Why do people use rollers, pads, floss etc?

[Potatohead]

I have used socks, rollermat, and currently nothing, save for a sock about 6-24 hours after a water change or other maintenance.

My favorite was a roller mat, I used it for about two years, I just got tired of spending money on rolls and changing them out every 4-5 weeks. Socks do the same thing but obviously require a lot more work, which I hate, hence why I only use them for a few hours a week.

In terms of coral health and what not truthfully I don't notice much difference. I did have to feed more with the roller mat it felt like, though.

 

[MichaelReefer]

I have used socks, rollermat, and currently nothing, save for a sock about 6-24 hours after a water change or other maintenance.

My favorite was a roller mat, I used it for about two years, I just got tired of spending money on rolls and changing them out every 4-5 weeks. Socks do the same thing but obviously require a lot more work, which I hate, hence why I only use them for a few hours a week.

In terms of coral health and what not truthfully I don't notice much difference. I did have to feed more with the roller mat it felt like, though.

As long as you catch the rollermat before it runs out, you just staple the end of the new one to the end of the old one and pull it through. Thats a trick I found online. Otherwise it is a pain.

 

[MaxTremors]

But they reach an end, can’t be recharged, and is like doing auto oil changes by paying jiffy lube for the labor and the costs but instructing them to never replace the oil filter. It’s paying more, for removing less than just a simple bare bottom setup would allow.

I only think they’re a total waste in bedded systems. If someone does not want to use a siphon hose in a bare bottom tank to export / waste the catch material it’s no different than the twenty six million hob pads we’ve all changed out from a freshwater tank.


the design shortcutting irks me…don’t store up the detritus in the total obvious ways by paying to remove a trace of what gets into the water.

I don’t know if it’s on purpose or maybe it’s just me, but so many of your posts are so cryptic and abstruse that it’s difficult to understand what you’re trying to say.

 

[JumboShrimp]

In addition to a skimmer and a UV, my 150 FOWLRS use old-time sponges and filter-floss in the sumps. I guess I’m in the minority here.

 

[brandon429]

Max no that's a common method used to prevent the need for analytical thought, what you're doing there. the two people that type that to me follow several other convos that had no problem exchanging ideas, check for astigmatism or something not sure.

you are a proxy account for MNFish1, no?

 

[Gedxin]

I use filter floss and completely acknowledge its environmental waste. I have no excuse other than it's very simple and effective and quick to replace, plus the convenience (similar to why I still drive a gas car.)

The day they make environmentally friendly filter floss I will immediately buy it. If anyone knows of any, please point me to it.

 

[brandon429]

Freshwater folks are wasting orders more and for forty years, not a problem

 

[Tamberav]

Probably the reality is that it is convenient. A lot of it is about time people want to spend. Another note is it depends how much a sock is re-used.

I mean reef tanks are a hobby and not a necessity yet use a lot of power and water. We remove stuff from the wild. It isn't exactly a GREEN hobby.

How do you think the fish make it to your door or LFS? In STYROFOAM on planes and trucks burning fuel.

It is one thing to have a public aquarium where there are volunteers and MANY children and adults visit with information and learning opportunities. It is another thing to have a private tank in our house.

Sadly, I don't think the majority of the impact of our hobby is about conservation, at least not on a personal level. The best impact our hobby has had in my opinion is simply existing which is slowly leading to more captive bred fish.

 

[fish farmer]

Why join a hobby that should inspire reef conservancy just to contribute largely to microplastics waste?

Do you have literature stating the reef hobby's large contribution? I would guess that more styrofoam is used/discarded in this hobby.

 

[Frostblitz20]

i personally change beteween filter socks and Filter floss... issue is my socks are never in stock and still been on a 3 week wait for them to be restocked as you can only reuse them so much... so in the down times i switch over to floss.. i would like to some day try the rollers as its less maintenance on my end

 

[chaostactics]

i personally change beteween filter socks and Filter floss... issue is my socks are never in stock and still been on a 3 week wait for them to be restocked as you can only reuse them so much... so in the down times i switch over to floss.. i would like to some day try the rollers as its less maintenance on my end

I'm not going to rep for a certain company but the 8" ones I got from a company that sells on Amazon have lasted me around 10 washes each so far. I have around 20 socks that I change out 2 times a week and wash them once I get down to 1 sock. None have lost their stitching or broken at the ring.

 

[chaostactics]

Do you have literature stating the reef hobby's large contribution? I would guess that more styrofoam is used/discarded in this hobby.

You're right poor choice of wording, I mean it's clear and obvious that large corporations of the world are destroying the worlds oceans.

My point is why add more if it can be relatively easily avoided.

Same thing with recycling RO waste water. It's not going to fix ocean acidification over night or anything but it's a simple step that most people avoid out of laziness.

