? For those who do NOT use filter socks

[TRPlacek]

For those that don't use filter socks, do you regularly clean your sump? If so how often? And if not, what is your reasoning for not cleaning?

I'm asking because I have thought of getting rid of my filter socks but trying to figure out if it's the right move for me and my tank. My tank is going on 2 years and is a low nutrient tank. Note, I have been working to bring nutrients up for some time now.

 

[dbl]

Great question and I'm signing up to follow along. I would love to dump the socks but I just can't imagine the gunk I find in the socks going in to the sump. So I've lived by the old adage of, if it ain't broken, don't fix it...lol.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I would love to dump the socks but I just can't imagine the gunk I find in the socks going in to the sump.

This. Basically your letting more food rot in the system to bring the nutrients up. No seems build faster then Po.
I finally put socks on after 2 years I think. In my sump I have a large fuge that runs a DSB rock and a lot of macros and chato. A lot of that food is eaten by my bugs(mandarin tank) and I have a LOT of them. if it were bare bottom it would be gross. It also invites bugs. Sea cockroaches I like(pods), flat worms I dont(mandarin likes both).
Even though I haven't had any nutrient problems Im tired of the funk that builds up on everything. I also got some NPS I intent to feed harder. So Me Ill have holes in my socks to feed the bugs.

Pers Id rather slow down on water changes, change up foods and rinse my socks less to increase nutrients.

 

[cloak]

I don't necessarily clean my sump, but before each water change I'll use a power head and really stir things up down there. (no baffles) The majority of the detritus gets pumped up to the DT and then a filter sock catches it on the way back down. (or it's removed with a siphon during the water change) Being that this is done on a regular basis though there's really nothing down there from week to week. Once the water is clear the sock is removed. IME what a sock can remove in a weeks time and what it can remove in a few hours after I've blasted the rocks with a power head and stirred up the sand bed are like night and day. I'll put that sock to work for a few hours and then I'm done with it.
On a side note; I've got a couple Ocellaris clownfish that breed in my tank on a regular basis. When this happens some of the corals have a field day and I would hate to deprive them of that by running a filter sock 24/7.

 

[Alfrareef]

I've let the filter socks. Got tired of cleaning.
What ever stays at the sump goes away with the water change. The rest stays for the living creatures.
And ... I run ozone.

 

[Syntax1235]

I don't use them and my sump is a detritus grave yard. I siphon some of it out a couple times a year at most, but most of it sits there undisturbed.

I don't have any measurable nitrates and my p04 stays around .04. I do have a basketball sized ball of chaeto that I cut every two weeks to the tune of a zip lock gallon full.

My tank is two years old.

 

[Waterjockey]

I don't run socks. I *thought* I was pretty good at cleaning the argonite and rubble, but always had high nutrients inspite of blowing my DT rocks off daily and feeding lightly.
I put a couple of powerheads in the sump a month ago to keep it stirred up. I now feed twice as much and have no excessive nutrients. Those powerheads reaĺly made a difference

 

[Rick.45cal]

I didn't run socks for at least 7 months, and I have been running socks now for the last month and a half. My water stays much clearer, but honestly I don't know if it's an "improvement" for my tank inhabitants or not. Definitely more work for me.

 

[Pepcrylic]

My 310 with an open 200gal sump has been sock free for the past 1 1/2 year. With the exception of tank maint. (so 2hours). I have yet to clean out any of the detritus from the sump. I run a huge skimmer and a ball of chaeto the size of a 40breeder. My po3 and No4 are not detectable. Worms, bugs , snails, crabs, and shrimp in the sump seem to help.

 

[NanaReefer]

I do not NOT use them [emoji38]

 

[jenkinscrew2578]

@TRPlacek what kind of socks you running? Felt or mesh?

 

[TRPlacek]

@TRPlacek what kind of socks you running? Felt or mesh?

Felt

 

[jenkinscrew2578]

Switch to mesh. A guy I know had same issue as you and switched and everything fine with nutrients now. Easier to clean too I have been running with mesh from the beginning of my build since I heard he switched. So far so good here!

 

[Diesel]

No socks here, and when I did ran socks I cut holes in them.
IMO we keeping our reefs to clean and cause of that you won't get the balance right.
I have it done many ways, felt and mesh and both at the same time but I got my best results without.

 

[TRPlacek]

Thank ya'll for your input! I've decided to take out the socks and see how it works out!

 

[Sm51498]

I run with no physical filtration most of the time. I do like to run a canister every now and then with floss in it to polish the water but it's not necessary. when I change the water I blast off all the rocks and suck water out of the sump and dt.

 

[Twocorns]

This is what I do in my sockless sump (Skip to 21:47):

 

[ed757]

I use a sock in my 265. New setup so far so good.

 

[Bpb]

No filter sock. Never clean the sump. Ever. I run a large skimmer and have a cryptic fuge. My skimmer section has ZERO detritus at the bottom, after years of operation. It looks like clean glass with a few sponges and tube worms. The fuge is full of rock and substrate and if I shine a flashlight in it, there is a staggering amount of pods, mysid, sponges, and worms. Return chamber has its own heavy circulation. Nitrates hover between 0.25-2 ppm and phosphate stays around 0.3-0.7 depending on my water changing. Never run gfo or carbon either. Just heavy heavy flow, water changes, lots of fish feeding, and aggressive heavily stocked CUC including multiple tangs, rabbit fish, urchins, and turbo snails. Zero nuisance algae in the display. Diesel is right. Tanks run too clean never achieve balance.

 

[ReefNerd76]

I don't run socks. I *thought* I was pretty good at cleaning the argonite and rubble, but always had high nutrients inspite of blowing my DT rocks off daily and feeding lightly.
I put a couple of powerheads in the sump a month ago to keep it stirred up. I now feed twice as much and have no excessive nutrients. Those powerheads reaĺly made a difference

Can i see your sump setup? I really like this idea of what you are doing with your sump.