Wet vs Dry Skimming

[alrha]

Ok, now that I have finally joined the ranks of the skimmer club...
[APPLAUD]
ah hem, thank you, thank you, thank you very much...

what are the pros/cons of wet/dry skimming?

 

[Reefer420]

could someone explain the differance- I have a remora HOB, what kind of skimmer would that be?

 

[inkblue]

...i read thiS once: Wet Skimmate :bigeyes2: :sigh1:

 

[herman]

Wet skimming
Pro:
You remove more waste
Con:
You also remove more saltwater which you then replenish with RODI which affects the saltlevel in your tank unless you monitor this closely

Dry skimming
Pro:
You dont remove a lot of saltwater thus maintaining specific gravity is easier to maintain
Con:
Super stinky skimmate (dogshit x 100)
You dont remove as much of the pollutants but still alot

I personally like to skim dry

I dont know how to set it on your Tunze Albert - youre the guinnea pig

On the remora you raise the cup utilizing the rubber ring for dry and lower it for wet

 

[alrha]

I dont know how to set it on your Tunze Albert - youre the guinnea pig

On the Tunze it is adjusted by the Air Valve (more air = wetter, less air = dryer)

i dont mind using this as a forced partial water change, i have a pinpoint salinity monitor, so it is easy to see how much SW i need to add. My concern would be if it would skim out essential trace elements and perhaps throw some chemistry off balance.

 

[Rborgia]

I use the dry method.... with my SEACLONE!!!! AND IT WORKS!

seriously... I have always used dry in the past and have done fine.

 

[herman]

you will be fine as long as you monitor the salt levels. Your trace elements will be replenished as you do the waterchanges. Just keep in mind what Jackson said about your photoperiod once the skimmer kicks in. How is it going?

 

[alrha]

you will be fine as long as you monitor the salt levels. Your trace elements will be replenished as you do the waterchanges.

would 1 gallon of ASW be able to replenish the all trace elements lost in 1 gallon of skimmate?

Just keep in mind what Jackson said about your photoperiod once the skimmer kicks in. How is it going?

i will know when i get home (and report in that thread)

 

[jawwad2004]

Wow, I always thought that dry skimmate removed way more crap outta your tank then wet skimmate! I mean that dry stuff really really really stinks! and the wet stuff doesnt.

 

[herman]

Wow, I always thought that dry skimmate removed way more crap outta your tank then wet skimmate! I mean that dry stuff really really really stinks! and the wet stuff doesnt.

dry skimmate is just concentrated wet skimmate.

disolved organics (poop etc) stick to the bubbles in the protein skimmer. So the more bubbles can enter the skimmer the more crap you remove from the system. When skimming wet, the bubbles dont have to travel far so more of it gets trapped in the collection cup along with more saltwater.

 

[Reefer420]

So if I have my Remora on its lowest setting and it's not putting off too much 'wet' skimmate (and I know it works!) then does that mean my tank doesn't have a ton of waste in it? I do have a huge amount of 'scavengers' in my LR... also I really noticed a large differance (lower now) in the amount of skimmate once three things were added to my tank :

1) Xenia really started to grow out

and
2) Started running carbon
and
3) Added Clam

Any opinions as to either of these? I know some people put Xenia in their sumps as a biological filter...and clams filter a ton of water (my tank is small).

 

[alrha]

Xenia and Clams do filter the water (as does carbon). - i have all 3.

If I understood the RC thread, posted earlier, correctly: having a lower bio-load (or less nutrients) would not affect the amount of skimmate you get, but rather the content (or color) of it.

 

[herman]

So if I have my Remora on its lowest setting and it's not putting off too much 'wet' skimmate (and I know it works!) then does that mean my tank doesn't have a ton of waste in it? I do have a huge amount of 'scavengers' in my LR... also I really noticed a large differance (lower now) in the amount of skimmate once three things were added to my tank :

1) Xenia really started to grow out

and
2) Started running carbon
and
3) Added Clam

Any opinions as to either of these? I know some people put Xenia in their sumps as a biological filter...and clams filter a ton of water (my tank is small).

Assuming that the skimmer is functioning correctly, you should be in good shape. Also remember the size of the tank in relation to the skimmer. I run a remora pro on a QT and of course it will not produce much skimmate for two reasons:
1. Not much waste
2. skimmer is rated for up to 120g.

Having a ton of scavengers is a great thing!!

 

[cali_reef]

If I understood the RC thread, posted earlier, correctly: having a lower bio-load (or less nutrients) would not affect the amount of skimmate you get, but rather the content (or color) of it.

I don't agree with that.

Under that theory you can skim a cup a day from an empty tank with freshly mixed salt water for months?



More bio load = more protein or protein by product = more skimmate


The protein or protein by product binds to the bubbles and cause the skimmate color to get darker, if the guy is pulling water that has no color than it is not skimmate.

 

[alrha]

it doesnt matter whats in the tank relative to how Much gets skimmed out. It Does Make a difference with the color of the skimmate though

I would agree - that when I feed more/etc, the color of the skimmate is darker.
But I generally get about the same amount, skimming wet - whether when I had 6 fish in my tank or now with just a green clown goby.

i didnt think it made much sense either, it doesnt seem logical.

 

[Reefer420]

guess its a good thing then! my remora is rate up to 60 g or so and my tank is 16 so its certainly much larger than I would need!

 

[inkblue]

guess its a good thing then! my remora is rate up to 60 g or so and my tank is 16 so its certainly much larger than I would need!

what coLor is youR skim... mate? :smokin: :knockedou :yo:

 

[alrha]

This is funny:

the polls show a clear winner in Dry skimming over Wet, yet the entire thread seems to promote wet skimming.

p.s. i love that you can see who voted for which option...

 

[Reefer420]

my skimmate is almost black

 

[House of Laughter]

OK, well, what consitutues wet? You can pour it? or you can see through it?

I mean, mine is dark green usually adnd stinks to high heaven so much that when I dump it in the sink in the basement my wife on the first floor thinks my son needs a diaper change

But I am not able to see though it it's so green

Is the different that obvious? of is wet and dry a little different?

House