Wet skimming?

[woody311az]

What does it mean when people say that they are wet skimming?

[krowleey]

it means they are making thier skimmer bubble high in the skimmer so more liquid is captured, and removing more from the water colum than dry foam. we skimming means tea skimmate instead of dark green/black.

[woody311az]

why would you want to wet skim vs dry skim, what is the purpose of the two?

[seapug]

Wet skim tends to strip out more of the dissolved organics, but the down side is it also takes out more saltwater with it so you need to monitor your SG because it can make can give you the impression that your evaporation rate is more than it is. Replacing with straight freshwater can cause a drop in salinity over time.

[woody311az]

So to wet skim do you just change the setting so there are less bubbles or more bubbles? Or if that's wrong how do you wet skim?

[jkrentz2515]

You wet skim by placing the cup lower so more bubbles make it all the way to the top of the cup . Dry skimming means raising the cup higher, therefore catching less liquid and more of just the waste.

[woody311az]

So then what is the purpose of the bubble adjustment?

[jkrentz2515]

That is another way to do the same thing, I just prefer to leave the bubble adjustment open alot and move the cup up or down. Once you find the spot you like, you will never have to adjust it.

[qfrisco]

Dry skimming also causes more slimey crud to collect on the skimmer's neck faster which also affects the skimmers performance. At least on my skimmer, I need to stick a sponge in the neck to wipe the crud out, which is a bit of a pain, especially when I have to do it every 2-3 days.

[stanlalee]

if you have a not so good or undersized skimmer its best to wet skim. your likely to get more organics out. If you have a good or oversized skimmer its more of a matter of preference. If your A+ skimmer is going to fill up your collection orifice daily you probably arent going to be that fond of wet skimming.

[woody311az]

Well thanks for the help guys