Do you have a few more options? Don’t know what “skimming wet” is
So skimming wet, is adjusting your skimmer to pull lighter colored water rather than darker, thicker, scummy water. The idea is skimming "dry" will get you more concentrated stuff, while allowing some of the lighter nutrients to not be pulled out, and skimming "wet" pulls out everything, and gives you watery light-colored skimmate -- Basically not allowing anything through, and filtering out everything.
The difference basically boiling down to;
- Skimming "Dry" = Removing the biggest tank polluters
- Skimming "Wet" = Stripping the water of everything
As for options;
- Bacteria
- carbon dosing (vodka/vinegar)
- skimming wet
- water changes
- adding bio media (Seachem Matrix, Siporax, Maxspect's new bio balls -- Need to dose bacteria, takes a few months)
- siphoning sand when doing water changes
- running filter socks and changing every few days (especially if stirring sand)
- blowing detritus off the rockwork
- adding clean up crew critters that eat detritus (starfish, micro brittle stars, spaghetti worms)
For the average person I suggest getting a Liter or Two of Seachem Matrix bio media, throwing it in the sump (in a little box or mesh bag) and dosing bacteria. This will definitely take time.. But it will help keep things stable.
For Bio Media -- What I've noticed;
- Siporax -- will strip your water clean. This can be ideal for SOME people (especially those with LARGE tanks that have a lot of fish activity) but for the average smaller / unestablished tank, I personally don't like this media.
- Seachem Matrix -- my favorite. It doesn't "over perform" if that makes sense. It won't strip your tank clean, but will make a notable difference. With Siporax I had to constantly dose nutrients. With Seachem Matrix it seemed to just keep things steady. I don't get nutrient creep (increasing nutrient numbers) BUT, I also don't get a big loss. It seems very well buffered, and helps keep things stable, without doing too much, or too little. It's subtle, I suppose I might say.
- MaxSpect BioBalls -- The new kid on the block, supposedly the most dense media you can get. I might be concerned this would overporform, but if that's the case you can just remove some.
- Brightwell Aquatics BioBricks -- The worst. They probably work just fine, but they crumble to dust eventually. If they address this, I'm sure it'll be absolutely fine.
Bacterias I like
- AquaForest Pro Bio S (probiotic bacteria)
- AquaForest Bio S (regular nitrifying bacteria)
- Dr Tims bacteria (Various -- I've found I like them all honestly)
As for Carbon Dosing -- Carbon dosing feeds the bacteria in your tank, allowing them to take over and lower nutrients
- Vinegar -- I suggest vinegar over Vodka, as it's less strong, and does NOT influence cyanobacteria growth
- Vodka -- A little goes a long way, influences cyanobacteria
- NoPox -- A mix of Vodka, Vinegar, and RODI water -- Look up DIY recipes, or just use vinegar.
Vinegar is the safest option.
Other people may recommend DeNitrators, or Seachem DeNitrate media (which is like their matrix, but even better at denitrification), others may recommend Seachem POND matrix (much larger, thicker, and also great for denitration). People could advocate sand filters, putting a small DSB (deep sand bed) section in your sump -- and all kinds of stuff.
Since the dawn of reefkeeping, people have been devising ways to destroy no3. Really, as long as it's under 25 I think you're just fine. At around 80-ish... You could stand to lose some.
The basic cardinal rules of reefing are simple;
1) Don't freak out
2) Things will die (refer to rule #1)
3) You will screw up (refer to rule #2, #1)
The more I see people do this, and the more I see them freak out over every little thing. The more I being to believe this hobby is a self fulfilling prophecy. If you believe everything is going wrong, everything is gonna die, and you are going to fail -- Then it'll happen. Either by you being too nervous to do the right thing, or you being too anxious and end up doing the wrong thing.
Everyone hits the nirvana moment when they realize the truth behind our hobby -- It's actually really easy... The only difference from person to person is how long it takes for that to sink in.
