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Wet takes out more, but you have to empty collection cup and topoff more and keep an eye on your salinity...

Hamm:
Take a look backon page 20 of this thread and you will see some pics of my setup

I think it just depends on what your trying to accomplish for me with an SPS tank I want a nutrient poor system so I try to skim alot thus wet skim.

Others with softies etc migh choose not to skim so much and and opt for a dry skim.

Really you just need to read around and choose whats right for you.
 
I wouldnt necissarily say wet takes out more gunk. It takes out larger chuncks of particles. Which in turn completely eliminates them from going bad inside your tank.

The amount of waste theoretically should be the same. Its just that wet skimmate is thinned out with water. Correct?
 
Protein Skimming: How It Works
by Randy Holmes-Farley

http://web.archive.org/web/20030415033358/http://home.mweb.co.za/jv/jv79/reef/skimmers2.html


"""I believe that the greatest skimming will come from removing a relatively wet foam, rather than waiting for this same wet foam to drain prior to removal. The only difference between a wet foam, and one that has drained more to form a dry foam, is that additional water, and some organics, have drained away. I believe that this important point is often neglected. """

I should say I'm not an expert only repeating what I have read... either way the above article is a great read for all those wondering about skimmers and how they work.

Brandon
 
sellout007,

There is a decent explanation that I have come across as to why wet skimming takes out more junk then dry skimming, but it is just a theory.

When looking at a bubble that will hold organics, there is a certain amount of space that the organic can attach to on that bubble. As the bubble gets filled up with organics, then there is less space on the bubble for new organics to attach to. This lack of space makes it much more difficult for the organic to attach to the bubble and they will attach more slowly.

Think of it this way - you have a merry-go-round that has 100 horses and 100 people in line. As the line opens up and people start getting on the horses they proceed very rapidly and the horses get taken up very quickly. As the horses get taken up the rate of people getting on the horses slows down considerably.

Now in this analogy wet skimming would be like having 2 merry-go-rounds that fit 100 people and only 50 people are let in on each at a time. All 100 people (50 x 2) are able to get on the horses much quicker each time and over the course of the day you could put more people thru on the 2 merry-go-rounds at 50 per time then the one that fills to capacity.

I hope this makes sense. Keep in mind that it is just a theory and I may be totally out to lunch on this.

For me wet skimming is definitely better. I notice a very measurable and significant difference in water quality.
 
Is there a good rule of thumb for how much water we should be skimming out of our systems each day?
1% of system capacity or something like that?

Jim
 
If we skimmed out say 1.5% each day for a total of 10.5% per week, could we just do this in lou of a weekly water change?
We would of course have to do top offs with salt water.

Jim
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7789725#post7789725 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DocG
sellout007,

There is a decent explanation that I have come across as to why wet skimming takes out more junk then dry skimming, but it is just a theory.

When looking at a bubble that will hold organics, there is a certain amount of space that the organic can attach to on that bubble. As the bubble gets filled up with organics, then there is less space on the bubble for new organics to attach to. This lack of space makes it much more difficult for the organic to attach to the bubble and they will attach more slowly.

Think of it this way - you have a merry-go-round that has 100 horses and 100 people in line. As the line opens up and people start getting on the horses they proceed very rapidly and the horses get taken up very quickly. As the horses get taken up the rate of people getting on the horses slows down considerably.

Now in this analogy wet skimming would be like having 2 merry-go-rounds that fit 100 people and only 50 people are let in on each at a time. All 100 people (50 x 2) are able to get on the horses much quicker each time and over the course of the day you could put more people thru on the 2 merry-go-rounds at 50 per time then the one that fills to capacity.

I hope this makes sense. Keep in mind that it is just a theory and I may be totally out to lunch on this.

For me wet skimming is definitely better. I notice a very measurable and significant difference in water quality.
Click to expand...


In your example your still only letting 100 people ride regardless of how many merry-go-rounds you have. 50 people ride MGR1 and 50 people ride MGR2 = 100 people riding in X amount of time.

100 people riding on MGR3 = 100 people riding in X amount of time.

