Alright, I recently changed tanks from a 30 tall to a 30 square and added a sump and protein skimmer to the tank. I didn't know much about protein skimmers except the fact that i was going to need to sell a kidney to get one. I see this skimmer on aquatraders, i think, offering a protein skimmer for $30. I get it of course in my newb status. I have been messing with this thing daily for about 20 days, while looking for the slim reviews anyone has on it (there is nothing that has details of how others have made theirs work; details, details, details people).

I have mine in a ten gallon sump with a single baffle design. I have the overflow draining right next to the protein skimmer's power head inlet, so it collects the fresh dirt.

- The filter pads have been taken off both inlet and outlets of the protein skimmer.

- Get a new air hose, because the one they give you sucks (and you don't need that valve regulator; but keep it for other stuff in the future).

- the air hose needs to be in the biggest inlet spot of the powerhead (there is a triangle configuration on the attachment they give you. Use the one with the biggest inlet space; it is one of the outer triangles, not the center!!!!)
- Make sure the air hose is positioned on top
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- The water level in the chamber needs to be kind of high. I set mine to where i can see bubbles makes a ring at the entrance of the waste cup. If this is confusing i will post a picture to show what i mean.

*Very important: This protein skimmer is like an old Volkswagen bug. Meaning you are going to fiddle with it a little each day and any time you turn it off, it takes it a long while to work back up. In fact any changes; take off the air hose, to much gook gets stuck in the power head inlet, anything. This thing is fickle, but this is a hobby and hobbies require constant attention. If you didn't have to attend to things than this wouldn't be fun.

This thing is worth it for the money you pay, don't know how long the parts are going to hold up, we shall see.