I have read several threads that recommend running the skimmer wet. I was wondering what are the benifits of running your skimmer wet or dry. Are there different situations in which you would choose how to run your skimmer?
Running Skimmer wet or dry
- Thread starter BarbH
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falconerr
Active Member
Following along interested to see if someone has a good answer for this. I've always run mine alittle on the dry side i seem to get better production out of it, only downfall is my skimmer cup gets a lot nastier than when it was running wetter.
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Ace25
Active Member
My opinion, under normal conditions on a reef tank if someone is running a skimmer, you would want to run it as dry as possible. The stuff a skimmer removes, the vast majority is good stuff you would have wanted in your tank (if it is a reef tank, FOWLR is different). Personally I don't use any skimmers unless it is an extreme circumstance and my tanks are better for it, but it is a personal preference and not here to convince anyone of anything (advancedaquarist has done enough research on skimmers that anyone can read and decide for themselves).
That said, under some conditions, a skimmer is good and running it "wet" is the best idea. Those situations would only be if your tank has had a ton of proteins dumped into it (ie. food) and you know your system won't be able to process all the food before negative things happen (break down into ammonia).
One situation for me, I was waiting on an order of salt to arrive, it was a week away, and my clownfish baby tank had turned into a phyto tank, solid green, and I had to do something about it, so I removed all 29G of the phyto water and replaced it with clean water out of my 75G reef tank and dumped the phyto water in that tank. I turned my skimmer on and ran it wet for 24 hours. I did that to clean up the water, and it worked, but I only use skimmers on occasions I feel I need them, 99% I don't run one on my reef tanks. On a fish only/predator type tank, it is different as you normally won't have enough stuff (shrimp/snails/crabs/corals) to eat the tiny food particles so you want to remove them as quickly as possible.. in that situation a skimmer is very important to have and I would even recommend running it "wet".
For reference:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature
[URL]http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/aafeature2/
Feature Article: Further Studies on Protein Skimmer Performance — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog[/URL]
That said, under some conditions, a skimmer is good and running it "wet" is the best idea. Those situations would only be if your tank has had a ton of proteins dumped into it (ie. food) and you know your system won't be able to process all the food before negative things happen (break down into ammonia).
One situation for me, I was waiting on an order of salt to arrive, it was a week away, and my clownfish baby tank had turned into a phyto tank, solid green, and I had to do something about it, so I removed all 29G of the phyto water and replaced it with clean water out of my 75G reef tank and dumped the phyto water in that tank. I turned my skimmer on and ran it wet for 24 hours. I did that to clean up the water, and it worked, but I only use skimmers on occasions I feel I need them, 99% I don't run one on my reef tanks. On a fish only/predator type tank, it is different as you normally won't have enough stuff (shrimp/snails/crabs/corals) to eat the tiny food particles so you want to remove them as quickly as possible.. in that situation a skimmer is very important to have and I would even recommend running it "wet".
For reference:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature
[URL]http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/aafeature2/
Feature Article: Further Studies on Protein Skimmer Performance — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog[/URL]
Steelerfan747
Valuable Member
I have heard that the reason many go dry is that if you decide to go wet than you have to monitor your salt level as you will be losing more salt water and replenishing with ro. I run mine as dry as possible
I ran dry. Very dry, dark brown. Like one cup every two weeks. Then I switched to wet almost like green tea colored. One cup every two days. I haven't noticed a difference but I feel like I am getting more stuff out of the tank. So I am on the wet side now 
jedimasterben
Bubble coral sting good
I run mine wet. I dose sugar, and my nitrate levels stay lower when running wet (I assume this is from the skimmer taking out more of the denitrifying bacteria as they die).
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