Wet or dry skimmate?

[brandon4432]

I will soon be installing the Mame Skimmer on my ten gallon soon to be reef. Shortly after I will be adding a clownfish. My question is should I hope to achieve dry or wet skim? What's the difference? Thanks!

 

[AdamNC]

Dry skim for a normal load and wet skim if you carbon dosing or a heavy feeder.

 

[RareEarthCorals]

Depends on the skimmer, wet or dry as long as it is pulling waste it can do a great job either way. I find that dry is relative to the length of the venturi, the amount of contact the protein has with air. The longer the drier. The shorter of course the wetter. Either way the success is dark smelly proteins, along with waste particles.

 

[ridgley52]

I go wet, it just pulls more waste

 

[Kyle Sicard]

I prefer wet skimming, I attached a photo of the skim I pull w/ wet skimming. The picture shows 4 days of skim, its nasty,smelly, and sludgy.

 

[Homer Allman]

Explain the difference other that wet or dry. I mean I run mine and it foams up and dumps junk in the cup. That seems like dry skimming. If I turn the valve too much it floods the cup. Is that considered wet skimming? If so, how does that work with all the water just dumping back down the venturi?

 

[ReefPiracy]

I would say the position the micro bubbles start to break. I use to see skimmers with high and low marks. Can have them break at skimmer neck or higher up the collection cup. I use a gate valve to pick my level. If super clean system can lower. Most will stay more comes out skimming wet.

 

[RareEarthCorals]

Wet vs Dry breaks down to the amount of contact the proteins and solids have with air. As the bubbles travel through the water column they carry waste proteins which is part of the surface tension of the bubble. As the bubble travels up the venturi tube it cycles and breaks down due to the lack of protein waste. The surface, the bottom of the venturi tube (water line), begins to collect more waste protein from the water column. As the concentration of waste protein increases the bubbles that form have increased surface tension and collect at the opening of the venturi (foam). The longer contact time in the tube the bubble "dries" and flows over into the cup. The less contact time the more water content the bubble has before in rolls over into the collection cup causing a wet skimmate.

 

[Joe29]

Im new to this my skimmer keeps dropping low i fix it one day next day i come back to it and its low ag

 

[Alberto Gutierrez]

Sometimes if you put your hand in your tank, the oils from your skin can affect the water level of your skimmer, also making it skim less.

 

[143MPCo]

Wet, I just clean the cup yesterday, this is 24hr later...

 

[Alberto Gutierrez]

 

[bayoupr]

I prefer wet skimming. I used to dry skim all the time but since I changed to wet my tank seems to look better. Could be my imagination but I don't clean my sides as much as before.

 

[Alberto Gutierrez]

IMO wetter is better..

 

[Gamma]

I run mine pretty wet unless we go out of town then I usually bring it down just in case something might happen to make it spike up and overflow into sump.

 

[Atif]

Some body tell me what is a reason of height phosphate after the cycling 100 gallons tank. Start cycling with secham stability and live rocks.... no lights let more then 1hour water use from RO ..

 

[brandon4432]

Wet vs Dry breaks down to the amount of contact the proteins and solids have with air. As the bubbles travel through the water column they carry waste proteins which is part of the surface tension of the bubble. As the bubble travels up the venturi tube it cycles and breaks down due to the lack of protein waste. The surface, the bottom of the venturi tube (water line), begins to collect more waste protein from the water column. As the concentration of waste protein increases the bubbles that form have increased surface tension and collect at the opening of the venturi (foam). The longer contact time in the tube the bubble "dries" and flows over into the cup. The less contact time the more water content the bubble has before in rolls over into the collection cup causing a wet skimmate.

Thanks for all the advice. Since the skimmer will be pulling out liquid will the salt be exporting my aquarium? If so how do I control maintaining the correct salinity in my aquarium?

 

[brandon4432]

Wet vs Dry breaks down to the amount of contact the proteins and solids have with air. As the bubbles travel through the water column they carry waste proteins which is part of the surface tension of the bubble. As the bubble travels up the venturi tube it cycles and breaks down due to the lack of protein waste. The surface, the bottom of the venturi tube (water line), begins to collect more waste protein from the water column. As the concentration of waste protein increases the bubbles that form have increased surface tension and collect at the opening of the venturi (foam). The longer contact time in the tube the bubble "dries" and flows over into the cup. The less contact time the more water content the bubble has before in rolls over into the collection cup causing a wet skimmate.

If I run a skimmer on such a small tank will it affect my water quality to the point in which I would only do a water change every other week? Rather than once a week? Also how well will my water clarity increase?

 

[RareEarthCorals]

Thanks for all the advice. Since the skimmer will be pulling out liquid will the salt be exporting my aquarium? If so how do I control maintaining the correct salinity in my aquarium?

Yes, any fluid evaporation will effect the concentration of your salinity. In order to control your salinity levels you should use an Auto Top Off (ATO). This will continually add Fresh Water (that you keep in a reserve tank) and replace your water level, ergo the salinity remains in balance.

 

[RareEarthCorals]

If I run a skimmer on such a small tank will it affect my water quality to the point in which I would only do a water change every other week? Rather than once a week? Also how well will my water clarity increase?

Several factors can mandate water changes not just waste. Skimming will help in lowering waste levels in the water and can assist in water clarity, but you will still need to test to determine how frequent your water changes should be. Generally it should help in your frequency and clarity.