Sock or no sock?

[Auqaman]

Hi everyone,
I haven’t had nitrates (or phosphates) in my tank for a long time. The tank isn’t in terrible shape but it could definitely be better.
It was recommended to me to remove my filter socks in hopes of raising nitrates.
I was wondering if anyone has experience doing this? Will it actually raise the nitrates?
I’ve never dosed the tank (just microbacter7) and probably never till.
I should add that I do have a skimmer that works fine.

 

[theocorals537]

The theory behind it would be to let the particles that would normally be filtered and removed get by and then break down which would cause organic matter. If your trying to increase nitrates i would suggest dosing nitrate rather than making your tank unhealthy.

 

[Auqaman]

The theory behind it would be to let the particles that would normally be filtered and removed get by and then break down which would cause organic matter. If your trying to increase nitrates i would suggest dosing nitrate rather than making your tank unhealthy.

Thanks.
I suppose the theory makes sense but I definitely don’t want to make the tank unhealthy

 

[DivingTheWorld]

IMO socks are a waste of time and end up collecting more good than bad. That said, I'm not sure that simply removing your socks is going to raise Nitrates. I saw no change before or after.

 

[Pistondog]

No sox here for a couple of years. I don't think removing them will increase nitrates.

 

[Auqaman]

IMO socks are a waste of time and end up collecting more good than bad. That said, I'm not sure that simply removing your socks is going to raise Nitrates. I saw no change before or after.

Good to know.
And you didn’t see any major algae blooms from removing the sock? That’s my biggest fear

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Good to know.
And you didn’t see any major algae blooms from removing the sock? That’s my biggest fear

I didn't no. The only difference I noticed was more pods in my tank. My mandarinfish thanked me.

 

[Auqaman]

Thanks for all the great feedback.
I’ll remove the socks and keep an eye on the nitrates and report back in a couple weeks

 

[blackstallion]

No sox here for a couple of years. I don't think removing them will increase nitrates.

When you removed your socks, did you notice detris building up in the sump that was normally collected by the socks? This is one of my fears, that the detris and other creatures ie. snails, etc, will end up in the skimmer or return pump.

 

[Pistondog]

When you removed your socks, did you notice detris building up in the sump that was normally collected by the socks? This is one of my fears, that the detris and other creatures ie. snails, etc, will end up in the skimmer or return pump.

No. There's a larger mesh screen before the return that stops big stuff.

 

[Auqaman]

When you removed your socks, did you notice detris building up in the sump that was normally collected by the socks? This is one of my fears, that the detris and other creatures ie. snails, etc, will end up in the skimmer or return pump.

No nothing really happened. Left it off for 3+ weeks and nitrates never budged off 0.
Algae was allowed to move freely in the sump. It ended up clogging the course filter after the skimmer causing the water level to rise in the skimmer chamber. Causing the skimmer to overflow and flood the floor . So I put the socks back in..

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Hi Aquaman, So I agree with a couple of the posts that cease using the filter socks. Add me to that list. The freely moving algae throughout the sump? Is that macro algae in a refugium? The debate between “to have a refugium or not will always be present but the truth is you can have complete success in this hobby with or without a refugium. All that to say, completely clean out your refugium of macro algae to solve that problem. So your zero nitrate problem. How many fish and inverts and corals do you have? Do you feed your tank daily. I have tested tanks that have nitrates near zero and their fish are thin and they feed every other day. Mostly very sterile swim tanks. They are literally starving their fish. What test kit are you using because to the human eye especially api test kits look like zero nitrates when a salifert test kit would test between 5-10. Looking forward to hearing back from you. Good luck Bud.

 

[Auqaman]

I don’t have a refugium.....yet. The algae going through the sump is mostly from cleaning the tank and going down the overflow. I’m fighting a cyano outbreak too.
I have 5 damsels, 2 nems, 1 urchin, few crabs and snails. I feed at least once a day, some days twice. Alternating between mysis, flakes and pellets.
I’m using the Red Sea nitrates test kit. I haven’t tested it in a weeks but wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still zero

 

[Glenner’sreef]

I don’t have a refugium.....yet. The algae going through the sump is mostly from cleaning the tank and going down the overflow. I’m fighting a cyano outbreak too.
I have 5 damsels, 2 nems, 1 urchin, few crabs and snails. I feed at least once a day, some days twice. Alternating between mysis, flakes and pellets.
I’m using the Red Sea nitrates test kit. I haven’t tested it in a weeks but wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still zero

So it looks like you need to keep the sponge clean until your algae problem is over. Cyano can be easily taken care of with either Chemi Clean or Red Slime Algae Remover. Red Sea is a great test kit. Check the expiration date on it. If it’s good still take a water sample to your lfs and have them test for nitrates. It could be a defective test kit. Cause and effect is always present in this hobby. Something is going to reveal itself.