Do you skim wet or dry?

Please excuse my lack of knowledge but what is wet or dry skimming and how do you tell which your skimmer is doing?

From what I've just read, dry skimming is when the gunk is thick and sludgy while wet skimming is when the gunk is more watery and tea like? Is that correct?

I have a CPR backpack II I believe with a Rio pump. The skimmate at first was more like water, but as time went by the skimmate went to a tea color. It would only stay that way if there was a sludge in the tube in the collection cup. Once I emptied and clean the tube, the gunk would go back to mostly water. I've been leaving that sludge in though, so is something wrong with my skimmer, or is that the way it's suppose to be?

 

Good eye! I completely didn't even notice that! But it's still a good discussion because despite my being in this hobby for 7 years, I had no idea there were 2 skimming options and that some people preferred one over the other. This is a good learning topic for me.

Keep 'em coming! It's been at 50/50 all day (the poll).

 

That's exactly right.

As for your other question, it sounds to me like it just depends on what you want. Nothing is wrong with your skimmer. The tea-colored water is what I'm going to aim for, personally. Wet skimming, as it were.

 

I dry skim in my small tank.
So far on may 135 it is wet but trying to adjust that.

I like to be able to chase my kids around with a good finger full of green slime. You should see them squirm!!! I think it is funny everytime

 

I'm like a little wet, just because it stays cleaner. Now I'm breaking in a new skimmer so back the adjustment s for a while.

 

Oh, alright. Thanks for the info.

Guess that answers the question. I wet skim because that's how the CPR backpack is working.

 

depends....i go through phases of heavy feedings so i skim more on the wet side...Then i go through phases where i barely feed at all and let the fish/corals fend for themselves...then i skim more on the dry side. If i am out of town i will also skim more dry so i dont worry about my skimmer overflowing while i am out of town since my skimmer is external.

 

cant vote
medium

 

The dryer the better IMO, although this aqua C has been getting kind of wetter than I would like, at least it is skimming!

 

Could I inject air to get more heavy foam at a faster pace? Anyone tried this yet? I have a milk jug attached to my collection cup so I dont have to pull the cup off very often.