A few things I didn't address in my nervousness: I am completely ruling out fish disease (these fish have been healthy for a lot of time, I have NO sick fish at the moment in any of my tanks), age (these are not old fish), new fish syndrome (they are not new), shock (I ALWAYS acclimate my fish properly even if I switch tanks), or any other factor that might suggest they just died on their own. It's not the case. I also am 100% sure the Betta did not attack them, Hellboy is the most peaceful Betta I have ever owned, he's never chased, pinched or even flare at any other creature, he cannot be bothered, only flares occasionally at his reflection. This is why I am keeping him in this community of small fish and shrimps without hesitation. The chilis are also not defenseless or slow! I do not use algaecides, or other potentially hazardous substances. I always use water dechlorinator at water changes. I dose my fertilizers properly and have not ever had issues in any of my tanks with excess nutrients. This is also not a new tank it is very well cycled and balanced. Looking back.. I see my fish got stuck vertically basicly in between those 'blades'. Even if he tried to escape, the blades are thick and cover at least half his body in thickness, so that immobilized him even more. Also the lack of space in between that cage and the exterior cylinder did not allow for any type of wiggle room. I t is abundantly clear to me that the fish was stuck alive... uffff...
Hi, I think without the strainer more and bigger animals will get stuck in there. Some people have it on a timer to free the animals, I just chose it’s not worth the hassle and anxiety and stopped using it.. not using skimmers at all now, the biofilm disappears once the tank is balanced anyway :)
Hi there, I think you can turn the flow down on the skimmer which will make it so that the fish won’t get sucked in and may also be the reason it was sucking air into the tank
The reason why they leave those 4 drops with bigger holes on the filter is to catch small debris inside of the top part, like pieces of plants and such. They didn't think about small fishes and shallow tanks with the power release from the bottom. That thing must work great for bigger tanks! The one you have for the glass is the best! Thanks!
Yeah, can confirm this issue. Last week I brought some Killifish Lampeye. They were very young, probably 1cm, very tiny and at the same time I bought the Oase 350. It killed 3 of them. I was using it correctly, but for what I saw, when a fish enters there, there's no escape. So be careful with it. It seems a really nice skimmer, but I'll only use it when my killies get bigger.
I can confirm as well, the skimmer is not small fish safe:( I recently bought a beautiful group of Tucano Tetras and it killed one of them within a few hours. Luckily I checked the Skimmer (I have also the 350) the same day and found this little guy death in it, that was so shocking. I managed to improve the skimmer and made it really small fish safe - i wrapped a small piece of mesh (e.g. a mosquito mesh) around the transparent ring on the top of the skimmer (only cover the water intake on the sides) and fixed it with a cable tie. Works perfect and the skimmer function is not affected.
Why dont you put some filter foam or fly screen to the top of it. It's an easy little modification you can do. Ive done it to my oase crystal skimmer and did not lose and have not lost any shrimp or small fish!!!! Also i attached some right angle tubing to the bottom of the skimmer so the water flows outwards not downwards.
You can 3D print another type of " crown " for the skimmer so it won't be able to suck in the fishes/shrimps. As I remember Juris did the 3D printed crown, check it out.
Hmmm so I need to ask for a 3d printer from Santa this year, got it! Lol jokes aside, yea we were thinking of investing in one at some point, gotta find some money for it first 😊
Skimmer that eats fish...well thats unfortunately a golden standard for the majority of skimmers on the market. I don't know what are the manufacturers thinking about when they make a skimmer? It should have dual purpose; skim the surface and don't suck up the fish. Is it that hard to make? I have noticed that skimmers that have fast rotating skimmer head above the water don't suck up the fish. I guess fish are afraid of fast moving parts and avoid them. Cheers
Don’t want to be a downer but I think you have the skimmer mounted to low looking at the instructions on page 9 the skimmer is mounted a lot higher as the grill is a lot more prominent above the water line?
