Simple Skimmer Question

[Saltwater Stu]

I'm running a Marineland 300 in-sump skimmer, not the best but seems to do the trick. My question is...The skimmer seems to produce different colors of skim and different thickness of foam, is there any assumptions about the state of my tank I can make by looking at my collection cup? Is a light green tea color the best or is the dark dark sludge stuff the best. I get both.
Thanks!

 

[mercenary-grunt]

Proteins are clear, green is phytoplankton? Micro-algae, I believe brown is food and junk. If mojo will chime in he knows.


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[Jozee]

If I remember right, mojo said that skimmate should be milky - green is plankton, brown is solids, organics

 

[Derbird]

Hum, I thought the goal was thick sluge that made you uke:

I have always dialed my skimmer until I got it. I'll be following along to see if I'm making a mistake.

 

[Saltwater Stu]

Exactly, I've never really known what the ideal result should be. Sometimes I get thick, sometimes I get thin, depending on water level I assumed, hoping there was more to it than that though.

 

[1guydude]

hmmm idk i go for green tea myself... stinky nasty tea~! Also some chunks of gunk and stuff r in their too.

 

[Saltwater Stu]

GF loves when I dump it down the drain in the kitchen when she's baking, haha, always seems like a good time to clean the skimmer, can't explain it, lol. I bounce between the two extremes, set it a little different every time I empty collection cup, dunno if that's bad, I know consistency is key but I go for the range, just in case I am skimming wrong.

 

[1guydude]

ewww lol i flush it

 

[Katchupoy]

also in my case that is.... wet skimming is lighter green, dry skimming is dark green....