One thing that is difficult to find for nano tanks (and even when you do find it, it usually gets debated upon) is the use of protein skimmers (or at least finding the right one) in our systems. Those of you that follow me on 3reef forums, have probably seen my unboxing thread of the Hydor Slim Skim Nano. I got it back in September of this past year, so I’ve had it for several months. I am now running it in my sump (opposed to in the display like I first did) and have to say I am very pleased with how it’s performed. Read further, after the bump.

I hadn’t heard much of it, but what I had heard about the Hydor Slim Skim was that it was quiet and compact, which is always nice for any tank, really, but especially for nano tanks. I already have three Koralia nano 425 powerheads in my 29 gallon and I was pleased with them, so I figured I’d give Hydor another shot, this time with their skimmer.

The first thing I noticed when I received this skimmer is its small size. With a square footprint of  3 1/8”, it should fit in just about any aquarium. With an ideal water depth of 11” suggested by Hydor, I figured I would have had a bit of trouble getting it to work in my 10g sump, but it worked fine with a bit of acrylic to raise the water level in my sump.

Assembly – I was surprised as to how simple this skimmer is to take apart and clean. Assembly is relativity easy, with a bit of help from the manual provided by Hydor.

There were a few things I was disappointed with in the construction of the skimmer, but I do not think each of them are a big deal on their own. I’ll explain a bit more below.

The front of the two removable acrylic panels fit a bit lose in its slot, but this has not become a problem.

The hole in the top of the skimmer cup, meant to hold the end of the airline knob, is larger than the airline tube. So it sets pretty loose in the hole.

One feature that caught my eye was the use of Hydor’s magnets; they are the same ones they use for the Koralia Nano (425 and 240gph) powerheads. These magnets are detachable from the skimmer body, which makes for an even smaller footprint in your tank.

Lastly, the cup is made of thin acrylic which is sloped on the bottom. This makes a good skimmer neck, but is somewhat difficult to clean with even a toothbrush.

Below, we have include a video by Marc Callahan, with the Slim Skim on his ‘Sexy Tank’.

Looking Back: I am quite satisfied with this skimmer. It is rated for 35 gallons, so with my display and sump, I’m close to that. I had 5ppm NO3 levels when I ran my previous skimmer. Over  a few months, I saw that drop down to 3, then 2, and now nitrates are undetectable in my system (with Red Sea ad API test kits). I do not currently have fish in my tank at this time, but am hoping to get some soon. This is a great skimmer and I have recommended it to many people with nano tanks. If this alone does not work for my system, I have also purchased biopellets and am considering running them in a reactor.