wet vs dry skimming
- Thread starter ckfazz
- Start date
REEF-DADDY
New member
Here is the thing about skimming wet v. skimming dry. Skimming wet simply removes more particles, there is no question about it. The dry foam produced by a skimmer running dry just can't keep heavy particles in suspension. I can see a vast difference in my tank when I skim wet v. skimming dry. In regards to both clarity and particles Now ask yourself where those particles are going if your skimmer is not removing them? They are breaking down into proteins so your skimmer can make foam out of them.
My question is why let them break down when you can get them sooner?
My question is why let them break down when you can get them sooner?
REEF-DADDY
New member
If your running a Beckett skimmer dwell time is irrelevant. The reaction takes place in the injector. I'd rather get that dirty bubble out and get a new clean one in its place.
Alaskan Reefer
New member
NoSchwag -- that looks a little more like skimmate. 
Reef -- that makes good common sense. Often big flakes of food, etc. boil around in my skimmer for a day or two before "disappearing" when I skim drier. I guess I'll stick to the relatively wet mode.
Reef -- that makes good common sense. Often big flakes of food, etc. boil around in my skimmer for a day or two before "disappearing" when I skim drier. I guess I'll stick to the relatively wet mode.
RichConley
New member
NoShwag, you missed my point.
Once its in the neck, its gone. It doesnt matter if it takes 8 hours to get fromt he bottom of the neck to the top, or 5 seconds. Once particulate gets in there, its gone.
Dry skimming pulls out plenty of particulate.
Dry vs wet doesnt matter a lick.
I think, like you said, the huge advantage to wet is that the skimmer stays clean longer, and thats why people see better results. They can be lazy without having decreased performance.
RichConley
New member
Thats an irrelavent point. The dirty bubble IS gone, its in the neck. Its not in the reaction chamber. You are using new clean bubbles.
REEF-DADDY
New member
How can it be clean until it pops? The only clean bubbles are coming in via the pump/injector and they are not getting in until the old ones are gone. If what your saying is true dwell time meanings nothing and we would want the dirty bubbles out asap.
RichConley
New member
Reef daddy, once they are in the neck, we're not talking about dwell time anymore.
Dwell time is the time in body, where the bubbles are attaching to the organics. Time in the neck doesnt mean anything.
Once the bubbles make it into the neck, theyre no longer trying to attach to things. They either have organics, or they dont. They no longer are relevant.
Dwell time is the time in body, where the bubbles are attaching to the organics. Time in the neck doesnt mean anything.
Once the bubbles make it into the neck, theyre no longer trying to attach to things. They either have organics, or they dont. They no longer are relevant.
Alaskan Reefer
New member
Well that's true too, it's not as though the bubbles jammed into the neck ever return to the tank.
REEF-DADDY
New member
So what do you think happens in the neck?
NoSchwag
Premium Member
Dirty, dry, old, big bubbles take longer to remove the same thing that small, clean, fresh bubbles remove.
1. How do you think those "foamy" bubbles are formed?
2. Why is it that those bubbles take awhile before they build up and are spilling over the top? AKA "breaking in"
I bet the answer to both of those questions is the reason why wet skimming is better.
I don't have time to wait for the skimmer to produce those kinds of bubbles. I want the crap out of my tank.
All that time it takes for your skimmer to produce those bubbles day in and day out is time better spent removing the stuff that makes those bubbles..
1. How do you think those "foamy" bubbles are formed?
2. Why is it that those bubbles take awhile before they build up and are spilling over the top? AKA "breaking in"
I bet the answer to both of those questions is the reason why wet skimming is better.
I don't have time to wait for the skimmer to produce those kinds of bubbles. I want the crap out of my tank.
All that time it takes for your skimmer to produce those bubbles day in and day out is time better spent removing the stuff that makes those bubbles..
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RichConley
New member
No shwag, who cares how long it takes to rise from the bottom of the neck? Who cares if theyre breaking down. Theyre OUT OF THE TANK ALREADY. Once they reach the neck, they are effectively gone, whether theyre sitting in the neck, or in the cup.
IT IS REMOVED at that point. Once it hits the neck, its gone. Period. Arguing that it breaks down is silly. It does break down, but its still gone. Its the same as it breaking down in the cup, because its effectively not getting back into the tank.
Stuff doesnt fall out of the neck and back into the water collumn. Its already gone. There is no initial difference.
IT IS REMOVED at that point. Once it hits the neck, its gone. Period. Arguing that it breaks down is silly. It does break down, but its still gone. Its the same as it breaking down in the cup, because its effectively not getting back into the tank.
Stuff doesnt fall out of the neck and back into the water collumn. Its already gone. There is no initial difference.
RichConley
New member
You dont seem to understand that the dirty dry old bubbles are already gone. They dont affect things any more. They already been removed from the tank once hteyre in the riser. In both situations there are small clean bubbles in the reaction chamber where it mattesr.
NoSchwag
Premium Member
rich, 2 questions..
1. How do you think those "foamy" bubbles are formed?
2. Why is it that those bubbles take awhile before they build up and are spilling over the top? AKA "breaking in"
You are caught up by those bubbles already being out of the tank, you should be caught up on the process it takes to create those bubbles in the first place.
1. How do you think those "foamy" bubbles are formed?
2. Why is it that those bubbles take awhile before they build up and are spilling over the top? AKA "breaking in"
You are caught up by those bubbles already being out of the tank, you should be caught up on the process it takes to create those bubbles in the first place.
Weatherman
New member
I would think you wouldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t be able to say ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œitââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s goneââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â, until it passes into the collection cup.
Alaskan Reefer
New member
Someone needs to do a scientific test on this. Both theories have merit, IMO. I can see that it takes time for a "head" of dry skimmate to get sufficiently nasty to spill over, whereas it doesn't with wet skimmate which is spilling over more constantly. I can also see that a "floating" protein compound in a stack of bubbles isn't going to sink all the way back down to the downdraft tube in the skimmer while the thing is on -- not really possible for it to do so, even if it breaks down while suspended in the neck.
