wet vs dry skimmate

[davidryder]

i don't understand. i have tried both, and when i run with a wet skimmate my run-off container fills up faster, but it is a lighter color. when i run a dry skimmate it takes much longer to fill up but the liquid in the container is much much darker.

i have an auto top-off system and it seems like taking out a lot of water through wet skimmate would lower the SG faster than a dry skimmate, even though IMO both wet and dry take out the same amount of gunk over the same periods of time, one just fills up faster.

any opinions or thoughts?

[littlefish72]

I think you have it exactly right.....i like to run it more on the dry side

[simon.007]

I was told to run wet skimmate b/c it helps pull more stuff out. Depending on the size of your tank I use a Deltec APF 600 and remove about one gallon every 4 - 5 days. My tank is about 400G+ and there is no issue with SG. I also change about 60 - 80G of fresh sea water every 7 - 9 days.

Thanks
Simon

[davidryder]

Originally posted by simon.007
I was told to run wet skimmate b/c it helps pull more stuff out. Depending on the size of your tank I use a Deltec APF 600 and remove about one gallon every 4 - 5 days. My tank is about 400G+ and there is no issue with SG. I also change about 60 - 80G of fresh sea water every 7 - 9 days.

Thanks
Simon

Have you tried running dry skimmate? If so do you get a very dark skimmate? How dark is the skimmate you pull out now?

I guess in tanks that size the amount of water you are pulling out doesn't have quite the effect it has on a 90g

[kaihonu82]

from what i've been told, i agree with simon. If you've got a lot of crap you need to pull out of your water skim wet for a while. I usually skim more on the dry side, just so i'm not having to empty my collection cup constanly.

[kaihonu82]

from what i've been told, i agree with simon. If you've got a lot of crap you need to pull out of your water skim wet for a while. I usually skim more on the dry side, just so i'm not having to empty my collection cup constantly.

[kaihonu82]

oops..sorry for the double post

[mg426]

Wet skimming here.

[SoloStyl]

Well, according to the many threads I've read here and at other sites, here's your answer. (my version at least).

I have read and heard of people running both wet and dry skimmate. The benefits of doing both is apparent, you get the best of both worlds.

Wet Skimmate = more loss of water and SG
reduces phosphates and nitrites
cleans some protein out of the tank

Dry Skimmate = less loss of water and SG
really wont help phos and nitrites,etc
cleans ALOT of protein out of the tank

"Skimming" is basically used to remove "DOC's" ( Dossolved Organic Compounds) fish waste,detrious,coral excretes,rock breakdown,etc.

Every tank varies from size, to the ammount of Live Stock, Live Rock, Corals, etc. So take these parameters as an estimate and test accordingly.

Put into concideration : ammount of -
How many Fish,Inverts
Hours of lighting the tank
Lbs of Live Rock in the tank
Times and Quantity of feeding
Corals and the health status of them


If you have a :

SMALL TANK (1-50 gallons), I'd skim wet.
Reason : you are going to need 10-20% water changes every so often anyways , so let the skimmer help you out as it cleans the water thats left in the tank after your water changes.

MEDIUM TANK : (72-125 gallons), I'd skim wet/dry.
Reason : Skim wet to purify your water until your next 10-20% water change. After the water change, your water quality should be great, so skim dry for a few days to remove mainly "DOC's". Then go back to skimming wet to keep your water quality stable.
Repeat the process after every water change.

LARGE TANK : (150-250) I'd Skim dry.
Reason : "DOC's" would be my main concern as tanks in these sizes hold so much water, it will take longer for the water quality to destabalize. Tanks this size usually have alot of livestock or corals or both. So I'd be concerned with "DOC's" and get as much protein out before it became Ammonia.

X-LARGE TANK : (280-1000 gallons) Do you even need a skimmer? LOL j/k

As said previously, Every tank varies from size, to the ammount of Live Stock, Live Rock, Corals, etc. So take these parameters as an estimate and test accordingly.

If I missed something please feel free to add or correct my learnings.

Hope this helps.

[Peter Eichler]

You will almost certainly remove more organics with a wetter foam as opposed to dry foam. Just looking at the color of the two effluents isn't going to tell you a whole lot.

Here's a good article by Randy to learn more.

[davidryder]

Thanks for the reply. I'm under the impression though that wet vs dry skimming doesn't pull any more or less DOC's out of the water, it just pulls them out in a different dilution. I suspected as much then I bought the AquaC EV-120.

From my AquaC EV-120 Instruction guide:

The decision to collect a watery, diluted waste product or a darker, pasty foam is a matter of personal preference. Simply put, one is not better than the other. Wet foam contains the same amount of waste products as dry foam, but is diluted with tank water. In other words, the skimmer is removing the same amount of waste whether it collects a cupful of yellowish liquid of a 1/4" of dark gunk. Depending on how often you clean and service your system, one might be better than the other. We recommend frequent cleaning of your skimmer (2-3 times per week) and keeping it adjusted to collect a reasonably wet, light green-brown foam product.

It made sense until they threw in the recommendation to skim "reasonably wet"... they went on about how there is no difference then recommended which way to do it.

[Peter Eichler]

Bleh... forgot something

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-08/rhf/index.php

[Peter Eichler]

Also, Eric Borneman has an rather interesting thread about skimate and what it contains over at the Marine Depot forums. I'd give you a link but I'm sure it would be taken down by a mod if I did.

[davidryder]

Originally posted by Peter Eichler
Bleh... forgot something

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-08/rhf/index.php

Interesting - there seems to be a conflict between the manufacturers at AquaC and Randy Holmes-Farley. I'm not surprised, though... so much of this hobby seems it is still up for debate. Thanks for the info, though. I'm starting to think I could find just as many links saying wet vs dry makes no difference as ones saying wet or dry is better than the other.

[rstark33]

Would skimming wet or dry affect the actual perfomrance of the skimmer, would it need to be cleaned more often?

Think about this, if I skim dry, the riser on the collection gets coated in skimmate fast. Does this layer affect how the skimmer performs? If so, then keepig that clean longer will produce a better performing skimmer especially right before you clean. And lets be serious, I do not clean it nearly enough nor do most of you!!!
So if that theory is correct, skimming wet will help keep the riser and all skimmer parts cleaner, thus keeping it performing at its best longer.

[davidryder]

Originally posted by rstark33
Would skimming wet or dry affect the actual perfomrance of the skimmer, would it need to be cleaned more often?

Think about this, if I skim dry, the riser on the collection gets coated in skimmate fast. Does this layer affect how the skimmer performs? If so, then keepig that clean longer will produce a better performing skimmer especially right before you clean. And lets be serious, I do not clean it nearly enough nor do most of you!!!
So if that theory is correct, skimming wet will help keep the riser and all skimmer parts cleaner, thus keeping it performing at its best longer.

I agree with everything but "nor do most of you!!!" comment. I think you are right - a dry skimmate dirties up the riser tube faster. I don't know if I have ever noticed a performance loss due to a dirty riser tube. But if a wetter skimmate will help keep the skimmer clean, it might make sense why my instructions said to adjust it to pull a reasonably wet skimmate.

Thanks for the input