 

[chaostactics]

The reason I chose roller mats is for a few reasons:
1) its considerably more efficient than socks - removing more waste. This results in having to 'treat' the tank with less chemicals/dosing/solutions etc
2) I have a bad back, which means bending over to get the socks out 2-3 times a week would create considerable pain. I wish to avoid this pain and thus - roller mat is a better option for me
3) I dont have a lot of time - with a large number of responsibilities in a given day. I dont have time to change out filter socks and wash them 2-3 times a week
4) Washing the socks in laundry - not a good idea - Im concerned about the impact of soap and other matter getting into the tank
5) Washing by hand - not enough time in the week to do that


Lastly - I wouldnt assume that on the whole that socks are more environmentally friendly than a roller. I think this is highly debatable. Socks will break down and leave behind micro materials at the end of the day which gets into the waterbed. Not only that - but you're going to be using a fair bit of resources to remove the effects of additional waste in the aquarium system that the socks miss compared to rollers, and as well the amount of energy and resources needed to continuously wash the socks.

The amount of energy and water to wash socks in a modern HE system would (I assume but have no ability to back this up scientifically) on a whole have a lot less net energy impact than raw production of fleece/roller/polyfill.

 

[SaltwaterGuruNeeded]

If you're gonna use mechanical filtration why wouldn't you use socks? Sock are reusable* floss, pads, rollers, none of them are reusable (to my knowledge).

Why join a hobby that should inspire reef conservancy just to contribute largely to microplastics waste?

*Socks can be manually rinsed by hand or flipped inside out (or not tbh) and run though the wash with a bit of bleach. Run your output of your washing machine though a filter sock clipped to a utility sink if you can to catch stray bits of sock that come off in the wash.

I don't use socks because I am running a canister filter atm. I'm using floss.

 

[chaostactics]

Rollermats are no more wasteful than if you keep paper towels in your kitchen. The amount of gunk that my rollermat pulls reinforces my decision to never try filter socks. I have no idea what the sand bed has to do with a rollermat? Do people really think that having your tank filled with detritus and gunk is better than having a large portion of it being removed before it clouds and pollutes the tank? Its not like having a rollermat keeps your tank "sterile" or lab clean, there is still plenty of detritus in my sump and sand if I don't clean it periodically. I see so many pictures of peoples tanks where they never clean the sand its always covered in algea or cyano. I just see so much "old school" or "dated thinking" on here. You can make your argument on low nutrients with a rollermat, but a clean tank will always be better than a dirty one. There is a difference between filth and nutrients. There are hundreds of ways to have a good tank, I definitely want a clean one.

We don't* use paper towels in our kitchen either. We use reclaimed huck towels and wash them they're about a billion times more effective than paper towels and way cheaper too.

We're not a %100 or probably even %75 green family but if its environmentally friendly (better than alternatives) and saves money then it's something we'll definitely persue.

*Rarely. We go though a roll maybe once every few months

 

[brandon429]

lol I didn’t know they were washed I thought the mats just got clipped and tossed

any form of re use is still vastly preserving compared to ten million tetra filter pads with carbon centers tossed first go. I did eight thousand of those wastes just in grade school

it’s still a fair alignment to state that the testable params don’t change whether the mat is on or off where there is sand and excessive rock surface area to contain detritus still degrading in the system

 

[Forty-Two]

The amount of energy and water to wash socks in a modern HE system would (I assume but have no ability to back this up scientifically) on a whole have a lot less net energy impact than raw production of fleece/roller/polyfill.

As I said above - it’s in dispute. It would depend on multiple variables which would need testing; for example models of appliances used, how those appliances were built - and their environmental impact, water (cold/warm/hot), energy consumed, whether a drier was used or not, disposal of the machines once they are done their lifecycle ( they don’t last very long these days), detergent used, the impact of the detergent on the water systems, the plastics from the socks lost in the machines, that environmental impact - etc etc

 

[MaxTremors]

Max no that's a common method used to prevent the need for analytical thought, what you're doing there. the two people that type that to me follow several other convos that had no problem exchanging ideas, check for astigmatism or something not sure.

you are a proxy account for MNFish1, no?

I’m not a proxy account for anyone (and really?!?).

What I said wasn’t personal, I think you have a lot of interesting opinions, I just think they’re sometimes lost in the cryptic way you write.

Even with this comment, it’s not exactly clear what you’re trying to say. Am I the one trying to prevent analytical thought (and if so how)? Is the way you write an attempt to prevent analytical thought? Most the time I am (and I’m assuming most people are) able to parse what you’re trying to say, it’s just usually overtly equivocal. Again, I mean no offense, I just find myself often having to assume or guess what you mean, and if I wasn’t communicating effectively I would hope people would tell me.

 

[brandon429]

poke for a poke its all good


the current status as I see it is freshwater folks have wasted orders more floss for decades, saltwater systems don’t benefit all that much from socks and roller mats for measurable waste impact unless the overall system design is clean (though suspended clarity and waste in the water column may be cleared) and that roller mat systems can at least be washed a few times before tossing out/ I thought they were just cut and thrown out after use

 

[NowGlazeIT]

If you're gonna use mechanical filtration why wouldn't you use socks? Sock are reusable* floss, pads, rollers, none of them are reusable (to my knowledge).

Convenience, automation, nutrient removal efficiency