Wet Foam vs. Dry Foam

[tankgirl]

I've heard that different people like different kinds of foam production in their skimmers. I'd like to hear why some people prefer dry foam and some like wet foam!!!
Thanks!!!

 

[RanRoc]

I think that the more dry, the more unwanted stuff, and less of the valueable water is taken out. Therefore, I like the dry stuff, and set the collection cup on my AquaC Urchin a bit higher.
-RY

 

[mojoreef]

For me its wet, really wet....the reson is to get as much as I can out, wetter also allows for larger particles to be removed.

Mike

 

[NaH2O]

When researching protein skimmers I ran across this statement on Euro Reef's Website

Want wet foam because you just cleaned the algae off the glass?? Raise the pipe up a bit.. Adding new water, food, live rock, resins etc., which often make a protein skimmer go nuts!!?? Just lower the pipe a bit.... THAT'S IT!!

So, in other words you change the foam according to what's happening in the tank???

 

[reefrunner]

A few years ago I read an article in Marine Fish and Reef USA annual by Richard Harker in which he stated that a lighter colored wetter skimmate actually had a higher percentage of waste than the dry foam. I tend to go for a wetter foam, basically for the same reason Mike does, to get as much out as possible

 

[Dennis7]

I vary mine, sometimes dry and sometimes wet. Wetter when I stir things up in the tank.

 

[jks1]

i try and find the happy medium, somewhere between having to empty the collection cup once a day or two

 

[wooddood]

wet hear too,seems to do a better polishing job on the water.

 

[tankgirl]

Hey, wooddood! Happy Birthday!!!

Thanks, everyone!!! Good info!

 

[ScottT1980]

I have to take the wet foam because the dry stuff enver really makes it out of the skimmer, no matter how I tweak it.

One question that I know has been answered before but I will ask again, the water being removed from the skimmer is SW correct? I am assuming it is because skimmers really only work well with SW but I just thought I would ask to make sure. The wet foam, I think, is what caused my salinity to lower so much at one point.

Take er easy
Scott T.

 

[mojoreef]

Scott skimmers can take a bit of your sodium out of the water. So yes you are corect your salinity will take a bit of a hit.


Mike

 

[tankgirl]

Mike, if a skimmer takes sodium out of the water, what happens to the chloride?

 

[mojoreef]

sorry sodium chloride, lol man you folks are keeping me on my toes


Mike

 

[Mebigloser]

Dry, I perfer if very dry.....removes more junk...the waste should be dark tar like substance...not watery...

 

[dgasmd]

I actually do a combo of both. It is a bit of work, but I feel it works better for me. No data really to back it up.
I run my skimmer very dry. There is about 18" in the main chamber to dry up plus the riser tube. Everyday in the AM before I leave for work, I do a 10 sec cisual check of things. Then, I give the gate valve a big turn making the water in the chamber raise all the way to the top leaving the last 2" or so in the riser tube only. It flushes out all the super dry stuff. Then, after 20-30 sec there, I turn it back to where it will dry the hell out of it again.

 

[tankgirl]

Thanks, everyone!!! This is getting more and more interesting, so many different approaches!

 

[Witfull]

dry martini....wet foam.

 

[ReefLady]

I did some research on this a while back, and the "experts" at that time were arguing that the wet skimmate would strip your water of more good stuff. It was a pretty lively deabte at that time, but I landed in the corner of dry skimmate. Perhaps I should rethink that.

This being the new frontiers forum, I'll try to dig up some old arguments on the subject so maybe we can toss around the ideas presented.

(Times they are a-changing by Bob Dylan running through my mind. )

T

 

[ReefLady]

Funny, I remember more than this but here's a start...


http://www.reefs.org/library/article/wet_dry_foam.html

QUOTE: "With wet foam you are removing MUCH FEWER organics and a lot more plain old tank water, so in essence the skimmer is not really working"

This point is argued in the link, not saying it's true...

 

[Boomer]

Scott skimmers can take a bit of your sodium out of the water. So yes you are corect your salinity will take a bit of a hit.

Hi Mikey

Hmm, Sodium or Sodium Chloride, what about all the other things in seawater, they just don't make it i.e. Sulfate, Mg, K etc.. Some one stick their conductivity meter in the collection cup

Yes, wet foam, not to wet. Dry foam is not a good idea, as the bubble/foam becomes to stable and does not collapse for easy removal. If the foam is to wet, some of the surfactants will just go back into the water. Bubble rate should barely exceed foam collpase. Foam stability depends largely on surfactant concentration. Bubble staility decreases with decreasing surfactants.

A good read

http://home.mweb.co.za/jv/jv79/reef/skimmers2.html