wet or dry skimming?

[Garth Schafluetzel]

ok this may be a dumb question but whats the difference between wet and dry skimming and how do i adjust if it is wet or dry and whats better for my tank. my old skimmer use to pull almost black green gunk. since im going from a 75$ in sump skimmer to a 400 dollar external skimmer. so theres a big difference for me and im still learning

 

[oceanparadise1]

it depends on what u have in your system, for example for SPS tanks u wanna pull as much as possbile out bc they like really clean water so dry bc that pulls out all the black crap, for other systems where things dont need prestine water i do it in the middle. idk how u do it with ur skimmer but mine i just adjust the collection cup up or down idk if they are all like that thou

 

[Garth Schafluetzel]

no i have to open and close a gate valve and air valve lol but i guess trail and error from here on lol right now i only have 2 sps frags the rest are zoa and softies and 3 lps

 

[oceanparadise1]

i would do it in the middle of the two then

 

[paintballer768]

What is wet and dry skimming?

 

[Garth Schafluetzel]

from what i understand dry pulls more gunk and wet pulls more water i guess lol i think im going to do it in the middle for now because my system will be mostly sps in the next couple months

 

[oceanparadise1]

dry is going to pull the green looking poppy stuff and if u dry skim it will takes days and days to fill up the cup while wet skimming u might have to empty the cup daily or bi-daily

 

[edwing206]

Wet skimming pulls out less gunk quicker and dry pulls out more gunk in a longer amount of time.

 

[Hypertek99]

I run my dry. It takes out more crap but takes more time too.

 

[GMaquarium]

I like to run dry skimming and spaying down once a day. just spray some tank water into the skimmer from the top. It will make a burb and clear out the dry nasty skimmate that collected.

 

[ss7]

running dry isn't going to pull out more gunk.. in fact, just the opposite. I run a wet skim to pull out the most waste from my systems. running wet keeps the neck cleaner for a more consistent production between cleanings.

 

[oceanparadise1]

not true, if u look at the color and density of running dry vs wet....it defs pulls out more. when u skim wet ur pulling out a lot more water vs dry is just gunk

 

[ss7]

the gunk is just concentrated.. the properties of the skimmer push this funk to the top of the neck.. running wetter just pushes it out before it reaches its "dry concentrate" form.

 

[Garth Schafluetzel]

well im doing it right in the middle right now trying to get my system used to the new skimmer and i think i like the way its coming out right know it not extremly dark but its definitly green lol and it seems to be helping things already in my system i fed today and it only stoped skimming for about 10 mins and as soon as the tank was clear it was back to full power. and the instructions did say that even putting your hand in the water will cause this so i guess its working correctly i pulled 1/3 gallon of dark green skimmate( not black grean but dark green ) over night and everything today has seem to open a little fuller than it usually does ill have pics tomorrow probly after 4 or 5 when i get off work my friend is bringing his point and shoot over

 

[Hypertek99]

It depends on how you look at it. Running dry pulls out more gunk but at a slower pace. Running wet pulls out more gunk in general but you are also pulling out the water with it so it fills up faster.

 

[ss7]

It depends on how you look at it. Running dry pulls out more gunk but at a slower pace. Running wet pulls out more gunk in general but you are also pulling out the water with it so it fills up faster.

agreed