Filter Socks
- Thread starter Travis Stewart
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Lowstorm
Well-Known Member
Love them. Hate cleaning them. My sump is out in the open so it's easy to glance over and see when to change it which is when it's brownish or over flowing 2 days to a week.
About to buy supplies to make a bunch of diy ones.
About to buy supplies to make a bunch of diy ones.
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Travis Stewart
Valuable Member
Ya my sump doesn't have a sock holder. Was thinking about making my own
Jonathan Presseau
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I rinse mine in the sink once a week during water change. I replace it every 4 or 5 changes. You should rinse them when new as they have some residue from manufacturing which will cause your Skimmer to go nuts. I tend to keep my skimmer off for a few hours after replacing. You can turn it right on after just rinsing dirty socks though.
Rob Lion
Active Member
On my system its a real pain to get them in and out... so for the past year I've run without a filter sock, I only put them in when I do a tank clean.
I'd personally rather the detritus / uneaten food circulated my tank for 3 days for my corals / fish / inmates to eat than have it just sat in the sock.
Yes you don't get absolute crystal clear water, but its still very clear and my filter eating worms and corals love me for it
I'd personally rather the detritus / uneaten food circulated my tank for 3 days for my corals / fish / inmates to eat than have it just sat in the sock.
Yes you don't get absolute crystal clear water, but its still very clear and my filter eating worms and corals love me for it
ksanfranfan
Active Member
I change mine after every water change. I also change them out often times mid week to prevent food that goes into the overflow and into the sump from rotting and decaying.
I always dedicate a short amount of time every day to do maintenance to my tanks, so the socks fit into part of my routine between water changes.
I always dedicate a short amount of time every day to do maintenance to my tanks, so the socks fit into part of my routine between water changes.
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I use the Red Sea 225 micron nylon mess sock. I love it
Just change to a new one about every 6 months.
Just change to a new one about every 6 months.
dmh41532
Active Member
My tank was over run with bryopsis, to the point i was ready to give up, made a few felt socks, with in a week, half the crap was gone, the water clearer. At first i changed them everyday, now change them a few times a week. Cleaning is easy, i rinse them well, and then put them in the wash, no soap, but a little bleach, extra rinse.
kingston.buck
Community Member
I don't run filter socks except for when I do water changes. I blast my sump really well and stir up my sand bed really well. I'll usually leave the sock in for a day or so then pull it out and let it run with out till the next cleaning and water change.
ajmckay
New Member
I've used pretty much every type of mechanical filtration from sponges to floss to filter pads, and also filter socks.
IMO filter socks are the top of my list because they're economical (DIY), and you can vary the amount of waste that they capture depending on the material used. Also there are several methods of implementation which can help make them easy to maintain.
I make my own filter socks - I can post a picture if you would like. I buy felt sheets about the size of a sheet of paper and sew them in half and along the bottom. Then I sew on some ribbon and hang it from a hook above my return. You don't need a filter sock holder. I clean mine about every 3 days or after I stir stuff up in my tank. The felt I use captures even the "dust" that comes from disrupting the sand bed so it's pretty fine. You could use a coarser material that may not need changing as often.
I'm looking into alternate materials to adjust the particle size that gets captured. One product that I saw in a YouTube video and has my eye is the mesh sleeve that slides over corrugated drain pipe that's used in landscaping. It looks very promising and might strike a decent balance between particle size and tendency to clog - plus I have to imagine it's durable as hell since it's meant to be buried in soggy soil. Another benefit is that it's already 4" diameter so you just sew shut the bottom after you cut a section - or maybe heat seal? http://www.homedepot...10-12/100131144
IMO filter socks are the top of my list because they're economical (DIY), and you can vary the amount of waste that they capture depending on the material used. Also there are several methods of implementation which can help make them easy to maintain.
I make my own filter socks - I can post a picture if you would like. I buy felt sheets about the size of a sheet of paper and sew them in half and along the bottom. Then I sew on some ribbon and hang it from a hook above my return. You don't need a filter sock holder. I clean mine about every 3 days or after I stir stuff up in my tank. The felt I use captures even the "dust" that comes from disrupting the sand bed so it's pretty fine. You could use a coarser material that may not need changing as often.
I'm looking into alternate materials to adjust the particle size that gets captured. One product that I saw in a YouTube video and has my eye is the mesh sleeve that slides over corrugated drain pipe that's used in landscaping. It looks very promising and might strike a decent balance between particle size and tendency to clog - plus I have to imagine it's durable as hell since it's meant to be buried in soggy soil. Another benefit is that it's already 4" diameter so you just sew shut the bottom after you cut a section - or maybe heat seal? http://www.homedepot...10-12/100131144
My sump uses 2 4" socks. I started with 100 micron, switched to 200 micron, then bought 10 socks. I have to change my socks currently once a week. When I was running biopellets and relying on bacteria to keep nutrients low, I had to change my 200 micron socks 2 times a week. Sometime 3 times.
When I change my socks, I turn them inside out, rinse in the sink, and throw in a buck (no lid). When I put my last pair of clean socks in the sump, I take all the dirty socks and throw them in my washing machine. I do NOT add any detergent or bleach to the wash cycle. I just set the machine to heavy duty cycle and turn on the 2nd rinse option. Socks are clean but not perfectly white when they come out, but they are close and I don't have to worry about chlorine. Besides, bleach doesn't clean, it just takes out the color so it looks clean. Been running my sump this way for 2+ years.
When I change my socks, I turn them inside out, rinse in the sink, and throw in a buck (no lid). When I put my last pair of clean socks in the sump, I take all the dirty socks and throw them in my washing machine. I do NOT add any detergent or bleach to the wash cycle. I just set the machine to heavy duty cycle and turn on the 2nd rinse option. Socks are clean but not perfectly white when they come out, but they are close and I don't have to worry about chlorine. Besides, bleach doesn't clean, it just takes out the color so it looks clean. Been running my sump this way for 2+ years.
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Travis Stewart
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Always been scared to wash stuff with non RO water because of the bacteria that presents itself...
MaccaPopEye
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This is exactly what I do just without the initial rinse lol.
I have built in a 3 sock holder into my new sump for my 180g. I use 200 micron socks (bought a bit over a dozen off ebay) and at the moment seem to only need to change them every 2 weeks. Inside out and into a bucket they go, when I have no more clean ones the dirty ones go into the wash, heavy cycle nothing else added and a double rinse. My washing machine also does a "dry spin" which is enough to make the filter socks almost entirely dry when they come out of the machine.
I didn't use socks in my last sump and while I like the idea of all that stuff floating around for the coral to then eat my sump got filthy. Needed to be cleaned out often and I could never get it as clean as I wanted it. When you see the stuff the socks pull out and how dirty they get I don't think I could not use them.
I agree, that not washing in RO means you have some phosphate/silica left on the socks. But the amount, after a spin dry in the wash cycle, is so small it isn't worth worrying about. If you are, just rinse in RO after the washer is done.
kingston.buck
Community Member
I do the same but toss a couple big scoops of sodium bicarbonate I think, basically hydrogen peroxide / the main cleaning thing in oxiclean
