IM Fusion Pro 40 Filtration

[djbetterly]

My new Fusion 40 is cycling at the moment, so I'm doing my preliminary research at the moment for filtration and such. The aquarium comes stock with a filter sock on one side, and media basket on the other. I'm not a huge fan of filter socks, nor do I feel the tiny skimmers do much with such small water volume, so what can be suggested for filtration in that one overflow chamber?
 

also, what is the consensus on the small skimmers, so they actually work?

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

I would add just another media basket. Maybe run filter floss and some kind of bio media on one side, and then filter floss and something like carbon or chemi pure blue on the other. 
 

I’ve seen people run skimmers on much smaller tanks, even down to 5 gallons, and it seems like they do what they are supposed to. With that said, I think using a skimmer would depend on possibly two things: stocking level of fish (or rather, how much food you will be feeding), and your “philosophy” on how you want to run your tank i.e. low tech relying on the natural biology of the aquarium to process nutrients, high tech with skimmers/reactors/chemicals to maintain balance, a mix of both, etc. 

[debbeach13]

Hi djbettery

I only have an IM10. I used the filter sock in chamber 1 when I first set up the tank for just a few weeks. Then I swapped it out for the media basket with carbon and filter pad. Now I sometimes use the sock when doing water changes if I sucked up algae, so it doesn't go down the drain. The use of skimmers in nano tanks is a long running debate. I used one on my 40B. Loved emptying that dirty cup LOL. I am not running one on my 20L or the IM10 and just doing a W/C every other week.