Wow! I got some additional excellent explanations over at the ReefTank! One of the frustrating but probably good things about me is tenacity - I just won't quit until I really understand the reasons for something, can't simply take someone's word for it - gotta know why.
More About WHY Wet Foam is Better Than Dry Foam:
Spanky:
This is without a doubt the hardest thing I've even had to explain - without using lots of hand motions! LOL
Yes dark, dry skimmate is more concentrated that wet skimmate. Because it takes longer for it to get concentrated?? Ok that didn't work, let me try that again.
Let's say you pass your water through the skimmer once every hour. It takes 12 hours to make dark concentrated skimmate, so your tank water has passed through the skimmer 12 times to remove that.
Then if you remove wet skimmate at the same volume you're removing more with each pass through the skimmer even though it's less concentrated.
Nope not there yet!
OK OK try this.
Even though you're removing wet skimmate and it's less concentrated than the dry, you're removing more things faster.
I give up!! can't do it. LOL ask Mike.
It's dark because it's organics and bacteria.
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galleon:
Wet = Faster Removal of crap = better
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wizardgus:
Let me try, I'll botch it up a bit, but you can fix it for me.
IIRC, the way a skimmer basically works is certain things are attracted to and adhere to the surface tension of the bubbles/foam. Not all things we want to remove from the water are equally attracted or as well attached. With a dry foam, those things less attracted are able to basically fall off before reaching the skimmer cup.
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mad_coder:
there's probably some loss of crud the longer it has to wait around to concentrate, which means if you want to remove the most crud, remove wet foam.
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Those guys are Good!!! Kudos to them!
