Handwashing filter socks?

[glb]

+1 to @Downbeach and @redfishbluefish on rubbing the fabric together under running water; it gets a ton of nasty stuff out. Also +1 to @CastAway ; there is no advantage to the "filtering" part of a filter sock to bleaching them white. When I clean them out, usually every two or three days, rub the fabric against itself, then I peroxide the sock, then rinse it out with vinegar and rub the material against itself again under running water. That being said, I do bleach the nasty little things every once in a while just because I get tired of looking at filthy socks...

Does the overflow pipe go down into the sock? And does part of the sock stay underwater all the time?

 

[Kyuss414]

I use mesh, not the felt, filter socks so I just flip em inside out in blast em in the utility sink in the basement with warm water. That gets off most of the gunk. Then I toss em in a 5g bucket with maybe 2g of water and a cap full of bleach and let them soak. When it comes time to change my socks and rotate, I rinse them out good under cold water and hang them up to dry. The next rotation after that they'll be dry and have no smell of bleach and ready to go back in the sump. I've been doing it this way for the past 2 years with no issues. Takes maybe 5 minutes total to swap a pair of socks out in the sump and to rinse & soak the dirty ones. I rotate them every 4-5 days.

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

I do the washer with hot water and a splash of bleach. I run an additional rinse cycle afterwards. I can't imagine there would be any bleach after two rinses. Never had issues over several years. My plastic rings cracked in one spot but are still rigid enough to stay in the sock holder.

 

[runzwithscissors]

Make sure you rinse well. The residue that generally gets left is phosphates from the detergent. Bleach will dissipate after a day or two.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I also make my own, but do wash them. I really penny pinch. Hey gotta pay for all the animals.

I also rinse well by hand then when enough are dirty, put in washer on quick with a bit of bleach (to kill stuff, not make pretty). Then I do like 3 rinse cycles. Air dry over at least two days and good to go.

Mine only stay good about 4 days. I run food 20 times a day though for nps. I have a sock on only one overflow.

 

[merlberg]

Is bleach just for the color? I'd be worried about residue. I'm building a sump and trying to decide if I want a filter sock.

Doesn't the filter sock do the same thing polyfiber does? Whats the pro of a filter sock anyone?

 

[merlberg]

Does the overflow pipe go down into the sock? And does part of the sock stay underwater all the time?

Thts w good wuestion because my sock is not underwater.. Does it make a difference?

 

[DeniseAndy]

I don't use polyfiber, so filter socks.

 

[cginter]

I throw mine in the washer with a lil bleach and set on extra rinse then air dried.

 

[nbagnardi]

bleach and hot tap water for me. then run them through the washer, again hot water. rough cycle. then soaked in RO/DI and tossed back in the washer for a spin cycle only.

 

[glb]

Thts w good wuestion because my sock is not underwater.. Does it make a difference?

I have no idea. Lol. I'm setting up my first sump and am doing research.

 

[zzzdiver]

How often do you guys change your filter socks? I just started using one and its been like 4 days n its really brown already. And do you guys put anything in the filter sock or just use it as is?

Every two to three days/ I turn the socks inside out throw them in the washing machine on hot with a up of bleach. Them I let them dry for a week. I've found this to be safe

 

[merlberg]

Every two to three days/ I turn the socks inside out throw them in the washing machine on hot with a up of bleach. Them I let them dry for a week. I've found this to be safe

Thnks for responding

 

[nervousmonkey]

Does the overflow pipe go down into the sock? And does part of the sock stay underwater all the time?

Depends on how you set up your overflow to a degree. The physical layout of your sump is the biggest factor in answering your question. If you just asked me to design it for you, I would make sure you have a beananimal style overflow (or Herbie if you don't want the bean). Next I would design an area of sump dedicated to your drains, have the drains terminate 1-2" below the surface of the water for complete silence even with a full siphon. Then water flows up and over a wall with a top with two cutouts for filter socks. This way the drains are independent of the socks. Since the title of the post is "hand washing filter socks", I'll leave the rest of the sump up to you... I hope my rambling made a little sense.

 

[kendavjac]

garden hose with a high pressure stream. Sit them in the sun for a couple of days.

 

[menglish]

I change them out 2 times a week( Wednesday and Saturday). For cleaning, I turn them inside out the I use a garden hose (10 ft from Home Depot) to spray off the filt. I then soak them in bleach for a few days then rinse bleach off n soak in tap water for a few days then let them dry off. They are ready to use again in a week. I have a few pairs in use. This works great for me. I don't wash them in the washer because
1. My wife would object, strongly
2. It uses way too much water. We in the hobby waste lots of water on our rodi units. I'm trying to cut back a bit

 

[KingTriton]

I turn the socks inside out and hose them down to get all the nasties out. Then put mine in the washer with a little bleach. As far as timing goes I couldn't imagine cleaning the socks by hand.

