Socks overflowing daily

[dragon99]

So I'm curious why I'm having to clean my filter socks daily. They are mesh 200 micron RedSea socks. For awhile I'm was cleaning them every 3-4days, but lately I have to rinse them daily.

Any ideas what this stuff is or why it's building up so fast?

 

[143MPCo]

I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing, my initial thought is that you have some pretty decent flow in your tank in order to keep whatever detritus is present in the water column suspended long enough to make its way down into your socks.

However let's reverse this a second, the socks that are getting clogged are they being machined washed her hands washed?

If they're being hand washed I'm wondering if you're getting rid of all the trapped material and thus leaving some remnants behind; ergo, the socks get clogged quicker because they're not completely void of whatever clogged them, to begin with.

An additional thought is have you confirmed that they are indeed 200 µm sucks; sometimes they get missed labeled back at the factory.

EDIT:

Have you tried new unused socks?

 

[Irsug1]

Rinse them with a high pressure nozzle.

 

[mtraylor]

+1 Yes. Rinse them with high pressure hose on the outside on both sides. Then place the hose in the sock and rinse pushing the sediment out from inside out. Then place in washing machine with a bit of bleach. Will be brand new after that. If they clog again real fast the only thing I can think of is that if you are running biopellets.....they could be melting and the slim is clogging it up.

 

[ncaldwell]

The mesh ones that came with the tank clog up daily for me too. I switched to their felt ones and haven't had a problem, lasting about 5 days now. Hold up well in the washer too

 

[dragon99]

+1 Yes. Rinse them with high pressure hose on the outside on both sides. Then place the hose in the sock and rinse pushing the sediment out from inside out. Then place in washing machine with a bit of bleach. Will be brand new after that. If they clog again real fast the only thing I can think of is that if you are running biopellets.....they could be melting and the slim is clogging it up.

I think you're onto it with the slime. It does feel slimy and it's probably related to the vinegar I dose.

The mesh ones that came with the tank clog up daily for me too. I switched to their felt ones and haven't had a problem, lasting about 5 days now. Hold up well in the washer too

Interesting, I'll have to buy some felt ones and try it. I assumed since the felt has much smaller pores that it would clog faster.

My cleaning routine is to spray rinse them when they overflow and bleaching them about once a week. I have two sets that I alternate. Freshly bleached socks do last a bit longer ~2days before they clog up. This further points to bacteria film I guess.

 

[Yoda0311]

I think you're onto it with the slime. It does feel slimy and it's probably related to the vinegar I dose.


Interesting, I'll have to buy some felt ones and try it. I assumed since the felt has much smaller pores that it would clog faster.

My cleaning routine is to spray rinse them when they overflow and bleaching them about once a week. I have two sets that I alternate. Freshly bleached socks do last a bit longer ~2days before they clog up. This further points to bacteria film I guess.

I have heard a lot of vinegar dosing, can you tell me the benefits that you have noticed and fill me in a little more on the purpose I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Pongo]

I use the same filter socks and I was routinely changing every 1 - 2 days.
I used to scrub 'em by hand under hot water and I thought they were getting clean enough but that slim that forms on the outside seems to restrict flow more than what they collect inside.
I don't dose any carbon.

So my solution was to solve 2 problems at once.
My sump has a divider and I have chaeto in the front half.
I placed a MJ600 pump behind each filter sock. They alternate running 30 minutes per hour.
This keeps the chaeto at a slow tumble and greatly reduces the slim build up on the outside of the socks.
It also keeps detritus from collecting in the front half of the sump.
I figured whatever slim gets blown off the outside of the socks will get picked up by the skimmer.

 

[hart24601]

Carbon dosing can make filter socks clog fast, it is a very nice surface area for bacterial growth.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I know exactly what has happened to your socks....same thing happened to me. Check out this post:

Sock-ology: My Filter Sock Experiences


The fibers get flattened from hand washing and close down the hole size in the mesh. I now buy 300 µm socks.

 

[ourcoralreef]

Do you have a light on top of the sock

 

[dragon99]

No lights in the sump

 

[ourcoralreef]

Because the sock looks like it has algae spores on it

 

[Cory]

Time to get a rollermat

 

[jasonrusso]

I change mine every other day because they clog. Do you run biopellets or carbon dosing? I noticed mine clogged up faster after I started bio-pellets.

I bought a 24 pack on Amazon. I already had some, so once a month I throw them in the washer with vinegar and I run the steam cycle with an extra rinse. They come out like new.

 

[dragon99]

Maybe a rollermat one day. I might have to look at modifying my sock holder so that I can run standard 4" socks. I'm not about to pay $10 each for RedSea socks to by them in bulk.