Newbie brewer needs some advice.

So, I am on my second homebrew. I wanted to stick to kits for the first few. I am doing the coopers lager now, my primary fermentation is about done. I will be racking to a secondary and dry hopping with pellets. My question is: how long should I leave it in the primary after my gravity is stable before going to secondary? When I do dry hop how long should I do this? Thanks a ton guys!

You don't even need a secondary even when dry hopping. I believe most dry hop for about 7 days after FG is hit.

What kind of yeast are you using? Is it a true lager yeast? That'll determine a couple things you might do differently towards the end of active fermentation - or even IF you want to rack to secondary at all (many of us don't).

As for dry hopping, it's up to you. To some extent, the longer you leave the hops in there, the stronger the aroma will be. I tried a friend's brew over the weekend that was accidentally dry hopped for 3 weeks (he meant to leave it on for 1 week and... something happened... don't ask me!). His was a Black IPA, so it was absolutely to style (strong hop aroma and everything) and it made for a great beer.

I was wanting to go to secondary in order to help with clarity..... I used Nottingham yeast. I know this won't be a true lager, but hoping for a decent brew.

The clarity thing is all about time and gravity letting the yeast fall out. I don't transfer my beers to a secondary, but I used to. Just keep them in the primary for about two to three weeks total. Keeping the beer on the yeast won't hurt (it actually helps) and you reduce the risk of adding oxygen or contaminants through a racking. There are times when a secondary is important (like adding fruit or other additives) but I don't think this is you with this beer.

Either way, it will work so don't stress too much. Do it one way with one beer and do it the other for the next and see what you think.

I agree with the others, I'd think about dry hopping just after signs of fermentation start to slow significantly (day 5 -7) - the time is up to you. Some recommend not more than a week to ten days for fear of picking up the more vegetative flavors from hops vs. pure hop goodness. I've done as little as 4 days but typically do a week or so.

So I have been at a steady gravity for a couple days now. However, there is still a bunch of foamy maybe yeasty layering at the top. Is this normal?