Hey Brian, I would personally run a skimmer. The crap it filters out is stuff I never want to linger in my tank
Hey Myles, I have no prob closing the hood, the problem is opening it. You have to remove the skimmer cup to open it all the way. I only open it to clean the glass so it's really no big deal. If you have a similar tank I would lean towards the tunze, it is a little more money but it is quiet and works very well for a nano skimmer.