What Does Wet Skimming Mean?

reef rico · 04/05/2008, 10:26 PM

HEY WHAT DOES WET SKIMMING MEAN?

OnlyCrimson · 04/05/2008, 10:45 PM

Skimming so more water is taken out with the waste. Ex. The skimmate looks like brown or green water.

reef rico · 04/06/2008, 12:12 AM

Why do people do that way why dont they want it more concerntrated.

Bebo77 · 04/06/2008, 12:13 AM

they want to get out as much as they can... so they skim wet...

SeanT · 04/06/2008, 12:38 AM

The benefit of wet skimming over dry is you remove more organics before they break down.

Dewey58 · 04/06/2008, 12:45 AM

It would seem based on the logic here that wet skimming should be preferred over dryer skimming. If it takes out the most nasties.
Dewey

reef rico · 04/06/2008, 12:58 AM

Thanks for the help.
If alot of water is coming out at the same time is that still wet skimming. How much is enough.

Billybeau1 · 04/06/2008, 01:02 AM

It's hard to say. But if your water is clearer..... not brown or discolored, then you may be skimming too wet and not taking out organics.

You should follow the instructions for that particular skimmer and slow it down a little.

When the water coming out of the slimmer is dark and smelly, you have it about right.

reef rico · 04/06/2008, 02:13 AM

Yeh its brow and smelly but when I first added the skimmer it was skimming way more. I just started this tank so is it possible that it removed all the waste and theres hardly any thing to remove since I dont feed that much becuase I on;ly have 1 chromi?

inachu · 04/06/2008, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bebo77
they want to get out as much as they can... so they skim wet...

is that avatar really you?

JCR's Reef · 04/06/2008, 06:49 AM

You want to get a nice froth of foam building up before before it goes into the collection cup. I buid up about 2" of faom in mine before it goes up the funnel into the cup.

hahnmeister · 04/06/2008, 08:07 AM

'WET SKIMMING'... vs. 'DARK SKIMMING'... doesnt mean alot as far as the quality of the skimmate goes because depending on the bioload of the system and the design of the skimmer, you can have a skimmer which skims dark and a skimmer which skims wet, and the dark one can still end up taking out more skimmate (both volume and quality).

All that wet vs. dark means is that the water level in the skimmer is raised. As the foam head gets pushed up the neck of the skimmer into the cup, it drains. The water doesnt all evaporate, it drains out of the foam back into the skimmers main body. Sometimes this is just water (skimmate is mostly water anyways), but it can contain a good amount of what you still want to extract, some proteins that didnt quite attach to a bubble, or a bubble pops, etc. So in general, if you raise the waterline in a skimmer so the output is more 'yellow', you will get more of the nasties out.

The thing is, you can also have a skimmer that is well designed to catch this 'drainage' and send it back into the foam head again rather than out the standpipe. A tall skimmer, one with a bubble plate, or cone, etc... or just a taller neck perhaps, can keep these proteins close to be harvested when ready rather than going out the drain first. So in effect, you could have one of these skimmers skim darker and still do more than skimming wetter. IMO, some skimmers are just better at making dark skimmate than others, and sometimes a skimmer that skims wet is just because it cant skim dark and needs to be set to 'wet' or it wont skim at all... perhaps its neck is too large in diameter, or there isnt enough in the system to support a stable foam head. In that case, what you are skimming is mostly just more water.

04/05/2008, 10:26 PM	#1
reef rico Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 276	What Does Wet Skimming Mean? HEY WHAT DOES WET SKIMMING MEAN?

04/06/2008, 12:13 AM	#4
Bebo77 Premium Nonpaying Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Lost Posts: 14,377	they want to get out as much as they can... so they skim wet... __________________ Gabriel Current Tank Info: 300 Gal Envision Tank(98Lx30Wx26T) 120 Gal SoCalCreations Sump, Deltec TC2560, 2 LumenarcsMini 1 Reg on a light mover W Radiums 250& 400, Gallaxy ballasts, Red Dragon 10m3 return W/ 2 WavySeas, 2 6155 Tunze streams

04/06/2008, 12:38 AM	#5
SeanT Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Wilmington, North Carolina Posts: 13,860	The benefit of wet skimming over dry is you remove more organics before they break down. __________________ My tank was cool. Current Tank Info: Barebottom (the tank not me...at least not at the moment).

04/06/2008, 06:49 AM	#11
JCR's Reef Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana Posts: 1,303	You want to get a nice froth of foam building up before before it goes into the collection cup. I buid up about 2" of faom in mine before it goes up the funnel into the cup. __________________ >Josh< Current Tank Info: Starphire Rimless Tank, ATB Elegance 200. Click on my name and visit my build thread. Lots of pics

04/05/2008, 10:45 PM	#2
OnlyCrimson Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Royal Oak,Michigan Posts: 863	Skimming so more water is taken out with the waste. Ex. The skimmate looks like brown or green water.

04/06/2008, 12:12 AM	#3
reef rico Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 276	Why do people do that way why dont they want it more concerntrated.

04/06/2008, 12:45 AM	#6
Dewey58 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: London Ontario Posts: 55	It would seem based on the logic here that wet skimming should be preferred over dryer skimming. If it takes out the most nasties. Dewey

04/06/2008, 12:58 AM	#7
reef rico Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 276	Thanks for the help. If alot of water is coming out at the same time is that still wet skimming. How much is enough.

04/06/2008, 01:02 AM	#8
Billybeau1 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Dyer, Indiana Posts: 12,010	It's hard to say. But if your water is clearer..... not brown or discolored, then you may be skimming too wet and not taking out organics. You should follow the instructions for that particular skimmer and slow it down a little. When the water coming out of the slimmer is dark and smelly, you have it about right.

04/06/2008, 02:13 AM	#9
reef rico Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 276	Yeh its brow and smelly but when I first added the skimmer it was skimming way more. I just started this tank so is it possible that it removed all the waste and theres hardly any thing to remove since I dont feed that much becuase I on;ly have 1 chromi?

04/06/2008, 08:07 AM	#12
hahnmeister Moved On Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Brew City, WI Posts: 10,156	'WET SKIMMING'... vs. 'DARK SKIMMING'... doesnt mean alot as far as the quality of the skimmate goes because depending on the bioload of the system and the design of the skimmer, you can have a skimmer which skims dark and a skimmer which skims wet, and the dark one can still end up taking out more skimmate (both volume and quality). All that wet vs. dark means is that the water level in the skimmer is raised. As the foam head gets pushed up the neck of the skimmer into the cup, it drains. The water doesnt all evaporate, it drains out of the foam back into the skimmers main body. Sometimes this is just water (skimmate is mostly water anyways), but it can contain a good amount of what you still want to extract, some proteins that didnt quite attach to a bubble, or a bubble pops, etc. So in general, if you raise the waterline in a skimmer so the output is more 'yellow', you will get more of the nasties out. The thing is, you can also have a skimmer that is well designed to catch this 'drainage' and send it back into the foam head again rather than out the standpipe. A tall skimmer, one with a bubble plate, or cone, etc... or just a taller neck perhaps, can keep these proteins close to be harvested when ready rather than going out the drain first. So in effect, you could have one of these skimmers skim darker and still do more than skimming wetter. IMO, some skimmers are just better at making dark skimmate than others, and sometimes a skimmer that skims wet is just because it cant skim dark and needs to be set to 'wet' or it wont skim at all... perhaps its neck is too large in diameter, or there isnt enough in the system to support a stable foam head. In that case, what you are skimming is mostly just more water.