 

[nervousmonkey]

I have no idea. Lol. I'm setting up my first sump and am doing research.

Good that you are doing research man! Since you have time and obvious interest, make it an awesome sump! One piece of advice is to build one that can hold a lot of water; in essence, build a big one. You'll keep adding to it over time and the bigger it is, the easier to add equipment, maintain the equipment and most important, helps to create a larger water volume for greater overall system stability = health.

Does the overflow pipe go down into the sock? And does part of the sock stay underwater all the time?

Depends on how you set it up. Short answer is yes and yes. The sock should be underwater, but again, it depends on how you design it. I would absolutely make sure that the overflow pipe terminates under the water level so that it won't be loud, splashy, etc. The sumps that I like personally don't have the overflow pipe directly plumbed into the sock compartment, but rather outside it in its own area, then water flows up and over the sock compartment and back down through the filter socks. Images below will help make sense of that... How are you designing your sump? Is it going to be a traditional box style sump with dividers, etc? Or the Rubbermaid tub style? Or something unique and different? I'd like to see a thread on your tank setup with sump once you have it planned out.
For the traditional sump style, here are a couple of pictures of a sump where the overflow pipes are plumbed so they are underwater , then water rises up and over into the filter sock section, then from there do what you want with the sump, but as far as this thread is concerned, the images should answer your question about overflow pipes, where the socks are, underwater, etc. As far as overflow design is concerned, if you aren't too far into the tank design, take a look at the beananimal design. If you have not seen a beananimal design, click on the link, you will definitely want to incorporate the design if you have the ability to drill your tank to allow for it and/or aren't too far along. Also take a look at the Synergy Reef overflow or Reef Savvy Ghost overflow. Different companies that collaborated on an overflow but sell independently of each other.
http://synergyreef.com/product/16-synergy-reef-overflow/

This image is from Oceans by Design, and since it isn't mine and I don't have any idea who they are (but their sump design is pretty. LOL), I figured might as well give them credit.

 

[glb]

Good that you are doing research man! Since you have time and obvious interest, make it an awesome sump! One piece of advice is to build one that can hold a lot of water; in essence, build a big one. You'll keep adding to it over time and the bigger it is, the easier to add equipment, maintain the equipment and most important, helps to create a larger water volume for greater overall system stability = health.


Depends on how you set it up. Short answer is yes and yes. The sock should be underwater, but again, it depends on how you design it. I would absolutely make sure that the overflow pipe terminates under the water level so that it won't be loud, splashy, etc. The sumps that I like personally don't have the overflow pipe directly plumbed into the sock compartment, but rather outside it in its own area, then water flows up and over the sock compartment and back down through the filter socks. Images below will help make sense of that... How are you designing your sump? Is it going to be a traditional box style sump with dividers, etc? Or the Rubbermaid tub style? Or something unique and different? I'd like to see a thread on your tank setup with sump once you have it planned out.
For the traditional sump style, here are a couple of pictures of a sump where the overflow pipes are plumbed so they are underwater , then water rises up and over into the filter sock section, then from there do what you want with the sump, but as far as this thread is concerned, the images should answer your question about overflow pipes, where the socks are, underwater, etc. As far as overflow design is concerned, if you aren't too far into the tank design, take a look at the beananimal design. If you have not seen a beananimal design, click on the link, you will definitely want to incorporate the design if you have the ability to drill your tank to allow for it and/or aren't too far along. Also take a look at the Synergy Reef overflow or Reef Savvy Ghost overflow. Different companies that collaborated on an overflow but sell independently of each other.

This image is from Oceans by Design, and since it isn't mine and I don't have any idea who they are (but their sump design is pretty. LOL), I figured might as well give them credit.

Thanks for all the great info! I'm using a 20g tall for a 40g breeder tank. I haven't built the sump yet but plan on a 3 chamber sump with overflow/filter sock/skimmer in first chamber, refugium in the second, and return pump and gfo reactor in third. Here's my build thread: http://reef2reef.com/threads/glbs-40g-upgrade.208789/
The sump stuff is on pages 5 and 6.

 

[nervousmonkey]

Awesome @glb!! Glad you have a build thread! I'm about to get into it now. Glad that everyone could help out man. Keep us posted about your plans on the sump. There are some super smart people that I have seen design some amazing sumps. Maybe create a thread with sump design questions or something as the title. That'll get all the smart ones out from the woodwork and into the sump (thread). Bad pun, but it was intended...