Hey Gang..... Hydor, the company that gave us the Hydor-Flo, Koralias and other neat stuff for our Nanos, will soon be coming out with a new skimmer. We all know it's slim pickin's for an internal skimmer. And Hydors' Slim Skim looks like it has some promise.



I first saw it on Reef-Builders a few months ago. And now R-B has done a "hands on" article on it, here's a link to the article:

http://reefbuilders.com/2010/08/09/hydor-s...-skimmer-kinds/

So keep an eye on it to arrive at your favorite LFS sometime this fall!

Didn't click the link but what's the price tag look like.

Don't know.... it's not here in the states yet. But I would imagine coming from Hydor, it would be reasonable.

Hope so, I'd like to make a small pico aoi around it.

Very interested in the dimensions...

DO I smell a great modification design on the way for this not yet released bad boy. If so I want to to be the first to review it.

Looks like it has a square design to start with which is the selling point of the upgraded cup. The big question is what is the depth. Looks like a little bit more than an i-phone and would fit in the BC29, solana , maybe RSM def not the NC28 but maybe the NC24.

Big test will be performance and more over micobubbles. Hell if they become popular and Tunze cups drop in sales, I could always just sell the hydor . It is a very simple design even more than the Tunze which may or may not hurt the micorbubble factor.

Measures about 7� x 4.25’ x 17.75� and is rated for tanks up to 65 gallons (48 gallons heavily stocked). Initial pricing is around £149.99 ($252 USD) in the UK

Woah $252.

No idea why the letters are all messed up on their article but is that 7" wide and 4.25" deep?? Can't be if square like pictured with the iPhone next to it.

http://reefbuilders.com/2009/11/17/slim-sk...mer-from-hydor/

is the photo with the iphone the slim skim, or the slim skim nano?

So with the skimmer intake at the top, would this design require the skimmer to be placed only in the display area of a AIO cube? I am trying to think if any chamber has a high enough water level to make this work, unless of course it is modded.

Schwimm

Picture with the iPhone is the Slim Skim, not the nano.

Here is the Nano beside the regular one: Slim Skim and Nano

$99 - $149 for the nano version

Looks alot like the stock SOlona skimmer cup too.

If it's as good of quality as the koralias I would avoid like a plague.

Koralia powerheads?

buh? i've always been happy with my koralia powerheads..

Skimmer looks like the bastard child of an Urchin, Sapphire and CPR backpak

Maybe it's the best of all 3???

The only way that this would be of any real benefit is if the Slim Skim Nano can be incorporated into the rear chambers of the NanoCube or BioCube without significant modifications (specifically it would need to fit in the NanoCube 28g inside left/right chambers (adjacent to central) due to the return line elbows in the outer left/right chambers preventing it from being inserted. With where the intake grill is located, and that it is flush on one side, I can't see this being the case as water flow would either be blocked or the water level to hard to maintain. This is a major design oversight if this is the case as you automatically exclude a huge population of tanks.

Great for more competition and a lower price point to hopefully compete with and bring down the prices of the Tunze and AquaC skimmers, but I guess we won't know for sure until they hit the market. Looks promising though.

That is the way it looks to me as well. It looks like the only way to make this work in a chamber area would be to drill holes on the lower front panel so the holes are under the waterline in the chamber. This would take away the cool surface skimming function though.

OK, so I talked to the Hydor guys at MACNA 2010. The smaller one will be priced at about $90 and is 4x4". So it will not fit in the BC29 or most AIO's but it will fit in the RSM. It may fit in the Solana I do not know the dimension for that one yet. They are proud of the performance and expect it out very soon. I for one am glad to see a product made out of acrylic even if it is Chinese plastic assembled in Italy.

They did not have a unit on hand.

Well that sucks!! They really limited themselves as far as market goes! I was really hoping for a nice drop-in skimmer alternative to Tunze.

Guess I'll stay with the ol' Sapphire skimmer a little longer!

zactly what I told them. And I thanked them for it

Tuzne apparently has something in the works but it is at least one year off. Sounds like a better cup design, wonder where they got that idea They injection mold all parts so any changes to design take time.

Would this fit the rsm 250 and the lid close? Might be a good replacement if it does.

UPDATE.....

Good News, gang!

Over on R-B they have a story about the Hydor Slim Skim prototype skimmer. Down in the comments section the hydor rep stated that the Slim Skim nano skimmers' dimensions are 3.3" wide x 3" front to back and is 13" high. It is rated for tanks under 40 gallons and best of all, should retail for less than a $100 bucks!

