How to get different skimmate

[dbacksrat]

I have been running an Aqua C Remora for about 5 weeks now, and all I'm getting in the collection cup is watery skimmate. Does anyone know how to make the skimmer produce more solids? What removes more: wet or dry skimmate? I have to empty the collection cup daily, which means when the cup is full, all skimming stops until I realize I need to empty it. Thanks for helping me out here.

 

[Lorna]

Mine is new also and I get a lot of water in my cup. I adjusted the o-ring to the bottom of the cup and the foam is drier which I think is the key......I believe mine is still breaking in though the skimmate is getting darker....which I think is a good sign

 

[wayne]

You get drier skimmate by putting more air/less water in the mix OR by raising the collection cup.

If you are really taling ultimates wet skimming can extract more than dry, but at the expense of throwing a lot of water away. When people are referring to 'wet skimming' they already have the skimmer dialled in to produce dry, but then overrun the water supply to get more out at the expense of losing excessive water

 

[dbacksrat]

So what I understand is raise the collection cup via lowering the o-ring that sits on the outside? I don't like how my skimmate is very watery, and I've noticed that I'm topping off a lot more now.

 

[Lorna]

What colour is the watery skimmate? I get a watery mix too but it is scummy on the riser tube and leaves scum around in the collection cup. The water is kind of smelly and more like iced tea in colour........Mine has only been running over a month and so I believe it may still be breaking in......

 

[dbacksrat]

i get like a watery watery pea soup colored skimmate--mine's been running for a month too, so I'm sure mine is just about done breaking in

 

[wayne]

It'll take a few days for some chemicals associated with the moulding process to disappear, and most skimmers work better once they're a little dirty so a month is plenty run in.
People talk about skimmate like strong coffee, mine is a little thicker than th<t. Maybe you just need to experiment with raising it a bit to see what happens?