Pros and Cons of using filter sock

[Carmen]

My tank is a year old this month. For practically the whole year I have used filter socks. a person I know who's an accomplished aquarist doesn't believe in them. Sorry I can't say why because I got this info from a good friend of his. I've read where others think it makes the water too clean. In the last two weeks I've been running without one to no ill effects, yet. What do you guys do? I hope to hear both sides on this.

 

[NY_Sea]

Pro- keeps tank nice and clean
Con- have to wash every 4 days or so

I prefer filter floss!

 

[Carmen]

How is filter floss used?

 

[KorD]

Pro- keeps tank nice and clean
Con- have to wash every 4 days or so

I prefer filter floss!

Thats about it...
I like them because they catch things before it get lost in my sump.. like bristle worms or small sponge fragments.

 

[ReeferEric]

My problem is clogging too quick, I've given up on it.

 

[Waters]

I don't think there are any cons to it...in my case anyways....cleaning it I guess? I clean it once a week when I do water changes and have no issues. It pulls a lot of junk out of the water which would normally be cycling through my tank.

 

[elimav]

I use filter socks and it keebs the water clean. I have 9 and switch them every other day. When I'm down to one I turn the dirty ones inside out and wash in the washing machine, without soap, on the heavy duty clean cycle. Sometimes I use bleach and run through an extra rinse cycle or 2. I have had no problems. Fish and corals doing great!

 

[icsparks]

I change the socks weekly, rinse out and wash with baking soda in the washer. Socks keep the sump clean by trapping uneaten food and other crap from settling in the sump or returned back to the tank. Socks are not nitrate factories like others say if changed out often. If you don't have a way to trap the crap it will still turn into nitrate somewhere else in the tank. With a sock you have a little more control in removing some extra waste that would otherwise be left in the system. clogging can be an issue if you don't clean the socks well enough, don't change them often enough. not sized properly or not enough socks for the size tank and flow rate. I run 2- 7"x14" socks on my 155 and they will start to clog after 7 days use. This kinda is good because it forces me to change them.

 

[ecfort57]

The problem I was having it was near the skimmer and it was making the skimmer go crazy. did anyone else have that problem

 

[MikeyB]

I run filter socks as well, keeps everything nice and clean. I change them out once a week or so and when they get dirty i just toss em in the washer. Also ecfort, i have mine right next to my skimmer and everything runs great.

 

[pciscott]

Pros export

CONS They can plug up fast and have to be cleaned. I design my sump with multiple socks and never the 4". My 400 has 6 socks and my 125 has 3. All 7" X 16" and can go more than a week without change.

I have run with none, and the sand bed got much more debris and the sump needed to be cleaned more often.

Run multiple socks.