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So what does everyone use to agitate the water surface to keep it from getting slimy/oily looking? I have a 125 gallon tank with ATBA.

Thx for input.

The output from your canister filter is usually enough. You can also buy a circulation pump like a Maxi jet. I use both. I suppose a air stone might also work but they create micro bubbles that get trapped in filters so I'm not a fan of them.

I second using a canister filter. The beauty is that it doesn't take much. You can also use a bubble wand/decoration for some turtle entertainment.

Eheim also makes a surface skimmer attachment for canister filters. It's designed to pull water from the surface (skimming) and from the bottom of the tank.

http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Aquarium- ... aQod7rIAcg

Have you tried it? At one time I had the Fluval version, but it would not work well with the turtles. They would either nip at it or make a lot of waves that disrupted it.

I have the Fluval (actually Tom brand) on my Rena XP4 right now for surface skimming and it's terrible. The eheim version is significantly better and is a completely different design. It surface skims with a floating swing arm intake and pulls from the bottom of the tank. I've use the eheim one before but never in a turtle tank. I'm looking to fit some sort of adapter onto the eheim so I can use it with the FX5 and ditch my XP4.

Kansasslider wrote:The output from your canister filter is usually enough. You can also buy a circulation pump like a Maxi jet. I use both. I suppose a air stone might also work but they create micro bubbles that get trapped in filters so I'm not a fan of them.

Do the micro bubbles getting trapped in the filters a problem? In all types of filters or canisters?

That probably depends on the amount, but I haven't had that problem with my XP3 filters.