Wet Vs. Dry Skimming

[jackson6745]

:tongueani

What's better and why? I'm really interested in hearing everyones opinions.



I like to skim moderately wet (light-medium brown skimmate) because the whole skimmer neck doesn't muck up and hinder performance as fast as a dry skimmate. I don't like to skim extremely wet because because the waste collector/collection cup fills too fast and I question if what I pull out is mostly water??? I don't like to skim dry because the entire skimmer skimmer neck gets filthy, slows the foam production a little, and smell like a$$.

 

[jf2381]

I like to skim in between like you.

 

[herman]

I personally like to skim on the dryer part but not too dry. I would love to skim wet but maintining salinity will become a problem. The downside of the drier skimming is that I have to frequently clean the skimmer neck and the smell is horrid.

As far as wet skimming, you get more wastes given the same amount of time as dry skimming. Youre just taking a lot more water with it.

 

[aaron]

Yeah, but you have to admit, there's something satisfying about a collection cup that smells like the Gawanus canal.

I tend to skim fairly dry

 

[jackson6745]

As far as wet skimming, you get more wastes given the same amount of time as dry skimming. Youre just taking a lot more water with it.

Herm did someone prove this? I always though this but since I cant prove it, never said it.

 

[herman]

My word should be proof enough

No its never been proven but it makes sense

 

[Pedro]

I tend to skim on the wetter side. Just enough that the top of the cup gunks up. I have read what Herman has said, but this didn't come from scientists, just fellow reefers, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[alrha]

I would think that wet skimming would be more aggressive as even the slightest skimmable 'stuff' are skimmed out as it is not as selective as dry skimming,
there must be a way to actually test a cup of wet and a cup of dry for concentrations.

 

[pnoyreefer]

I skimmed both as I am running 2 skimmers in my tank .. I like to run my MRC wet and my ASM G3 . I love the results in my tank and sometimes I feel like im over skimming my tank .Every 3 daysI l cleaned them out...


steve

 

[scarf_ace1981]

i tend to skim on the dry side. every once in a while i'll skim in between, never wet

 

[fritz]

I'll try and find the link if I have a chance later but on the zeo forum an overksimming thread digressed into a chemistry conversation on wet vs. dry. For the sps keepers, overskimming wet was argued to be a very bad idea. Overskimming dry however, not bad.

The jist is that;
when overskimming you hit a point of efficiency, whereby everything that your skimmer can remove has been removed. No further DOC will be pulled, however trace elements will still come out most notably K. Unless you are ill with the 10% weekly water changes you will start down the road of trace element imbalance. How long it will take for that imbalance to get to proportions that will be detrimental depends. It could be weeks, months, maybe a year or so but you will get there.

When skimming dry you're not stripping the water as much of these elements. As Herm mentioned, and yes his word should be enough , you will get more wet than dry but you don't necessarily want to pull out the extra stuff.

Disclaimer: I am no chemist, in fact I didn't even do well in chemistry. All of the above was paraphrased from an article I read.

holla

 

[Wes]

i like to skim wet mainly because the neck stays clean and i fill the cup before the neck gets scummy enough to impede performance.

i am religious w/ 10 percent changes and the water change water usually just a bit higher in salinity to compensate. I also dose UltraOrganic to keep K and other trace elements in check since i use a zeolith system.

 

[reefer-nyc]

I skim pretty dry and I have been happy with the foul stench that emminates from my cabinet. I have a new Bubble King Mini 180 skimmer coming from Germany and plan to do the same (oh yeah) so I will post pics when I get it going. I hope it is worth the 1190.00 dollars it cost me shipped.

 

[loismustdie]

I'll try and find the link if I have a chance later but on the zeo forum an overksimming thread digressed into a chemistry conversation on wet vs. dry. For the sps keepers, overskimming wet was argued to be a very bad idea. Overskimming dry however, not bad.

The jist is that;
when overskimming you hit a point of efficiency, whereby everything that your skimmer can remove has been removed. No further DOC will be pulled, however trace elements will still come out most notably K. Unless you are ill with the 10% weekly water changes you will start down the road of trace element imbalance. How long it will take for that imbalance to get to proportions that will be detrimental depends. It could be weeks, months, maybe a year or so but you will get there.

When skimming dry you're not stripping the water as much of these elements. As Herm mentioned, and yes his word should be enough , you will get more wet than dry but you don't necessarily want to pull out the extra stuff.

Disclaimer: I am no chemist, in fact I didn't even do well in chemistry. All of the above was paraphrased from an article I read.

holla

I skim dry as hell for this exact reason. I do change tons of water though.:wink1:
I was also under the impression that over skimming can remove things we may not want removed. I like the black stinky sludge. And water changes.
I don't like cleaning necks, but that the price I gotta pay.
Ho's gotta eat too.

 

[jackson6745]

super wet or super dry, I have no reason to believe that "stuff" necessary to coral health is removed from the water. I am trying to stay objective here, not taking sides. Can anyone show me some proof that too much wet skim removes something important from the water? I like skimming dry when I'm busy and wet when I am not

Show me a tank that is overskimmed, and I'll show you one that is underfed.

 

[klaus Jansen]

Hello Phil..
you are using a Mini Bubble King in the United States ? I am wondering... we never buy a 120 Volt/60 Hz Mini BK-Pumps for US-voltage ...

best regards from Germany... Klaus

 

[DEEPWATER]

Im no expert .But i read somewhere that skimming dry or wet is the same ,only diff is that you skim more water with wet skimming ,In reality you get the same amount of skimmate ,only one wet and one dry .

again this is what i read somewhere ,if im wrong ,then it wont be the 1st time

Ronen

 

[Pedro]

Hey Klaus,

Just want to welcome you to Manhattan Reefs!

Damn, we must be doing something right. The man himself has joined our community!

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Klaus Jansen welcome to MR!!

 

[jackson6745]