A way to avoid surface scum

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
...
My son's 29g sumpless FOWLR kept getting surface scum, which inhibits gas
exchange. I was sick of it, so I built this little box to help keep the
surface
clean.

view from top:
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1203/skimmer_box.jpg

view in-tank:
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1203/skimmer_box1.jpg

The idea was to have the water pour into a chamber that the skimmer's Mag
5
could slurp out, so the surface remains clean.

My goal is to eventually make a box that is slightly bouyant so that it
will
automatically adjust as the water level changes (due to evaporation), but
for
now I just put together a clear box. It is working perfectly, but topping
off
water each day is going to be very important to avoid the pump running
dry.

This box is 6 x 4.5 x 7, with a separate hanging bracket that was added
afterwards to fit over the rim of the tank. A Mag 5 fits in there, but
because
of the way the Remora Pro is designed, the inlet to the pump is way too
close to
the (inner) wall of the box. I didn't want to trim the inlet of the pump
permanently, so I'll make a different box, probably out of black acrylic,
later.

I do not get it, Marc. Since you have tools to make SUMP and Tank, why don't
you just make a grill on upper portion of that box as a overflow filter
method? This way, it will skim the surface and fall down to the filter and
no need to worry about evaporation of the water level that you set to.

CapFusion,...