@Danny-MOG it is too low, it shows you right in the manual how to set it up so fish can not enter. They show 4 different ways to use the skimmer, and they state that having it setup like you did will not protect fish.
I'm so sorry, Danny 😥 Poor little fish, that's terrible, I feel so sorry for them, poor little guys. I have small fish as well including one baby currently in a separate tank but who will move to the big tank with the adult fish soon, and I just bought a skimmer but will absolutely put a net or something on top (I have no issues with biofilm on the water surface thankfully, mainly want the skimmer for a bit of flow). It is a transparent skimmer so I should be able to see if any of my little fish get sucked in, but I don't trust any skimmer, so I will definitely put a net on top as well to prevent any of them getting in the skimmer in the first place. Thank you for sharing this, hopefully it will save other little fish from getting trapped.
We have to inspect and use critical thinking before using these tools with our investments. If anyone has small livestock, place fine mesh in some fashion around the inlets of lily pipes, skimmers, etc
What we have to do is hold brands responsible for the garbage they sometimes write in their manuals.. it's not my job to reassess every stupid little product that might be beyond my competence sometimes, in order to utilise it fast, without wasting time. You know? just a warning in their manual, that's all, it's their job to test the over priced products they sell to us..
A few things I didn't address in my nervousness: I am completely ruling out fish disease (these fish have been healthy for a lot of time, I have NO sick fish at the moment in any of my tanks), age (these are not old fish), new fish syndrome (they are not new), shock (I ALWAYS acclimate my fish properly even if I switch tanks), or any other factor that might suggest they just died on their own. It's not the case. I also am 100% sure the Betta did not attack them, Hellboy is the most peaceful Betta I have ever owned, he's never chased, pinched or even flare at any other creature, he cannot be bothered, only flares occasionally at his reflection. This is why I am keeping him in this community of small fish and shrimps without hesitation. The chilis are also not defenseless or slow! I do not use algaecides, or other potentially hazardous substances. I always use water dechlorinator at water changes. I dose my fertilizers properly and have not ever had issues in any of my tanks with excess nutrients. This is also not a new tank it is very well cycled and balanced. Looking back.. I see my fish got stuck vertically basicly in between those 'blades'. Even if he tried to escape, the blades are thick and cover at least half his body in thickness, so that immobilized him even more. Also the lack of space in between that cage and the exterior cylinder did not allow for any type of wiggle room. I t is abundantly clear to me that the fish was stuck alive... uffff...
Happened here too last night. Now took out the grille to see how it goes... This never happened with my eheim 😢
I have watched videos on the oase skimmer, it can be used without the strainer.
Don't know if the water sucktion would still harm small fish ?
Hi, I think without the strainer more and bigger animals will get stuck in there. Some people have it on a timer to free the animals, I just chose it’s not worth the hassle and anxiety and stopped using it.. not using skimmers at all now, the biofilm disappears once the tank is balanced anyway :)
I wonder if the smaller model they make is any better. This info is very useful to know.
Hi, when I purchased this skimmer this was the smaller model, I don’t know if they have an even smaller one 🤔
Hi there, I think you can turn the flow down on the skimmer which will make it so that the fish won’t get sucked in and may also be the reason it was sucking air into the tank
Hi, sadly reducing the flow doesn't make much difference, it's still strong 🤷🏻♀️
The reason why they leave those 4 drops with bigger holes on the filter is to catch small debris inside of the top part, like pieces of plants and such. They didn't think about small fishes and shallow tanks with the power release from the bottom. That thing must work great for bigger tanks!
The one you have for the glass is the best! Thanks!
Yeah, can confirm this issue. Last week I brought some Killifish Lampeye. They were very young, probably 1cm, very tiny and at the same time I bought the Oase 350. It killed 3 of them. I was using it correctly, but for what I saw, when a fish enters there, there's no escape. So be careful with it. It seems a really nice skimmer, but I'll only use it when my killies get bigger.
Same thing happened to me, killed 3 of my fish and about 30 shrimp. It’s not fit for purpose and should be sold with a disclaimer.
