Little Giant SK5, 5000 GPH Pond Skimmer, 20" x 25.95" x 23.25" high

I am so glad I decided to get this! It skins all the falling debris off the top of the pond before it can sink and dirty the bottom. The only downside is it was hard to guess where the water line would be, but that was because I was new. Next time will be easier.

About this unit hoping that it would help me have a near maintenance-free pond. So far so good. This is a well-designed and very sturdy unit that I'm sure will last for many years. I also bought an Aquascape pump to install with this unit and together they do a wonderful job helping me to maintain my pond. This unit contains several brushes which hang inside of the unit collecting small particles which the netting that catches the heavier debris such as leaves allows to flow by.

I purchased my house with a fish pond installed which I swore I'd fill in once the spring thaw came... I then saw the first fish and started a pump to circulate water and within days had fallen "in love" with the pond. The pond didn't have key features like a skimmer so I went looking for one. I decided on this one since I didn't want to install the skimmer on the side of the lining (I was afraid to cut into the lining) and this one's height was perfect to sit in the bottom of my pond and skim. The skimmer features are great. My pump fits in comfortably on it's side. The skimmer opens/closes okay. The cover has a hole so I can weigh it with sand (otherwise it can float up and tip). The reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that cleaning it is sub-optimal. There are two pieces that occasionally need cleaning. The first is a net which catches the debris that enters the skimmer. The net rests at a side-ways angle and when you pull it up you need to maintain this angle so that it fits in between horizontal bars within the filter. When you pull it out a portion of the debris tips out of the net and stays in the skimmer (thereby going into the pump area). You can then manually scoop out the debris or hope it goes through your pump okay. I wish this had more of a design like a pool filter where almost all of the debris comes out when you clean the filter. The other piece you sometimes need to clean are the brushes that are hung inside. You need to clean these *rarely* (only when they get "clogged" and the filter isn't getting a high-enough rate of water) but when you pull them out the brushes tend to fall of the rod easily because they fill the rod completely and the rod ends are slip-on pieces of rubber that don't hold well. So you can't wash it (easily) as one unit (not a huge deal).

I opened the box to inspect this SK5 Skimmer and found that the 6" weir opening is smaller than I would prefer, not a fan of the oddball shaped net that is difficult to remove and reinsert, and as others have noted, the 5 brushes slide off the metal rod that holds them. The housing itself is heavy duty and should hold up to being backfilled into place. But for the forementioned reasons I returned it and purchased a different skimmer.

Quiet Running Pump that does the work of clearing the Pond Water daily.

Works perfectly!

A well designed pond component. I love my Little Giant.

I've had this skimmer installed and working for two years now. It is the second that I've owned and it has a very sturdy external structure compared to my last skimmer (installed in another pond) and it will not cave in or distort when buried (which was a problem with my last skimmer). It was a straightforward installation and the instructions were easy to follow. I also installed the bottom siphon drain kit and auto fill. I don't use the inlet screen as the fish and other life seem to avoid the skimmer naturally and it just tended to get clogged. I removed it the first month and have never had a fish enter the skimmer, even the little guys. The filter basket works well, is high quality and easy to clean, but is awkward to remove and items tend to float out when I remove it for cleaning, but that's not a big deal. I just keep a little fish net close by to quickly scoop up anything I've missed. My biggest complaint about this skimmer is the brush kit. The brushes are not as efficient at catching debris as I had hoped, especially string algae that gets through the net. They provide good surface area for beneficial bacteria, but not a very good filter. I had to install a pre-filter on my pump intake hose to prevent my pump's leaf trap from getting clogged so quickly (which is harder to clean). The brushes don't need to be cleaned often (probably because they aren't very efficient at removing debris) but they are a little awkward to clean because they fall off the rod when you pull them out of the skimmer and they bend out of shape easily. I find myself hunting down the wimpy rubber ends that are supposed to hold them in place but instead they usually fall off along with a couple of brushes. The brushes are made of twisted metal that holds the plastic brush material in place. The metal is fairly thin and it rusts! I had to buy a replacement set this summer (not cheap) because one of the brushes broke in half due to corrosion and the others were rusting out as well. I also bought a matala pad for additional filtration. Overall I'm happy with the skimmer and when coupled with the waterfall filter I have crystal clear water. I only mark it down one star because of the brush design and because I had to install additional filtration.

I've had this skimmer for 2 seasons now and it has been perfect. survived last winter completely frozen no problem. I did put my 2" Pipe higher than the marked place on the side because I wanted to be able to completely drain the pipe before winter. I also used a 2" bulkhead for the pipe. Other than that installed as recommended and it is great. Pretty easy to level out as well. And the grate helps keep the fish out which is definitely a "great" idea! ;)

Works great

Bigger then I thought it was going to be works well. So not sure why but can’t seem to get a great seal. Took it out and replaced my old liner not sure about putting in back in the face isn’t smooth were there joined the plastic in place