X is the same. O)




A better example would be to say that you have 100 people ride on MG1 for 5 min and switch them out for another 100 people for another 5 min. As opposed to letting 100 people ride on MG2 for 10 min. The only problem is that you have some very unhappy customers on MGR1 because their ride was cut shorter then those on MGR2. They are not as *fullfiled* as the MGR2 riders. But it equals out in the end as the MGR1 riders get to go on twice as much as MGR2.

Thats more inline of what your thiking about.



As for this whole thing and what was quoted earlier Im not sure I completely agree. The bubble is going to accumulate X amount of oorganics if given the proper length of time. If it stays in longer it is still going to accumulate its maximum amount of organics.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7768209#post7768209 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bkv1997
I have the recirculating MR2R and a good friend of mine has the MR2.
Brandon
Click to expand...

What are the feature differences between the two, other than an extra bulkhead in the mixing chamber?
 
Humm...

The becketts are fed from the water already in the box (recirculating) vs being powered from the water in your sump.


Pros:
Allows you the ability to control Contact Time, so a 24" tall skimmer can simulate a taller skimmer..

Cons:
Requires an additional pump that pumps 1 to 2 times tank volume an hour to feed the box.

Maybe this picture will help.... the big yellow pump BL55 is feeding the becketts and a mag 5 is feeding the skimmer box itself.

Skimmer.jpg


Let me know if you have any other questions
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7796703#post7796703 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bkv1997

Let me know if you have any other questions
Click to expand...

Brandon, thanks for the help, but let me re-phrase my question. The skimmer that I am looking at has a price difference of 135.00 (including the quick release neck) between the regular skimmer and the recirc model. Is an installed bulkhead for the feed pump all I'm getting for the 135.00 price difference? There are no other improvements/design changes? The model that I am comparing is the MR6 and MR6R, the MR6 with the quick release is 740 and the recirc model is 875. Thanks for your time.
 
Well I took a different picture and think this might help explain things... Here is what is technically different.

1) The hole with the Red Circle around it is where you would use a second smaller pump say a mag 5 etc to feed the skimmer.

2) The hole with the Yellow Circle around it is the hole the bigger Pressure rated pump pulls from and drives the two becketts which makes the bubbles.

So thats what your technically getting for $135.

My opinion the recirculating models are easier to adjust and perform better.

Water that enters the regular model only goes through the system once. In the reciruclating model it might go through the skimmer 5 to 6 times before returning to the tank... This is the major design change which allows the equivelant recirc model to be better.

I looked into it a good bit before ordering... and asked the quick release not be installed which took the diff down to only ~$95. I just didn't like being unable to see the water/bubble line.

Looking back I'm glad I paid the extra for the Recirculating model, but just my thoughts... let me know if this didn't clear things up.

Skimmerbox.JPG
 
Thanks for the info, again. There are some plumbing changes on the inside of the mixing chamber, so the beckett pump does not cavitate. After consulting with Andy, I ordered a MR7R to be driven by a Sequence 4300 pump with a Mag12 to feed the skimmer, I'll post some shots when I get it.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7814516#post7814516 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sellout007
Wow, thats a large skimmer. What size tank is it going on?
Click to expand...

It will be going on a 450 with about a 150 gallon sump. I am leaning towards bb, not absolutly sure yet.
 
Hey guys and girls

Just set up my MR2R on my new tank and have a few questions. Do any of you get a hissing sound from the top of yoru waste collector? I think the collector may be putting backpressure on the skimmer, cuz when i disconnect the vinyl tubing from the collection cup to the skimmer everything quiets down, and my water level rises like crazy. Right now I have the skimmer adjusted to when the waste collector is on. I hope this can be solved, because I do not want the skimmer overflowing and dumping water into my stand area when i empty the waste collector.

I can take pics of my set up if you would like.

-Mike
 
There is something wrong with your waste collector. If the water level rises when you disconnect the tube then it is causing backpressure.

Check to make sure that the tennis ball is all the way down in the waste collector tube.

After this is done. Try turning on the skimmer with the waste collector disconnected and then after 30 seconds or so plug it in. There is an initial rush of air when you plug it in an somtimes that rush will cause the tennis ball to rise.

Hope that helps

Don
 
yup that fixed the problem. thanks for the help guys.

just tweaked the skimmer, ill let you guys know how its working in a fe days!!

-Mike
 
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