Wet Skim V.S. Muddy Skim

[ripped tide]

I am curious to know if people prefer to "wet skim" and pull out more water in their collection cups or if a "muddy" skim is preferred. Please feel free to post any experiences, comments, recommendations, or any other useful info. Thanks!

 

[crewdawg1981]

All personal preference.

Wetskimming will likely take out more quickly and generally is done by those with a heavy bioload (at least from what I've seen) Dryskimming allows you to leave the skimmer running for a longer period of time between emptying the cup, but does the job. Problem with this is that you will quickly buildup a layer of gunk on the inside of the skimmer neck and reduce the effectiveness of your skimmer.

 

[ichthyoid]

I think it has a lot to do with your skimmer too. If you use a large and/or highly efficient skimmer design for the size tank, then dry is probably preferable, IMO. If you have an undersized/undercapacity skimmer I think wet is better. Why? I think you are likely to pull out more crap per unit time on a wet skim than dry.

I say go big, or go home, when it comes to skimmers! Remember that a good skimmer also serves as an oxygen reactor (it oxygenates/saturates the water AND raises ORP). Studies have shown that aerobic bacteria generally do much better with high O2 and ORP levels. This is one reason why many beginners and/or underdesigned systems perform poorly, IMO.

The efficient skimmer is especially important if you are carbon dosing!

 

[ripped tide]

I do carbon dose, but i only have a hang on prizm skimmer. It seems to work fine when i have a low flow and a dry skim. If I increase the flow, i get a wet skim plus tons of micro bubbles. I suppose the only way to avoid this would be buy a better skimmer... I am not a fan of skimmers that have pump in the tank (the reason i origionally chose the prizm, and it was free), so are there any better skimmers that hang on, that do not require and in tank power head to function. Or would i just be better off dry skimming with what i have. I also do a 20% h20 change once a week. It seems like everything is pretty happy right now aside from a few corals that were the victum of a hungry angel. (the angel is gone now)

 

[ichthyoid]

It's difficult to argue with success.

If that works for you and you're happy with the results, why change?

 

[ripped tide]

The main reason i question my temporary success is: i can only imagine that as my bio-load increases, which it will as everything grows and i add new animals, the effectiveness of the prizm skimmer will seem less impressive. So before i get to that point, i wanted to research and see what seems to be the technique that will provide optimal results. Then again, im sure i could just up the % of water i change if i see issues.

 

[ichthyoid]

Mass Kreation;625189 wrote: The main reason i question my temporary success is: i can only imagine that as my bio-load increases, which it will as everything grows and i add new animals, the effectiveness of the prizm skimmer will seem less impressive. So before i get to that point, i wanted to research and see what seems to be the technique that will provide optimal results. Then again, im sure i could just up the % of water i change if i see issues.

+1

Water changes can solve a lot of problems.

Otherwise, I suggest that you nvestigate other alternatives. Is your tank drilled/have an overflow with a sump?

 

[ripped tide]

No, i run it 'ghetto' style. The tank is odd dimensions 20"w 20"d and 31"t, so it is a pain in the *** to clean and aquascape. I have an Eheim Ecco canister, the prizm skimmer, maxi jet1200 and a koralia 2. Very simple set-up.

 

[dewey1982]

I have been wet-skimming for years, and I find that it saves you the pain in the butt of cleaning the nastiest stuff you have ever seen every time you run the skimmer. It still pulls some nasty wet skimmate, but I can clean once every few weeks vs. all the time.

 

[casper75]

I used to dry skim and I found myselfhave to clean my skimmer cup once a week beforeI would have to empty my waste container. Now I skim wet only have to clean the cup once a month and judt empty the waste container every 2 week.