Could filter socks be bringing unwanted nutrients into our tanks?

[Crabs McJones]

The thought occurred to me the other day as I was doing laundry. Myself, along with dozens of other reefers, utilize our washing machine to clean our filter socks. Even those who rinse them out in a utility sink or similar. And unless you have a big high end RO system in your home, they all use straight tap water for the wash and rinse cycle. Is it possible that this is a way in for undesired nutrients such as copper or other heavy metals found in tap water? I know where I'm located in wisconsin we have a large copper concentration in our water. Do the heavy metals evaporate out with the water as they dry or is it left behind in the filter sock to then be released into our tanks when we put it in. Any thoughts, suggestions, or comments are welcome. Possibly a good one for @Ryanbrs @randyBRS to do a BRSTV Investigates on?

Thanks,
Crabs

 

[Finhead]

It's easy to be sure, don't run them. I haven't run filter socks in almost 2 years now, tank looks much better without.

 

[Crabs McJones]

It's easy to be sure, don't run them. I haven't run filter socks in almost 2 years now, tank looks much better without.

I have seriously considered this but with the way my Sump is setup it's a pain to run them without because I get too much splashing I have the Aqueon proflex 2 sump and without the filter socks it splashes all over the place

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Minerals and heavy metals won't evaporate with the water. The way i get around it is just doing a thorough rinse in RO/DI water after any washing.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

This is part of the reason I stopped using the socks on the Nuvo series. That and most washing machines have left over soap in them even after a pre rinse cycle before putting the socks in. My socks almost always had a frangrance to them after a wash.

Sure I would do a nice old tank water or RODI dip and rinse but it still made me nervous.

 

[Finhead]

I have seriously considered this but with the way my Sump is setup it's a pain to run them without because I get too much splashing I have the Aqueon proflex 2 sump and without the filter socks it splashes all over the place

Could you just cut the bottoms off 2 socks and leave them long enough to have a few inches into the water? Not sure if that would work or not but might be worth a try.

 

[jsker]

I make my filter socks, Run my filter socks, and I toss my filter socks.

 

[MnFish1]

It depends on how much copper is in your water, how much water is left on your filter socks after they are washed (i.e. do you blot them dry or shake them dry or just let them dry on their own), the volume of water in your tank and how often you do water changes. The upper limit for tap water is 1.3 mg/liter copper. Lets say there is 1 ml water(.001 liters) left on your filter sock after blotting it dry that is .0013 mg copper. If you put that into a 10 gallon (40 liter) tank it would raise the copper concentration from 'zero' to .0013mg/40l = .0000325 mg/liter which is .0325 ppb copper. When you consider that toxic levels of copper are 10-100 ppm for corals it is a very low risk issue (especially since most people using filter socks have 100 gall0n rather than 10 gallon tanks. Also copper is bound quickly to rocks, etc. and doesn't stay completely in solution. But its an interesting question.

 

[themcfreak]

Following. This is a great question

 

[jduong916]

When I ran filter socks I would let them soak in a bucket of bleach until the last one was used (about 8 - 7" socks), then I'd spray them down with a hose and and throw them in the washer on the sanitize setting. I'd do this once every 2 months.

The socks would be very dry after the rinse/spin cycle in my washer so i doubt you are adding enough tap water to your system to cause any problem. I use RODI water for my tank, but I really don't think a little tap water here in there will do any harm i.e: rinsing carbon in tap water, rinsing dry rock in tap, cleaning equipment in tap, etc.

 

[DSC reef]

I make my filter socks, Run my filter socks, and I toss my filter socks.

I need to get with you on this idea @jsker I'd love to not have to wash socks anymore. I don't like a dirty sump and pumps so I'll always run them. Maybe we can go halves but you make all of them....

 

[Crabs McJones]

I change out my filter socks twice a week. Sunday and Wednesday. And I do 6 gallon water changes every sunday (total water volume is between 40 and 50 gallons) And I wash the socks right away, and let them air dry before reusing them. I'm seriously considering finding a way to go sockless.
This is my sump, any ideas on how I can modify it to not have socks but not splash and make all kinds of noise?

 

[jsker]

I use the plastic throw ring for the tops and I need to remake a better video

 

[JoshH]

Could you run mesh filter socks instead? Much easier to clean (rinse them out and stick them back in). Might work on the noise as well. If you wanted to lose the socks all together you could just cut out the cylinder where your drain pipe enters which would bypass the sock holders all together. You would probably have to shorten the drain pipe itself but that's not a big deal.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I use the plastic throw ring for the tops and I need to remake a better video

How often to you replace them?

 

[MnFish1]

I change out my filter socks twice a week. Sunday and Wednesday. And I do 6 gallon water changes every sunday (total water volume is between 40 and 50 gallons) And I wash the socks right away, and let them air dry before reusing them. I'm seriously considering finding a way to go sockless.
This is my sump, any ideas on how I can modify it to not have socks but not splash and make all kinds of noise?

I find it hard to see where you are putting your filter socks. I'm not seeing the water flow clearly here

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Minerals and heavy metals won't evaporate with the water. The way i get around it is just doing a thorough rinse in RO/DI water after any washing.

This is what I do. I put all the filter socks out of the washer into a 5 gallon bucket and add enough RO/DI to cover the socks. I agitate them and let them sit for a few hours, then take them out and dry them. Not sure how much of an impact this has, but it makes me feel better.

EDIT: after my next wash, I think I'm going to test the TDS of the rinse water to see what was "removed" from the socks.

 

[JoshH]

I find it hard to see where you are putting your filter socks. I'm not seeing the water flow clearly here

I believe this is how the flow goes through the auqeons crabs can correct me if I'm wrong

 

[jsker]

How often to you replace them?

Twice a week. Sometimes I will leave them out for a day or two.
The key is to have the proper weight to hold down the fabric while cutting

 

[MnFish1]

I believe this is how the flow goes through the auqeons crabs can correct me if I'm wrong

Yes that would be noisy lol. without socks. So why dont you use something that will still 'wick the water' like a filter sock - but with larger holes that will not need to be rinsed as much. Secondly, what is the reason you want to get rid of filter socks.