So I whipped out the ol' tape measure and VOILA!! There's room to spare! The articel goes on to say that the skimmers are still undergoing some design tweaks. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for this one.

http://reefbuilders.com/2010/09/23/hydor-s...pe-falls-hands/

UPDATE

Hey gang, here is an update to the Hydor Slim skim nano skimmer with new pics:

http://reefbuilders.com/2010/12/01/hydors-...ternal-skimmer/

Im surprised you guys arent using this This ones been out for a while now, same size as this hydor one, just a few inches shorter

Write-up

So is it a needle wheel? I would hate to see another venturi.

I was read one of the articles and they said they hesitate to call it a needle wheel. WHat is it than?

Mitch... I think it's a "hybrid" needle wheel? I've read the Aero pump produces very fine bubbles. Here's more info on the larger slim skim that was actually taken apart with pics.

http://reefbuilders.com/2010/08/09/hydor-s...-skimmer-kinds/

This will be amazing. Any ideas when it will hit the market?

Good News!!

I just got an e-mail today from one of N-Rs' sponsors, Premium Aquatics, and they informed me they just received these just yesterday!

So.....

Who's gonna be the guinea pig???

I will be getting one of these
http://premiumaquatics.com/store/merchant....;Category_Code=

Isnt this the company that went belly up a while ago?

Say it aint so....

You might be thinking of sapphire aquatics.

keep us posted on the install and performance of it

Haha it will be a long time before this happens. 5 months+. Imma slow going reefer

I would have considered this but I know you have to "half" the skimmers ratings for it to be usable. I have a solana 34. It might do a great job on a 20 though...

I received my new Hydor Nano-skim yesterday and will be hopefully installing it in my standard rectangle 29g tank this weekend. Unfortunately, the tank is at my fiance's house over 2 hours away, so I won't be able to keep a close eye on it myself. If it starts acting up or whatever, I'll have to just tell her to shut it down til I can get up there again the next weekend. At any rate, just handling it, it seems like a pretty cool little rig. Remains to be seen how it performs, but this tank is on the newer side and doesn't even have any fish in it yet.

That's O.K., keep us posted and you know pics would be nice to!




Shooter... Is your 29g tank a Bio-Cube? If so, let us know how the install went. I'd also like to hear if this skimmer goes through a "break-in" period like with most skimmers, and if you get any micro bubbles in the tank. Let us know.

Nope, like I said, it's a standard rectangle 29g. Went basic with this tank as it's kind of a "transitional" tank to hold corals and some fish from my big tank, as I ponder what I'm going to do a little over a year from now when I hopefully have a new house built. Already had a 29g standard and stand, local guy made me a canopy, and already had a retrofit 150w MH setup, so here I am. At any rate, it will be hard for me to watch this from long distance, but I'll be there at least every other weekend or so, and usually more often. Will have my fiance' watch it and take pics for me to hopefully be able to see how it's doing.

His 29G is a standard rectangle tank he said. lol.
Want to see what this skimmer looks like installed.

Me too... thanks for reminding me, need to grab my camera for this little trip so I can take some pics of it. I'm bumming because I'll get up there Fri evening and have to leave Sat evening, so won't get much time with it. Hope it's easy to set...

I can't wait to see how well it works, keep us posted!

I'm using a Tunze 9002 with Stevie's Cup and Media Rack and honestly, I can't get the darn thing to skim - either no skim or watery skim. I've been playing with the water level to no avail. Mind you, Stevie's mods are awesome, it's the skimmer itself that is very disapointing, especially considering the amount of money it goes for

astralmind, I updated on the actual Hydor Slim Skim Nano thread.... see here:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...20&start=20

Ummm... This actually is the Hydor Slim Skim Nano thread. I started it well before the other one.

Now if only we can get someone to try this in an AIO set-up to see if it will fit in the rear chambers or not!

Shooter... Any updates on how the skimmer is doing? Pics?

I'm at my GF's house right now, a week after installing this skimmer. I am happy to report that there are no microbubbles emitting from the unit at this point. Zero. None. It finally started making some foam, and just a little while ago I emptied the cup for the first time after a week of startup time and it had about a quarter inch of green tea colored skimmate in it with the cup set at the "startup" position as indicated in the book that came with it. I don't really have any pics to add at this point. I am a little disappointed in one thing. One reason I got this was because it was set to take water off the surface of the tank for its input, and I was hoping that it would really clear off the surface film. Thus far, it has only done a moderate at best job of doing that. I need to get some extra flow in there to get a bit more turbulence on the surface.

Added my clownfish and a couple snails from my big tank. Haven't been able to chase down my chromis and leopard wrasse yet in a tank the size of my 120g. Just too much running space for the zippy chromis, and the wrasse just hides. Think I'm gonna have to wait til I drain it to get them.

Reef-Builders has a neat vid of the Slim Skim Nano skimmer in operation. Looks like it's producing so much foam it blew the lid off the collection cup!

http://reefbuilders.com/2010/12/21/hydors-...r-action-video/

Still don't know though if this will fit in the back of our AIOs'!