Aquario Neo Skimmer - The world's shortest love affair

[Hufsa]

Ive had my eye on the Aquario Neo Skimmer for a while, thinking it could be a good solution for the idiotic shrimp that keep finding their way into my regular skimmer on a daily basis, circumventing the need for shrimp proof intake.
Ordered one before the weekend and today it arrived.
I got it out of the package, started to assemble the pieces and it promptly cracked



Im not generally the type to break things, so a lifespan of approximately two seconds for this piece of equipment was disappointing to say the least.
I contacted the store I got it from and they informed me that they had also broken one, and that Aquario doesnt provide a guarantee for them.
Aquario states that the pieces should be wet before assembled.
I cant find anything in the package that informs me of this, so im not sure how Aquario expects me to know about it

BEWARE: This thing is really delicate!

 

[_Maq_]

I guess you were expected to read the following more carefully:

자동등록방지를 위해 보안절차를 거치고 있습니다.​

Please prove that you are human.

 

[Garuf]

You’d think that there would be some good will in it from the shop, they have them available as spares.

If it were a bike part in the shop I work we’d replace it with very few questions asked. 🧐

 

[erwin123]

Two seconds is bad...I cracked the L connector after a few months . However, it is still surviving with the crack but I don't know for how long....😭

 

[Aqua sobriquet]

Not ideal but will thin CA glue wicked into the crack give you the opportunity to actually use it for a while?

 

[Hufsa]

You’d think that there would be some good will in it from the shop, they have them available as spares.

If it were a bike part in the shop I work we’d replace it with very few questions asked. 🧐

Yeah I dont know if its me that is the issue or the customer service in Norway, but it didnt seem like I would get a new one or a refund.
I settled for the second best thing which was make an angry forum post that will hopefully cost Aquario some sales

Not ideal but will thin CA glue wicked into the crack give you the opportunity to actually use it for a while?

I was planning to try this, I hope I can get at least a few months use out of it,
while I persuade my SO to make me a custom 3D printed one with all the features

 

[Wookii]

and the SunSun / APC Skimmer

Have you applied some mesh to the inside of this? If so, your shrimp shouldn't be able to get inside it. I only ever get the occasionally overambitious snail in mine.

 

[Hufsa]

Have you applied some mesh to the inside of this? If so, your shrimp shouldn't be able to get inside it. I only ever get the occasionally overambitious snail in mine.

A while ago I purchased a second SunSun skimmer to have on hand as a backup, and I have carefully removed the bars from the spare skimmer top to ensure the skimmer has the biggest intake area possible despite my modifications.
I havent glued it on like you have but I ran it for a long time with a mesh all around the sides, this worked ok but I would still find the occasional large shrimp in the skimmer, I suspect they are climbing over the top at night "mission impossible style", the little expletives

To try to make it 100% shrimp proof I made a second mesh that covers the top as well, however this one for some reason impacts the functioning of the skimmer and doesnt allow it to clear all the surface film. Very small shrimp occasionally "limbo" under the small gap at the bottom too, just to rub it in my face 🙄

Im pretty much 100% done with fishing out shrimp at this point and wanted something completely shrimp proof. The easiest way to do this seemed to be to stop trying to make the skimmer shrimp proof at all, just like the Aquario Neo skimmer setup. So they can jump in there to their little hearts content and immediately get yeeted back out into the tank so I wont have to deal with them

The build quality of the Neo Skimmer was an unexpected bump in the road, but im not done yet.
Im determined to win this war against the tiny idiotic crustaceans, and I dont care what it takes

 

[Wookii]

A while ago I purchased a second SunSun skimmer to have on hand as a backup, and I have carefully removed the bars from the spare skimmer top to ensure the skimmer has the biggest intake area possible despite my modifications.
I havent glued it on like you have but I ran it for a long time with a mesh all around the sides, this worked ok but I would still find the occasional large shrimp in the skimmer, I suspect they are climbing over the top at night "mission impossible style", the little expletives
View attachment 191562

To try to make it 100% shrimp proof I made a second mesh that covers the top as well, however this one for some reason impacts the functioning of the skimmer and doesnt allow it to clear all the surface film. Very small shrimp occasionally "limbo" under the small gap at the bottom too, just to rub it in my face 🙄
View attachment 191561

Im pretty much 100% done with fishing out shrimp at this point and wanted something completely shrimp proof. The easiest way to do this seemed to be to stop trying to make the skimmer shrimp proof at all, just like the Aquario Neo skimmer setup. So they can jump in there to their little hearts content and immediately get yeeted back out into the tank so I wont have to deal with them

The build quality of the Neo Skimmer was an unexpected bump in the road, but im not done yet.
Im determined to win this war against the tiny idiotic crustaceans, and I dont care what it takes

Nice DIY work! You've used a fairly large hole mesh though. I suspect the weight of the stainless mesh, and the fact that you've increased the size of the weir opening might also be what affected the functioning. You might want to try a rework with some finer plastic mesh. This was my effort:

The water level only covers the bottom couple of millimetres of the weir, so there is not much scope for the shrimp to gain access. Does your sit lower than that in the water?