Do 1 micron filter socks remove ich?

[Miami Reef]

I use 100 micron filter socks.

But I just received my 1 micron socks.

Will they work to reduce ich/velvet size?

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

Maybe, but I think you really need to stop the life cycle of ich to successfully combat it. That requires medicine

 

[Miami Reef]

I found this! Looks like I’ll be good! I think my tank will be ich free for life...or at least really really low enough!

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

I don't think they filter socks alone is gonna do it but it never hurts to try. Something else you need to consider soder is that puppy is gonna clog up super fast and then water will just free spill over into the rest of your sump / tank.

 

[Miami Reef]

I don't think they filter socks alone is gonna do it but it never hurts to try. Something else you need to consider soder is that puppy is gonna clog up super fast and then water will just free spill over into the rest of your sump / tank.

My tank is 300 gallons and I just installed an 80 watt UV filter that was rated for 600 gallon tanks inside the main display that runs 480gph (for parasite control)

plus these socks which I will change daily. I have 6 small fish right now. I feel so confident.

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

I think the UV is the force multiplier their.
Sounds like your all set. Let us know how it works out!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I use 100 micron filter socks.

But I just received my 1 micron socks.

Will they work to reduce ich/velvet size?

This idea harkens back to the old Vortex Diatom filters of the 1970's - they were said to "remove ich" and their pore size (about 5 to 10 microns) certainly seemed like they would work at removing theronts, but in practice, they rarely worked well enough to stop active infections. Part of the problem is the "dwell time" - this is the same reason why UV sterilizers don't work well - while the filter is busy pulling theronts out of the water, the tomonts are reproducing at a faster rate, and the infection continues. Another problem with 1 um bag filters is that they clog too fast. You can try to get around that issue, by pre-filtering the water entering the 1 um bag, with perhaps a 10 of 20 um bag.
This method DOES work great in one specific situation - where 100% of the 1 um filtered water flows into a second tank - and THAT will be pretty much disease-free (UV sterilizers work well that way also).

Jay

 

[Miami Reef]

But the UV is in a true closed loop. And all the water that will pass through the overflow will pass through the socks.

I’m going to try it out and see where it goes. I cannot practice eradication because it’s not feasible. It can get in my tank from a coral, snail, sea water change (unless I run a filter through it). I cannot quarantine inverts for 76 days.

and people who do quarantine can still get ich. I want to minimize the ich population as much as I can and practice management.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Interested to hear the outcome, but I hypothesize unless you're going 100 micron, 20 micron, then 1 micron, I doubt you'll get a day before they overfill the bag . One micron is TINY.

 

[Sam816]

better invest in smaller QT system with an oversized UV. Nothing is better than proper copper treatment. 1micron socks will get clogged in half a day if not less. then all the water will flow over instead of passing through the sock.

 

[ReefRusty]

If it doesn't help with ICH you will have crystal clear water

 

[Tamberav]

But the UV is in a true closed loop. And all the water that will pass through the overflow will pass through the socks.

I’m going to try it out and see where it goes. I cannot practice eradication because it’s not feasible. It can get in my tank from a coral, snail, sea water change (unless I run a filter through it). I cannot quarantine inverts for 76 days.

and people who do quarantine can still get ich. I want to minimize the ich population as much as I can and practice management.

it’s a closed loop but the parasite reproduces in the tank and attaches to the fish in large enough numbers that what goes into the overflow and gets filtered out is not enough is what it sounds like he is saying.

I run Ich free tank and QT all inverts and corals at 82 degrees for 45 days and this seems to work well.

Sounds like you can filter the sea water with the sock instead.

I did ich management for 10 years and it wasn’t terrible but I did observational QT for all fish and fed high quality foods. I never got velvet but did lose some fish now and again for unknown reasons (not too often but it happens) and saw Ich during times of stress.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

@Miami Reef how did the 1 micron sock experiment work out for you?

 

[Miami Reef]

@Miami Reef how did the 1 micron sock experiment work out for you?

Not very effective in my case. I think it definitely has potential, but the issue is that the fish are much closer targets than the overflows at the top of the tank.

I also didn’t have much luck with UV in the past. I currently QT everything (I got tired of managing the issue). If I had ich again I would use H2O2 with UV which is becoming very promising for eradication. It’s also reef safe. I personally never tried it, but a few people have already.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Not very effective in my case. I think it definitely has potential, but the issue is that the fish are much closer targets than the overflows at the top of the tank.

I also didn’t have much luck with UV in the past. I currently QT everything (I got tired of managing the issue). If I had ich again I would use H2O2 with UV which is becoming very promising for eradication. It’s also reef safe. I personally never tried it, but a few people have already.

HIgh dosage UV, Ozone and a 17 micron roller mat is what I'm using at the moment.

I hypothesize it may keep things in check. We'll see in a couple of years

 

[LAReefer4Life]

I am currently using 57 watt aqua UV and 80 watt pentair UV in closed loop system, in addition to Poseidon ozone and 20" canister reactor with 0.2 micron sediment filter.

I am putting all fish through 2 weeks of CP and general cure treatment with 2 weeks of observation.

 

[Spare time]

I found this! Looks like I’ll be good! I think my tank will be ich free for life...or at least really really low enough!

That's assuming the ich hatches from the sand/rocks or whatever, misses the fish, goes to the filter and into the sock, oof which likely needs to be changed multiple times a day (1 micron cloggs almost immediately or overflows),.