' on.  I'll call the vertical pipe you are supposed to insert the 'column' (manual calls it the 'vertical part')

(1) *Height: *Adjust the skimmer such that the plastic column is a few mm below the water surface and NOT sucking air without the cap on. The more space between the column and the water surface, the more leeway you have when water evaporates. I used a pipe cutter to make the 'long' column a few mm shorter. (the set comes with a short and long piece)

(2) *Rotate the column* to get the desired amount of suction (instructions below). This is a critical step as the flowrate of your canister may be different. If you rotate it too much, you'll be sucking in loads of air. If you rotate it the opposite way, *water will be coming out of the column like a fountain.* You may need to do this a few times till you get a good result as the correct setting depends on your flowrate







(3) If step (1) and (2) are ok, this is the step where you insert the 'cap' and the skimmer should work.  For the record my Canister is a Fluval 307 attached to a chiller so the flowrate has been reduced.


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## Garuf (30 Jul 2021)

I'll give it a whirl and see if I can crack it. I use eheim experience' so 500lph-700lph and 13mm tubing. The bend is identical to my lily pipes so if I can get it to stop sucking air I can trim the pipe and use suction cups rather than Neo's own hard ware presumably, these are after all just rather nicer versions of eheims tried and true crooks.


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## Garuf (31 Jul 2021)

Okay, notes on operation after hacking at the pipes and getting them how I like them. 
1, the long venturi pipe gives you a better surface clean and easier adjustment, it however puts the outake lower in the tank. A good compromise is to split the differnence between the two and chop 15mm off of it. This gives good draw and doesn't leave the outlet as deep in the tank. 
2. the outlet that comes with removable gaurds churns the flow befor sending it through the tank, I have had to up the co2 as it rises faster to the surface rather than blowing round the tank. I they may move more water, but in a weaker way, probably good for a betta tank. An outlet like the cal aqua nano which I have found always produced quiet good surface would give a double venturi and provide even better surface skimming. 
3, the filter gaurd outlet thing falls off, on all 3 of mine it just drops off, nothing a blob of superglue won't fix but if you have to run two, I can imagine the flow will likely just knock it off. 

So scores on the doors are a very good 6 out of 10. The brackets I don't like and have swapped to suckers. the ability to aim the flow is nice, BUT, a lily pipe would really make this a 9-10. The cut easily but scratch easily. The thing looks fine but it's definitely aesthetically worse than a lily pipe. 
Is it better than a standard surface skimmer? No, but it does work well enough that once the huge boon of it being plastic and highly choppable it is a totally servicable product. I'll add further thoughts once I've used them for more than 24 hours.


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## Psfor (7 Aug 2021)

As said above - careful tuning.  Much easier than the standard EA skimmers (on the outflow).  Once you've got it set the water level needs to be topped up in the heat every couple of days - there's no lid on my tank.  My other lily pip skimmers have elastic bands on and needed more attention.


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## Garuf (16 Sep 2021)

So after a longer period of use here are my thoughts.
Positives: 
Doesn’t suck leaves into the filter 
Skims very well
O2 and off gassing of co2 increased so higher injection rates are easier and tank is more stable.
Stays cleaner longer than a lily pipe. Functionally breakproof 
intake can be cut to any length - this one is a massive plus. 
Water is drawn at “full pull” at the deepest part of the tank.
Adjustable flow direction another massive plus.
If you don’t use the skimmer you can use the dennerle scapers flow lily on the outlet. 

Negatives:
Extremely fiddly to get set up more so the higher the flow rate. 
Outlet with no diffuser tends to act like a jet pipe and in my tank blew sand and substrate around (eheim experience 150/250&2213 on 20 40 and 30l tanks) 
Diffuser dulls the flow perhaps a little bit too much for some applications. 
With higher flow I found it impossible to use the “short” Venturi pipe without it sucking air. 
No lily or more conventional output adapter 
Diffuser is sort of ugly. 
Tank water level can only drop by a couple of Mm before it sucks air at a strong surface draw so daily small top offs are vital. 
The float seems to make adjustment more difficult and is prone to blocking - moving to use without the float on the 40l made surface draw more consistent and easier to set at the loss of tiny fish/shrimp safety. 
Diffuser isn’t fish safe with (very) small fish, the paddles that cause a turbulent flow have the effect of smashing the fish against them if they stray into the outlet. 
Surface skimmer doesn’t suck leaves into the filter. I have included this in both because I personally find daily netting out leaves preferable to having them in the difficult to clean filter rotting there yet those who have easy clean prefilters may find this preferable. 
Diffuser isn’t easy to clean and will fog if you use bleach so clean often rather than letting it get bad.


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## Garuf (16 Sep 2021)

It’s worth taking into account I’m using between 15-20x tank volume filters which I did to have redundancy/have filters to hand for bigger tanks when (not if) I up tank size so the jet pipe blowing stuff’bout likely won’t effect you like it does done me if your using 5-10x turnover that often is used as a bench mark for turnover.


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## Noob-dude-scaper (6 Nov 2021)

It`s not a bad set but has draw backs like most other surface skimmer sets,your basically exchanging one problem for another.
The whole set is compact and sleek, the inflow can be cut to suit the depth of the tank so no more inlet strainer sat at half depth. Having the strainer closer to the substrate catches more debris/dead plant matter.

It`s the design of the skimmer that`s the problem here, it can be a bugger to set but spending some time and you`ll get it spot on and once it is set you wont have to alter it.
The skimming idea itself is the fault, this skimmer just recycles floating matter back into the tank, yes it`ll break up any surface scum and blast it back into the water column and eventually said biofilm will be taken away with the strainer but its the floating debris that just gets skimmed off and blown back into the tank, over and over again so you`ll have to manually remove this waste, whereas the standard skimmer on the inflow will remove both biofilm and debris.

I`ve also noticed a huge increase in water evaporation due to the massive increase in surface agitation , a bonus on the increased surface agitation is an increase of 02 intake and my plants are `pearling` a lot sooner when lights come on as the water column  is saturated with 02 , I`ve not increased Co2 input so the only other variable is the agitation and i can now see why folk love spray bars .

I did a little video on YT on how they look in the tank so go have a look if your thinking of buying a set - Slinkyscapes.


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