Removing my socks

[basile]

I'm in a bit of a dilema here . My tank , mainly softies with a bioload of heavy filter feeders like gorgonians, i have an NPS zone dedicated to them, clams, a crinoid and soon a basket seastar that needs an owner fast because my tank seems the only one with a hight enough nutrient rich to host her.

My 150 G main tank is fed by gravity with a 75G display refugium. I dose supplements every day for my macroalgaes and my filter feeders. My nitrates are at 5ppm and phosphates at 0.5 which is normal for and desirable with a refugium of that size otherwise your macro wont survive long.

So with the arrival of a basket seastar that complicate things. A crinoid was hard enough, but a basket seastar.


Biology/Natural History: One of the largest known ophiuroids, it can have a diameter of up to half a meter. It feeds on suspended particles by spreading its rays out like a fan, oriented mostly perpendicular to the current. Macroscopic zooplankton such as copepods, chaetognaths, and jellyfish are caught by microscopic hooks on the rays. The fine branchlet tips (see picture) then curl around the object and slowly move it toward the mouth (exact method is unclear). The prey of basket star species is said to range up to 3 cm (just over an inch) in size, and most basket stars capture prey mainly at night but may retain their prey until daytime to actually feed on them. Mucus may also help to immobilize prey. This species has also been reported to feed on the small benthic sea pen Stylatula elongata.


This species seems to have a strong co-occurrence with the soft coral Gersemia rubiformis. In Puget Sound, Gorgonocephalus juveniles have been reported within the pharynges of Gersemia polyps, where they appear to develop and apparently feed. The young do not leave the Gersemia until their rays are long enough to capture food.


Unlike any other local ophiuroid, the rays of the basket star branch repeatedly dichotomously. The central disk is covered with a loose-fitting skin with a dark brown color between the bases of the rays and a pinkish color, more similar to the ray color, near the ray bases. Actual color may be variable from tan, beige, orange-red, and pink to almost white; but the central disk is usually darker than the rays.




So i'm thinking of removing my socks to give it more chance at grabbing pods and what not, I'll be dosing mysis and spot feeding as well as i would any particular. i just hope its enough. What do you think.






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[tonymission]

I removed my socks to try and get my nutrients up. I don't think it's a big deal.

 

[paul4140]

I think you would be safe as long as you continue to monitor your parameters. Paul

 

[GHill762]

I'm about to quit wearing socks myself. I mean using.... using socks..

 

[Shep]

and here I thought we were talking about not wearing socks anymore...

 

[Rob Top1]

Personally I would still use the socks from time to time. As a polisher. Maybe something like a day or two a week just to help strain things out. I change my socks daily but have a very low filter feeding population

 

[GHill762]

the only real difference between my current tank and previous tank is constant use of filter socks, I can see the difference in lower numbers of pods, lower numbers of feather dusters, less growth of chaeto/macros (likely due to lower total nutreints in tank), etc. I'm not convinced running socks all the time is necessarily a good thing. that said, when I do take my socks off-line, I'll likely still used them during deep cleanings, like when I turkey baste rocks and stuff.

 

[Steven@]

The concern I have is the amount of bad stuff the socks are catching vs the amount of good stuff like pods that are being removed. you could check the sock each day and put the pods back in the tank until you have collected enough data to make a final decision on to sock or not. Depending on the type of sock you use you could go with a sock that only catches the lager particles and allowed the smaller size to get past.

 

[basile]

The concern I have is the amount of bad stuff the socks are catching vs the amount of good stuff like pods that are being removed. you could check the sock each day and put the pods back in the tank until you have collected enough data to make a final decision on to sock or not. Depending on the type of sock you use you could go with a sock that only catches the lager particles and allowed the smaller size to get past.

Its not the big particules i'm worried about its the particules my sponges, my filter feeders needs that are all stopped and taken out by the socks plus what i'm dosing all that expensive "Darn"Sh we're buying at a premium price that's taken out with it. Its like i'm giving it to the tank while i'm washing it down the drain the nex day. I have a compartment with rubbles that will stop large particulate and like a guy who's using a shop vack every WC he does LOL its quite a good way to take out the trash from the sump lol. So free movement of particules for the filter feeders and the pods and an added bonus for my basket and crinoid starfish who both require lots of particulate foods.

i write big for my iphone friends

 

[melev]

Ditch the socks - you'll be very happy to eliminate that from your chores.

Can't believe you set up a poll to run until 2017. :tongue:

 

[basile]

Ditch the socks - you'll be very happy to eliminate that from your chores.