I've heard the following tip: turn it off and on every 15 minutes to allow fish/shrimplets to escape.
Sorry for you and your little fishs. Thanks for the warning
I can confirm as well, the skimmer is not small fish safe:(
I recently bought a beautiful group of Tucano Tetras and it killed one of them within a few hours. Luckily I checked the Skimmer (I have also the 350) the same day and found this little guy death in it, that was so shocking. I managed to improve the skimmer and made it really small fish safe - i wrapped a small piece of mesh (e.g. a mosquito mesh) around the transparent ring on the top of the skimmer (only cover the water intake on the sides) and fixed it with a cable tie. Works perfect and the skimmer function is not affected.
I’m really sorry this happened :( poor things. And poor you. Sending love ❤️
Why dont you put some filter foam or fly screen to the top of it. It's an easy little modification you can do. Ive done it to my oase crystal skimmer and did not lose and have not lost any shrimp or small fish!!!!
Also i attached some right angle tubing to the bottom of the skimmer so the water flows outwards not downwards.
@imGlobL hey hi can you make a video or someyhing that u described how you safe the small ones from skimmer
fish names of ur tank please
Surface skimmers are never recommended when you have fish that mostly swim at the top
You can 3D print another type of " crown " for the skimmer so it won't be able to suck in the fishes/shrimps. As I remember Juris did the 3D printed crown, check it out.
Hmmm so I need to ask for a 3d printer from Santa this year, got it! Lol jokes aside, yea we were thinking of investing in one at some point, gotta find some money for it first 😊
Thanks Danny for the evaluation 👍
Skimmer that eats fish...well thats unfortunately a golden standard for the majority of skimmers on the market. I don't know what are the manufacturers thinking about when they make a skimmer? It should have dual purpose; skim the surface and don't suck up the fish. Is it that hard to make? I have noticed that skimmers that have fast rotating skimmer head above the water don't suck up the fish. I guess fish are afraid of fast moving parts and avoid them. Cheers
Don’t want to be a downer but I think you have the skimmer mounted to low looking at the instructions on page 9 the skimmer is mounted a lot higher as the grill is a lot more prominent above the water line?
Hi, nope it's mounted correctly, that's just a drawing. Any higher and it won't actually skim 😊
@Danny-MOG it is too low, it shows you right in the manual how to set it up so fish can not enter.
They show 4 different ways to use the skimmer, and they state that having it setup like you did will not protect fish.
I'm so sorry, Danny 😥 Poor little fish, that's terrible, I feel so sorry for them, poor little guys. I have small fish as well including one baby currently in a separate tank but who will move to the big tank with the adult fish soon, and I just bought a skimmer but will absolutely put a net or something on top (I have no issues with biofilm on the water surface thankfully, mainly want the skimmer for a bit of flow). It is a transparent skimmer so I should be able to see if any of my little fish get sucked in, but I don't trust any skimmer, so I will definitely put a net on top as well to prevent any of them getting in the skimmer in the first place. Thank you for sharing this, hopefully it will save other little fish from getting trapped.
That's the worst feeling, trusting a product that causes damage. And then realizing that it costed lives of innocent creatures.
I'm going to put some window screen mesh on mine as a precaution.
Great colours! Very nice.
I am so very sorry Danny. That’s just awful.😢
You could just remove the fish guard
They get stuck to the sponge or can swim through the centre guard.
No Skimmer is safe for small fish!
Then it shouldn’t be advertised as such.
We have to inspect and use critical thinking before using these tools with our investments. If anyone has small livestock, place fine mesh in some fashion around the inlets of lily pipes, skimmers, etc
What we have to do is hold brands responsible for the garbage they sometimes write in their manuals.. it's not my job to reassess every stupid little product that might be beyond my competence sometimes, in order to utilise it fast, without wasting time. You know? just a warning in their manual, that's all, it's their job to test the over priced products they sell to us..
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