filter sock or not?

[thetonyage]

so i heard alot of good and bad things about filter socks in the sump, some say they help others just say they turn into a problem. what do you think?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I maintain 1 SW tanks

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/tank-journal-125-reef-125546.html
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/tank-journal-135-fowlr-124418.html

The first one, I have one on there but will be adding a second shortly

The second I will be putting one on, and letting the other half run through the bio-balls to maintain BB colony until I get enough LR ramped up to get rid of them.

The single filter sock on the first one clogs up in about 6-7 days and you just squeeze and rinse for about 5 minutes and it's good as new, you can run it through the wash (no detergent, obviously), boil it, bleach it, etc and IMO it will last a very, very long time. As far as sump cleaning, I have to suck out fine dust layer from the bottom of the sump about once to maybe twice a month, and that's all the maintenance I have to do on the sump. It's great if you ask me, and the customer like the way it looks and works.

 

[eatsomepopcorn]

Socks are high maintenance.

 

[Innovator]

Pro filter socks here

 

[mgamer20o0]

ok ill be the fist to ask whats a filter sock?

 

[cmor1701d]

No sock here.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

ok ill be the fist to ask whats a filter sock?

on the left

 

[CaptainAhab]

Nicht

 

[mgamer20o0]

ah like a pre filter and i assume its used like floss in a canister. couldnt you also just add some filter floss to do the same thing. use the egg create to make a small compartment. this way it wont clog as fast as that sock would?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

clogging means it's working IMO. On this tank, it takes about a week to clog to the point where the water is up to the top, so I re-worked the overflow and added a second sump inlet & sock.

But I suppose, whatever works...it's all about functionality and want. I'm not saying this is what I'll use forever, but it seems to work great at keeping the tank clean

 

[mgamer20o0]

lol shows you what i know about sw lol

 

[fcad]

no filter socks...no sand bed
PO4 0.05
Alk 8.25
NO3 0
NO4 0

 

[Sniperhank]

Gathering up junk out of your water column is important. I went the summer without filter socks coming into my sump. I put them back on when all that junk started collecting at the bottom of the sump instead. It actually began causing parameter issues in the tank as it decayed. So, you can pick to either have a pain of cleaning it out from the bottom of the sump or cleaning it out of the socks. I switched from filter socks to panty hose to save on this issue and just throw them away weekly. 39 cents an egg for 2 filters, yes please.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Gathering up junk out of your water column is important. I went the summer without filter socks coming into my sump. I put them back on when all that junk started collecting at the bottom of the sump instead. It actually began causing parameter issues in the tank as it decayed. So, you can pick to either have a pain of cleaning it out from the bottom of the sump or cleaning it out of the socks. I switched from filter socks to panty hose to save on this issue and just throw them away weekly. 39 cents an egg for 2 filters, yes please.

That's a good idea.

 

[Sniperhank]

I'm thinking about experimenting on the effectiveness by putting a filter sock under the panty hose. Sadly, I would have to clean a filter sock from toe years ago to do it. I didn't want to do it then, sure don't want to do it now.