I ended up purchasing the Rio Nano Skimmer from Amazon for $33. The reviews were mixed (actually pretty bad), but in case anyone is interested, here is what I see with it.
Out of the box I was having a difficult time getting it to produce any bubbles. I messed with it for an hour or so before giving up and letting it complete it's break in period. Worst case, I figured it could be used as an inexpensive HOB filter.
After a day and a half, I have been able to get it to produce a great amount of skimmate by doing the following:
1. Removing the filter pad that came with the skimmer. In place of the pad, I am using floss (polyfill). I filled that section of the skimmer with a pretty good amount of floss. I did this to keep the bubbles it was producing in the center chamber to keep them from getting back into the tank, as well as help restrict the water flow even more.
Additionally, I have the water level control inverted (upside down), in the extreme upright position, and 75% of the way down to help restrict water flow even further.
The key with this skimmer is restricting the water flow and forcing the bubbles to remain in the center section to be forced up the tube and into the collection cup. If you restrict water flow too much they get forced into the far right chamber. you don't want this to happen because they will flow back out of the skimmer and fill the tank with micro bubbles.
2. I am not using the air tube, but instead kept the blue air control valve in place and opened only slightly.
3. After priming, I have the flow control valve turned a quarter turn to help restrict the amount of water being sucked in.
It's not as loud as the reviews make it seem. It's about as loud as a normal HOB filter.
Once you get it up and running initially, let it run until the next day before you attempt to set it up. It really was night and day after it was broken in, so give it some time.
Attached is a pic of it in action.
If anyone has any questions, let me know.
