Wet or Dry Skimming and Nitrates

[reeferkeifer]

Does it make a difference to do a wet or dry skim on my Vertex Omega 150 to help control nitrates? I might have a few too many fish in my 90 FOWLR, I have 12, I do a 15-20 gallon water changes every week and I feed once a day every day. How do I dial in a wet or dry skim? Do I keep the bubbles low, say to the bottom of the collection cup and let it push the bubbles up and over into the cup? Is a wet skim where the bubbles and churning around the top allowing them to fall easier into the cup? Also, should I be vacuuming my sand bed every two weeks?

 

[crew]

wet vs dry skimming isn't really going to adjust the amount of nutrients you pull you. It's more about the water - wet skimming pulling more.

Some people like wet skimming because their skimmers are easier to clean or because it slowly lowers salinity (if you have something else raising it, this is a nice counter).

Personally, I like dry skimming. I have to clean my skimmer less often and it has less of an effect on salinity. Really, there is no wrong way to skim though.

 

[reeferkeifer]

What is everyones take on wet skimming for a water change?

 

[reeferkeifer]

Crew;1046916 wrote: wet vs dry skimming isn't really going to adjust the amount of nutrients you pull you. It's more about the water - wet skimming pulling more.

Some people like wet skimming because their skimmers are easier to clean or because it slowly lowers salinity (if you have something else raising it, this is a nice counter).

Personally, I like dry skimming. I have to clean my skimmer less often and it has less of an effect on salinity. Really, there is no wrong way to skim though.

Do you have the bubbles set pretty low to do a dry skim?

 

[crew]

No - they come to just below the collection cup. The difference is the amount of water or air that you let in. That adjusts the foam and gives you a wetter or drier skim. At least, that's how it works on my Skimz. I think Omega's are similarly designed.

 

[reeferkeifer]

Right on. Thanks Crawford

 

[ringo®]

ReeferKeifer;1046919 wrote: What is everyones take on wet skimming for a water change?

There was a pretty lengthy thread about on RC a while ago. If you google protein skimmer water change, it should be one of the first things to come up.

 

[morganatlanta]

I tried an automatic wet skim water change for a while. It was hard to dial in to get the right balance between skimming water to replace with salt or evaporation to replace with fresh. In the end I figured it was a complication I didn't need in my life.