why is 'dry' dark skimmate considered better than 'wet' light skimmate?

[bergzy]

i have read that it is better to have dark skimmate but...'WHY'?

i havent read a good explanantion except that it is desirable over wet...but no one has given a 'scientific' explanation...just opinion and preference so far...

 

[DonW]

i have read that it is better to have dark skimmate but...'WHY'?

i havent read a good explanantion except that it is desirable over wet...but no one has given a 'scientific' explanation...just opinion and preference so far...

I think its just opinion. Try it dry, wet and in the middle and see what works best for you.

Don

 

[jezzeaepi]

The darker it is the more concentrated it is. The lighter it is, the more water is in it. Some like skimming dark because you loose less salt water. I prefer skimming lighter because you pull more out of the water ebfore it has a chance to break down.

Peace

 

[bbehring]

I run 2 skimmers. one is set to pull more dry and the other runs mid range to light. Works well for me.

 

[acrodesiac]

I do the same as bbehring and that works great for me too The most concentrated skimmate is actually the sludge that builds up almost as a solid. The concentration I have read is up to 3 times as much as even the darkest wet skimmate. I clean my larger dry skimmer twice a week to keep up with the sludge accumilation, whereas I clean my smaller wet skimmer weekly. If you have only one skimmer I think the best method is to find a happy medium between dry and wet but make sure you are getting daily results from your skimmer Thats what Anthony says.

 

[Anthony Calfo]

its not a good versus bad issue, but rather a likely versus unlikely application (and subseqent greater good for those likely needs)

At least until recently... reef aquariums we rather nutrient poor and with few folks actually target feeding corals on a weekly let alone daily basis. For this reason and more, particulate waste of any kind was rather sparse in typical ef aquaria. But dissolved organics would accumulate and concentrate. Thus... we sought to collect more of the drier/darker skimmate to export these finer ordissolved compounds.

But wet skimmate will pull out particulate matter before it gets a chance to degard into excessive dissolved organics. Thus, for tanks especially with heavily fed fishes/corals... wet skimming is better.

In some ways, this issue is like lighting. You cannot say what is good or better for lights or skimmate until you first address the needs of the creatures being kept.

 

[bbehring]

Anthony, thanks for the clairification.

 

[bergzy]

thanks for the info anthony!

i am getting 2 gallons of this (not dark and not light) yummy stuff per day:

 

[acrodesiac]

2 GALLONS!!! Jeeez what size tank/skimmer do you have?

 

[bbehring]

wholly cow, if I draind 2 gallons of skimmate a day I'd be standing in crappy, smelly, water an ankle deep LOL! That seems like a lot to me. Is there a mini version of that skimmer availabe?

 

[Anthony Calfo]

indeed... any tank without fishes/feeding can still get daily skimmate (from grazed diatoms, fecal pellets, etc) and every tank that has fishes/corals that get fed should certainly get hearty daily skimmate. Anything less is a skimmer not tweaked or designed well.