Filer Sock Maintenance, What do you do?

[Scooter.B]

Curious to hear what reefers are doing with this matter.

After your filter socks are changed, how are your keeping them till you clean them?
Are you cleaning them as they become dirty? Or, do you put them aside till you have
several sets, or a few days or a weeks worth and clean them all together?

I heard reefers store them in a bucket of water and thrown them in the dear wife's washer after they have several sets. Then air dry.
Some say they just wash them in hot water, and others are adding bleach.

Like to hear how you manage this, and your pros and cons.

 

[TinyChocobo]

I change my felt filter socks every 2 to 3 days and put them in a bucket until I have 6~8 of them and then I was them all at once.

I turn them inside out and wash them in the washing machine on cold with a little bleach and then I do a double rinse.

Before I put them back in - I put some RODI in a bucket and put in some Prime and soak the socks for a little bit - to help make sure that if there is any chlorine that didn't come off in the wash - it's neutralized.

My mesh ones I just turn inside out and rinse in the sink.

 

[GoVols]

Curious to hear what reefers are doing with this matter.

After your filter socks are changed, how are your keeping them till you clean them?
Are you cleaning them as they become dirty? Or, do you put them aside till you have
several sets, or a few days or a weeks worth and clean them all together?

I heard reefers store them in a bucket of water and thrown them in the dear wife's washer after they have several sets. Then air dry.
Some say they just wash them in hot water, and others are adding bleach.

Like to hear how you manage this, and your pros and cons.

Scooter,
Welcome to Reef 2 Reef

I like using the Red Sea 225 micron nylon mesh filter sock. You can rinse it out with a kitchen sink sprayer or a garden hose and put it right back in. I can get about six months from one sock and no need to use the washing machine.

 

[TinyChocobo]

Scooter,
Welcome to Reef 2 Reef

I like using the Red Sea 225 nylon mesh filter sock. You can rinse it out with a kitchen sink sprayer or a garden hose and put it right back in. I can get about six months from one sock and no need to use the washing machine.

I noticed, not 15 minutes ago, that while the mesh socks last a LOT longer - they let a LOT more detritus get by. When I run the felt socks almost no detritus builds up in my sump. When I use the mesh - quite a bit ends up settling in the sump.

I suppose it's easier to clean the detritus out of the sump than it is out of felt socks though .

 

[Scooter.B]

Thanks for the welcome guys.

So a little bleach is ok then. I was taken back a bit when I heard people washing them with a little bit of bleach.
I guess with "airing them out" helps too.
I was washing them in warm water, extra soak and rinse. I wasn't using anything. I'll have to give a lil bleach a try.
I like the mesh filters as well. Personally, I feel they just don't get everything but, they are alotbeasiervto care for, things for sure

 

[Big G]

Bleach guy here. I put them (rectangular Eshopps) in the washer on "delicate" cycle with a bit of bleach. Air dry for several days. Change them out with other sets every 3-5 days or so.

 

[reefrf]

I have been doing the same method for 8 years.
Change out socks every 3-5 days. I simply throw them in a dry bucket & put a lid on them until I’ve accumulated a few or until I’m ready to rince. My rinsing method is turn them inside out & hit them for 2-3 minutes on the pool deck with a high pressure nozzle. Then let them dry. From there I throw them in a spot in the garage until I accumulate a dozen or more.
I wash them in bleach then rinse once. Hang to dry, then fold & store until ready for use.

Hope that helps.

 

[TinyChocobo]

I would use the pressure washer method if I had access to my pressure washer and somewhere to do it. Divorce is ... a long story.

 

[Big G]

I would use the pressure washer method if I had access to my pressure washer and somewhere to do it. Divorce is ... a long story.

Been there, done that.

 

[TinyChocobo]

Been there, done that.

I'm leaving an abusive relationship - I'll leave it at that - and I have custody of my children [as a man] in a 'mom' state. That said she's really dragging this out...

Sigh. I shouldn't derail this thread.

 

[jduong916]

I throw them in a bucket of bleach until im almost out (about 10 socks) then i throw them in the washer without soap with an extra rinse to get rid of the bleach. I also wash them inside out.

The bleach bucket needs a cap. Socks get pretty stinky after a few weeks.

 

[Jr'sReef]

I hit them with a garden hose on a straight stream using a nozzle. That cleans them up pretty well. Then toss them in a bucket till I’m down to my last one. Wash with bleach double rinse and let them sit in a bucket with prime for a day

 

[jduong916]

double post

 

[vetteguy53081]

I change them Every four days and wash them in warm water cycle - no bleach or soap and let them air dry

 

[Docdiggy]

Inside out, bleach, hot water, and double rinse cycle. No smell of anything after they dry. Very white too.

 

[Brett newell]

I used to change them once a week and wash with hot water and bleach. But now I don't run any at all. Been almost 2 months and sps seems much happier. I run a sock for about 24 hours once a month. This hobby is full of opinions it seems

 

[rkpetersen]

I like using the Red Sea 225 micron nylon mesh filter sock. You can rinse it out with a kitchen sink sprayer or a garden hose and put it right back in. I can get about six months from one sock and no need to use the washing machine.

I'm also doing this right now. It's much faster than dealing with felt socks. Oddly enough, even though these are so much thinner than 225 micron felt socks, they seem to clog and overflow significantly faster. I presume that the pores are more uniform overall with mesh and therefore little above 225 microns gets through. Felt socks on the other hand must initially let some larger particles through, although based on how much you can remove from them when you clean them, they pretty clearly collect much more material overall. Perhaps 225 microns is an average pore size for felt, some larger, some smaller.

I'm not certain that I won't go back to felt. I like felt, and maintenance isn't really the issue. Skimmer foaming is; it's a nuisance and somewhat unpredictable. It isn't due to using bleach, either; it will happen even with a hand scrub, turn inside out, hot water wash with no additives, two cold rinses, and air dry (which is what I use.)

 

[GoVols]

I'm also doing this right now. It's much faster than dealing with felt socks. Oddly enough, even though these are so much thinner than 225 micron felt socks, they seem to clog and overflow significantly faster. I presume that the pores are more uniform overall with mesh and therefore little below 225 microns gets through. Felt socks on the other hand must initially let some larger particles through, although based on how much you can remove from them, they pretty clear collect more material overall. Perhaps 225 microns is an average pore size for felt, some larger, some smaller.

I'm not certain that I won't go back to felt. I like felt, and maintenance isn't really the issue. Skimmer foaming is; it's a nuisance and somewhat unpredictable. It isn't due to using bleach, either; it will happen even with a hand scrub, turn inside out, hot water wash with no additives, two cold rinses, and air dry (which is what I use.)

I ran sockless with just the skimmer for along time, but the 225 nylons are really not that much of a hassle and the sumps stays a lot cleaner.

I tried the felt, but between the foaming and washing, it was not what I wanted to do.

 

[DSC reef]

Scooter,
Welcome to Reef 2 Reef

I like using the Red Sea 225 micron nylon mesh filter sock. You can rinse it out with a kitchen sink sprayer or a garden hose and put it right back in. I can get about six months from one sock and no need to use the washing machine.

This was a game changer for us. I threw away all our felt socks and now have 3 of red sea nylon mesh. Sink rinse in 5 minutes, rinse in rodi, ready use again. Love them, no more washing machine.

 

[Scooter.B]

So what I'm hearing here, (surprising) is that mesh is better than felt?
I would have never expected that, hmmmm. SMH.
If this is the case, I would have no problem switching over to all mesh.
Cleaning would be so much simpler. WOW!