Do surface skimmers hurt my Norman Lampeye fish?

[Trepano]

I want to buy a surface skimmer for my 5 gallon. It's not a fancy tank, but the duckweed is everywere and want to get rid of it.
I am afraid my fish might get dragged into the machine, since they spend most of their time at the surface.

Does anyone know if it is a good idea to buy the skimmer anyways?

 

[Ellie Potts]

I've never used a surface skimmer, so I can't help you with that. But I have dealt with duckweed and have found that replacing it with Salvinia was successful. I just scooped up as much as possible, added more Salvinia then there was remaining duckweed, and it took over. It will crowd your surface, but it's bigger and wayyyy easier to clear out.