Dry v Wet Skimming

[Bernie21]

I was cleaning out my skimmer the other day when I realized thatI am skimming pretty dry. I was thinking that maybe I should skim wet... but I really dont know what are the benefits or cons to either. Can some one please tell me the difference & whats better? Thanks!

 

[nyvp]

basic is wet skims out more stuff . neg is that your losing alot more water that you need to replace. Some will turn off skimmer or return when they feed so it stays in tank for a bit.

 

[Kwikdraw]

One con with skimming wet is it will pull more water & salt from your tank effecting your salinity overtime. It's not really a big deal but you have to be aware of it. With a lite bio-load I was skimming dry but when I started adding more fish I went to a wetter skim. Now since the tank is more stable I'm more in the middle now. However I will adjust especially if the dry skim is not pulling anything out or the wet skim is close to clear.

There is no best method (IMO). You have to experiment with what is best for your tank.

 

[roblack]

I switched to barebottom and thus skim wet now.

 

[Superstretch18]

I just recently switched to wet skimming and I'm really happy with the change. Not only am I confident that I'm removing more proteins, but because of the additional water removed, I'm changing much more water. ~5-10 gallons a week on a 54 gallon.

The only pain is it can make ATO a pain, but you should be able to quickly be able to get the hang of how much salt to add to your top off water, to maintain a consistent salinity...

 

[ReefWreak]

lol you're pulling 5-10 gallons a week out of a 54 gallon tank through skimming? I mean, if you want a constant water change system, that's one thing, but skimming 5-10g out of 54g in a week? That's just plain insanity. Figure out which you want, a constant waterchange system, or a skimmer

 

[Superstretch18]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15108671#post15108671 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefWreak
...Figure out which you want, a constant waterchange system, or a skimmer

Why can't I have both? LOL...

For the record, it's usually closer to five gallons, but this week, the skimmer has been pulling "extra wet." I can use the water changes anyway...

 

[ReefWreak]

You can have both. They effectively do the same thing when the skimmer is run very wet. The point of the skimmer is to concentrate the proteins in the water, and remove just them, not so much the water, so you don't have to do waterchanges as frequently. There are additional good things about skimmers too besides just concentrating and removing waste, like the aeration of the tank water (raises pH, helps ensure everything in the tank can breathe easily, etc).

 

[Superstretch18]

For reference; the skimmate I'm collecting now is roughly the color of arizona green tea. Maybe a touch darker, but not much. There is usually a good amount of particulate and the skimmer neck still collects an awful lot of crap too...

 

[mrx66699]

im going through 5 to 8 gal a day course the tank is much larger but its really and easy thing to figure out once you get your skimmer running at the wet level you want im running an oct extreme 350 and its pulling a nice deep green emerald skim out very wet though

 

[Bernie21]

Thanks for the info guys, thats what I figured but I wanted to be sure... Thanks again!!