RV77 Lily Pipe Inflow Outflow Pipe Kit, Stainless Steel Inflow Outflow for Aquarium Planted Tank, Surface Skimme Inflow and Outflow Pipe Set Removes Surface Scum Pipe

Merci

Installed this set yesterday and loving it so far. I was in need of a surface skimmer for my co2 injected planted tank and did not want to go with fragile glass. I did not want to plumb in bulky ugly plastic parts either. So far this is working fantastic with my Penn-Plax Cascade 1000 canister filter. Even at full power, it does not suction the floating acrylic guard underwater.There were a couple things though.. first off, this set appears to be a random Chinese brand, which I slightly expected with the generic Amazon listing. Also the box of the set was not sealed in any way but it appeared brand new and all the parts were included. Each pipe had a plastic wrapper over it to prevent scratching. The acrylic parts, including holder and screws felt sturdy, but I'm not sure how much use the screws can get before becoming stripped.Second, the steel lily pipe or outflow pipe was not as depicted. It is actually a three piece construction instead of one solid piece. The three piece has a connector between the body and the end of the pipe allowing the user to rotate or turn the direction of the outflow. When cleaning the parts, I accidentally pulled the pieces apart and took a little bit for me to get it back together. There is a thin rubber gasket in between to make a seal, but it was also lubricated to allow the parts to move smoothly. However upon putting it in my tank, I believe it left an oil slick the the surface of my water. Though I ramped up the suction of my filter intake and it cleared the oil substance quickly. I also originally used a spray bar, so having a "jet" style outflow creates a different flow in my tank but I think it is still adequate with my nano circulation pump.As for the surface skimmer, no instructions were included in this set, at all. While it's relatively easy and self explanatory to install, how to properly use the surface skimmer was not. On the bottom of the intake, there is a plastic knob that can be turned to adjust the intake rate. This model does not come with a stick in the pipe to control the flow. You will have to turn the knob underwater. Though I personally prefer this, as the design of my tank would not allow an external knob on top of the floating acrylic guard. On first install, I struggled to get the skimmer to work. I fully opened and closed the intake on the bottom and the results were the same. The acrylic guard would float above the water, not sucking anything in. I had to do some light research to figure out how to adjust the buoyancy of the float. You will need a pipette, dosing syringe with airline tubing 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 airline tubing and suction a little air out from under the acrylic float. This worked perfectly, as it brought the float lower and is now suctioning the surface. I have enough suction to create a mini vortex going into the pipe.Overall, I'm satisfied with my purchase but only time will tell how these hold up. The pipes feel solid and sturdy, the weld on the intake did not show any problems. Many other reviews for random stainless steel pipes show signs of rusting after a month or so. Hoping these will last a good amount of time, as I love these over the original stock cascade pieces.