Mesh v Felt Filter Socks?

[SPR1968]

I’ve always used the Red Sea mesh 225 micron filter socks and am getting fed up of washing them, and since I can’t buy disposable ones from anywhere on earth I need to look at options.

And I don’t want to make them either before anyone suggests the great thread on this, as I prefer drinking beer and watching my tank than sewing! Lol

I’m thinking of changing to the standard felt filter socks and then putting them in the washing machine to clean them.

Anyone tried both mesh and felt and what are your thoughts on cleaning, performance etc ? What do you put into the washing machine if anything?

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Mesh is easier to clean, but lets more detritus through into the sump. Felt seems to clog faster, but also seems to provide better water polishing. I know there's a thread on here somewhere where someone DIY'd a filter floss canister which in essence translates to a disposable sock (no sewing required )

 

[Brien]

I have a Reefer 350 and have all the filter socks Red Sea makes. Initially I used the felt socks but got tired of washing them by hand. So then I went to the mesh socks and used them exclusively for about a year. I loved how easy they were to clean...but I also noticed around the same time I started to have algae issues. I tried everything under the sun to rid my algae problem. I decided to go back to the felt socks and my algae problems went away. Now granted I was doing other things to rid my algae problem at the same time so I can't say for sure it was attributed to the mesh socks. But ever since I've gone back to the felt socks no more algae problems.

As for cleaning the felt socks I now just throw them in the washing machine on the "sanitary" mode our washer has that's all hot water. I don't use any soap and select an extra rinse cycle. I let them air dry before being used again. I don't rinse them or do anything other then that. They come out cleaner then anything I was ever able to accomplish washing them by hand. When they go into my sump I've never noticed any bubbles or foam in my skimmer that I could attribute to being cleaned in my washing machine.

BTW, I've never noticed any difference between the 225 and 100 micron socks.

 

[NS Mike D]

Bump. I recently switched from felt to mesh socks. While I have a long way to go, I am not seeing the advantage of the felt socks. I am not buying the argument that mesh lets more particulate through nor will the use of mesh lead to algae issues.

Firstly, mesh is a clearly much easier to clean. Felt has lot of "fiber" to it, trapping the detritus to the sock itself. I don't want this to get intertwined with the sock, just don't let it pass through he sock. Even with a good rinsing, we, ,myself included, would use bleach or oxy to whiten the socks. The need to whiten is because green and brown stuff remains trapped in the sock, and we want the sock to look clean to our eye. Mesh on the other hand releases the detritus easily when turned inside out,

This brings me to my second point. People will claim that felt traps and cleans better, but I don't think that is true. Felt filter socks come listed in the same "micron" measurements as do mesh, most common are 100 and 200 microns. The ability to clean is based on the size so a 50 micron particle should pass both 100 micron felt and mesh socks, while particles larger that 100 microns will get trapped by both.

One more point on the subject, with so many threads having algae and dino issues with low nutrients and so many of us needing to dose the NO3 and PO4 we remove in our filter socks, seems sensible to me to use micron size as a way to adjust one's filtration just like we dial up and down our macro lighting and skimmer hours. NO3/PO4 lower than you want? go to bigger micron. Want to to lower them, go smaller.

Personally, I do not want to polish my water. I want all the microfauna with some "dirt" to feed them in my tank/sump while visible pieces of detritus and uneaten food get pulled out by the filter socks.

Hopefully, members more experience than me with both types of socks or those with a good knowledge of the science of removing particulate can share their knowledge.

 

[Water Dog]

I use 100 micron nylon mesh socks. They literally take less than 30 seconds to clean under a running faucet. Much more convenient to clean than the 200 micron felt socks I had been using. That said, I do notice detritus build up a lot faster in my sump using the mesh socks. However, the ease of cleaning made the switch from felt to mesh worth it for me. I will never go back to felt socks!

 

[SR Reefing]

When I had my redsea 525xl I started not using filter socks because of the cost. Then found out some filter sock's ring could be trimmed to fit redsea tank. Life saver, it become disposable made everything so easy.

Otherwise I will just keep running refugium in the sump, but detritus build up pretty quickly.

 

[Jonify]

Neither I take a roll of filter floss and cut up several rectangles to the dimension of the overflow (mine is 3" X 4"), enough to last me a whole month, then I just pop one in at the top of the overflow, resting on the filter sock bracket, wait 3 days, remove and pop another one in ... repeat. Keeps my tank crystal clear, detritus doesn't get a chance to build up, and I don't have to deal with rinsing or cleaning socks.