Removing my socks

reefndude · Jan 20, 2015

I don't use a sock. Mostly sps and zoas in my tank. Dsb, refugium, ats, activated carbon, and no skimmer.
Everything seems happy and doing well.
Main reason for not using one is because I didn't want to deal with changing and cleaning them every few days.

tonymission · Jan 20, 2015

I have a shopvac but this is so much easier for sump cleaning. And cheap as hell

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1421802476.199832.jpg

ca1ore · Jan 21, 2015

Filter sock = mechanical filtration = how quaint! Haven't used any since I took my Rainbow Lifegard modular filter system off line, and that was over a decade ago. IMO a filter sock is essentially a detritus 'tea bag'. Simply see no use for them. OK, I do have mechanical filters in the form of carbon and GFO reactors, but clearly they're not purpose designed for that, and flow through them is slow.

Not sure there's much correlation between running socks and low nutrients - I actually think it may be the other way around. Never have any water clarity problems. Got clouds of tiny pods on my RDSB, and my Mandarin thrives without my ever seeing it eat any prepared foods.

BTW, I don't ever vacuum my sandbed, don't target feed my corals, and never turn pumps of to feed the fish .... And I feed them a lot. Clearly I'm a trouble maker!

NanaReefer · Jan 21, 2015

ca1ore said:
Filter sock = mechanical filtration = how quaint! Haven't used any since I took my Rainbow Lifegard modular filter system off line, and that was over a decade ago. IMO a filter sock is essentially a detritus 'tea bag'. Simply see no use for them. OK, I do have mechanical filters in the form of carbon and GFO reactors, but clearly they're not purpose designed for that, and flow through them is slow.

Not sure there's much correlation between running socks and low nutrients - I actually think it may be the other way around. Never have any water clarity problems. Got clouds of tiny pods on my RDSB, and my Mandarin thrives without my ever seeing it eat any prepared foods.

BTW, I don't ever vacuum my sandbed, don't target feed my corals, and never turn pumps of to feed the fish .... And I feed them a lot. Clearly I'm a trouble maker!

I personally like trouble makers. We get along great-lol.

gtbarsi · Jan 21, 2015

Personally I think that the socks perform a valuable function, keeping large particles out of the sump means you will have less crud getting stuck in your pumps, and reactors. Additionally less chance of snails getting in there as well.

Given your special setup I question if you could get different socks there are socks out there that range from 50 micron to 1200 micron. I would think that a 400-600 nylon filter sock would let the small stuff you want to keep in your water pass through while still capturing things like large hunks of fish poop, leftover mysis shrimp and the like that you defiantly do not want to get stuck in your sump.

The entire point of a filter sock is a mechanical filter that is EASILY cleaned / replaced FREQUENTLY. With out socks your sump will collect these items and become a nitrate factory of it's own. Even if you clean your sump weekly that is 2-3x longer that those items have been sitting in your sump breaking down and releasing nitrates and phosphates. Not to mention what happens when it gets sucked up in to a reactor, whose media is swapped out every 2-4 weeks.

Another thing to consider is shutting off the return pump for some time when feeding and letting your power heads push the food around the DT and Fuge, maximizing the time that your livestock have to eat it before it even goes to the sump. That way you should have less that goes down your returns and has the potential to end up in a sock, or the skimmer cup. Lets not forget that your skimmer will pull out the really small particles.

basile · Jan 22, 2015

hllywd said:
Hey basile, The pleated filter is for dry vac purposes only and should be removed when you use the vac in wet situations. If you take the filter off and look inside there is a ball that shuts off the suction when the water level gets too high. this prevents water from spewing out the exhaust. The filter will interfere with it's operation. Water should never be able to get from the vacuum canister to the motor due to the way wet/dry vacs are designed.

Ok but i just did what the guy told me to do . I told him about the salt water see and thats what he told me to do to prevent the salt air to corrup the motor prematurely. And it worked. Beside i don't use the vac to do my water change. iI empty my sump the regular way with a small pump like before, i just don't go after the gunk with it because i know that at the end when their's only half an inch of water i'll use the vack to take out the gunk and that half inch of water too so, its just about 3 gallons altogether. But i'll go and ask again to be sure, maybe he was wrong, never know.

hllywd said:
As for filter socks, I never used them till a couple years ago and I currently have a really bad caulerpa infestation that started probably a year ago. I've been reading about them being nitrate factories and although I don't measure any NO3, or PO4 with new Salifert test kits I still have the problem, I also grow copious amounts of chaeto in my sump so I have nutrients coming from someplace. My RO/DI is fine, and I feed pretty light.

I'm really thinking about getting rid of my socks to see if it makes a difference.

Ok here's the thing. It depends what kind of caulerpa you have. caulerpa release nitrates when it goes sexual(the leaves go white or transparent and disintegrates, and thats bad) But not all caulerpa does it and not all the time. Now you say their's no nitrates and no phosphate, but the chaeto is growing, thats excellent!! It means that what ever nitrates or phosphate is generates is being completely transformed and processed by the chaeto.

The only reason i got rid of my sock was because i dose a lot of nutrients for my sponges and gorgonians and all that food was being recooped by the sock clogged by it and then i had to wash those again and again it was a waste of money and foods. so by taking my socks off, my dosing is less because the food stays in suspension longer and i don't waste my time or energy(washing machine and electricity) washing socks every 2 days. And what ever deposits goes into the sump i get with the vac every WC i do. That was my angle for the change of routine.

basile · Jan 22, 2015

NanaReefer said:
That's what I need! But we have no Home Depot here. Lowes, Menards is it and neither one has them.

EBay thats your solution

basile · Jan 22, 2015

ca1ore said:
Filter sock = mechanical filtration = how quaint! Haven't used any since I took my Rainbow Lifegard modular filter system off line, and that was over a decade ago. IMO a filter sock is essentially a detritus 'tea bag'. Simply see no use for them. OK, I do have mechanical filters in the form of carbon and GFO reactors, but clearly they're not purpose designed for that, and flow through them is slow.

Not sure there's much correlation between running socks and low nutrients - I actually think it may be the other way around. Never have any water clarity problems. Got clouds of tiny pods on my RDSB, and my Mandarin thrives without my ever seeing it eat any prepared foods.

BTW, I don't ever vacuum my sandbed, don't target feed my corals, and never turn pumps of to feed the fish .... And I feed them a lot. Clearly I'm a trouble maker!

Nope no trouble at all man kudos for doing your thing i like that. I hate conformity. I hate people who come to me and say you HAVE to, lol . This hobby is an experiment in life keeping and every experiment is a gain in knowledge. The more we try the more we know. I do plenty to **** people OFF i've been booted again from RC i hate that site with the heat of a NOVA. You can't post anything thats not inovative or not approved by the house of overlords there.....

By the way i never touch my sand either and now i have over 100 mini nassarius snails running around and lots of inverts too , so that money saved on CUC, check out my microscopic videos i made . You'll find them here in this threadhttps://www.reef2reef.com/forums/me...vity-my-150g-starfire-reef-tank-build-up.html

. I'm putting one today anyway they're all in the same place when you click on one you can see the others.