Review on RV77 Outflow Stainless Aquarium Planted by Tiffany Scofield

Installed this kit yesterday and still love it. I needed a surface skimmer for my tank of carbon dioxide injected plants and didn't want to use breakable glass. I also didn't want to get stuck in bulky ugly plastic parts. This has worked fantastic so far with my Penn-Plax Cascade 1000 canister filter. Even at full power it doesn't suck up the floating acrylic screen underwater. Still, there were a few points. First of all, this set looks like a random Chinese brand, which I was a bit expecting from the general Revain list. Also, the box with the set was not sealed in any way, it looked like new and all the parts were included. Each tube was wrapped in plastic wrap to prevent scratches. The acrylic pieces, including the holder and screws, seemed sturdy, but I'm not sure how much the screws can be used before they snap. Second, the steel lily pipe or exhaust pipe was not as pictured. It's actually a three piece construction, not a solid one. The three parts have a connector between the body and the end of the tube that allows the user to twist or turn the outflow direction. While cleaning the parts I accidentally pulled the parts apart and it took me a little while to put them back together. There is a thin rubber gasket between them for sealing, but this has also been lubricated to allow the parts to move smoothly. However, when I put it in my aquarium, I think it left an oily stain on the surface of my water. Even though I increased the suction of my filter, it quickly removed the oily substance. I also originally used a spray bar, so a "jet" outflow creates a different flow in my tank, but I think that still suffices with my nano recirculation pump. As for the surface skimmer, there were no instructions at all in this kit. While installation is relatively easy and self-explanatory, there was no way to properly use a surface skimmer. There is a plastic knob on the bottom of the air inlet to adjust the suction speed. This model comes without a rod in the flow control tube. You have to turn the knob underwater. Although personally I prefer this as my aquarium design does not allow for an external grip on the floating acrylic guard. When I first installed it I struggled to get the skimmer to work. I fully opened and closed the air intake from the bottom and the results were the same. The acrylic protection floats above the water without sucking anything. I had to do a little research to figure out how to adjust the float's buoyancy. You will need a dropper, metering syringe with an air hose, or something similar to remove or add air under the float. Since mine was above the water level, I took my dosing syringe attached to a small piece of air tubing and sucked some air out from under the acrylic float. This worked great when the float went down and is now sucking the surface. I have enough suction to create a small vortex going down the pipe. Overall I'm happy with my purchase but only time will tell how they hold up. The tubes feel solid and strong, the inlet welding showed no problems. Many other reviews of random stainless steel tubing show signs of rusting after a month or so. I hope they last as I love them over the original cascade parts.