Can't believe you set up a poll to run until 2017. :tongue:

LOL i beleive in maxing everything in life, speed, sex, credit card, you name it its the only way to live . If you die with a healthy body whats the point. When i die i'll be ready to ROT!!!:car:​

 

[basile]

Thank guys, i found out about a guy who shop vack his sump every WC he makes , lol so that gave me the push for the trials. My buddy says his nylons are full of captured pods, the very thing i'm hopping will become the stapple food for the basket, as its uses its mucus and sharp claws in its basket to capture these guys at night and consume them during the day. Apparently the basket is not that expensive , and why not nobody wants to pay for something they know they can't kep. I'm sort of angry that permits are given to yank those animals out of the sea. I'm taking this one because the guy knows my tank and i know that if i don't its going to go in a sterile tank where its doomed. This is the pic he sent me she's arriving next week. I missed the call last night and next delivery is next friday.

By the way, you know that i do not touch my sand at all, i mean i don't vacum or syphon at all . So last night i was counting the little nassarius snails so small not much bigger than the sand, i found 110 so far , they're the same color as the sand , so can imagine how many really their is..... it use to take a week to disolve a kelp leaf left at the bottom of the tank. Now 2 days its gone these guys and i imagine pods and critters alike are well and alive in that sand, i nearly lost a gorgonian that fell in my sand. I left it there for the day and it was almost consume to the core when i got back from shopping. So the detritus in that sand doesn't stay long in there let me tell ya. Thats because i've let nature take over that part. Just wanted to share that piece of experience with you guys.


Now i'm affraid to put my fingers in there in case i loose a digital LOL​

 

[basile]

I've taken out the socks this morning to see the affects on the tank, this week before she comes in, i'll see the responce on my crinoid, how she behave. For those who are wondering what a crinoid is; a feather starfish

[video=youtube;0J6xJW9pTs8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J6xJW9pTs8&index=18&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFfzK1jNhN7rAilGwHaEzvH5[/video]




Feeding
Crinoids feed by filtering small particles of food from the sea water with their feather like arms. The tube feet are covered with a sticky mucus that traps any food that floats past. Once they have caught a particle of food, the tube feet can flick it into the ambulacral groove, where the cilia are able to propel the stream of mucus towards the mouth. Generally speaking, crinoids living in environments with relatively little plankton have longer and more highly branched arms than those living in rich environments.
The mouth descends into a short oesophagus. There is no true stomach, so the oesophagus connects directly to the intestine, which runs in a single loop right around the inside of the calyx. The intestine often includes numerous diverticulae, some of which may be long or branched. The end of the intestine opens into a short muscular rectum. This ascends towards the anus, which projects from a small conical protuberance at the edge of the tegmen.



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[melev]

Removing the socks is the best way to go. I've been reefkeeping over 12 years now, and never use a sock. Frankly I'm amazed that others use them.

 

[robby2782]

It depends on what you keep. I prefer them but don't keep filter feeders.

 

[paul4140]

Basile what are you going to use that compartment in your sump for instead?

 

[Fishmania21]

I agree with using socks as a polisher.

 

[basile]

Basile what are you going to use that compartment in your sump for instead?

That compartment is the same as the skimmer. So nothing, i'm just taking the socks off. I have another compartment with rubbles before it connects to the second module via a bulhead and an "S" pvc connection to prevent micro bubbles from reaching the reactors and return pump chamber module.

That was taken when i was still putting it together. If you
ever do this kind of connection ; look at the connecting section. Its an ultraflex pipe. You need this kind of connector, because the size of the modules are different, and so is the weight. The foam will sink at a different level, and if your connection is rigid and done with PVC, your bulkheads will crack and you'll have a leak in your sump. So after your bulkheads, and pvc elbows, use a flex tube or pipe to have some flexibility between the two. ​

 

[basile]

I see alot of NO votes; but with no explanation as of why, do you even know why i want to remove the socks or do you just vote and run.... i'm not taking this poll seriously because i see just the ney sayers and no logical explanation about keeping sock that prevents particules from feeding my special seastars and other special filter feeders.

You understand the difference between a softies tank , a hight nutrience tank and a sps tank a low nutrience tank, devoided of any particule in the water column right, thats not where you find my critters of my gorgonians either or any NPS those are at the bottom in caves where lots of decay is going on, lots of particules, reef snow they call it.

So if you vote NO , say why it would make sence with my set up, not with yours, thats the point of the poll.

I write big for my iphone friends

 

[NanaReefer]

I removed my sock tonight. Simply because I'm already tired of changing/cleaning them, after only 6 months-lol.
However I am concerned about all that they did/do remove now taking up residence in my sump/DT. They do keep the tank extra clean no doubt about that!
I'll see how it goes