Filter Socks...

[Paula]

... so I'm curious. I've been running filter socks on my 75 Gallon. From what I've read, some people run them all the time, some people don't run them at all and some people run them only after a water change.

 

Positives seem to include removal of uneaten food and other detritus and cleaner water. Negatives as best I can tell include decreased water flow, maybe loss of some beneficial copepods, hassle of changing and potential problems from not changing them regularly (I've been using them and have been changing them out every two to three days).

 

I'm curious about people's thoughts.

 

Cheers,

 

Paula

 

PS. Im back from Colorado, had a great trip and a wonderful visit to Elite Reefs in Denver. Wish I could have brought back lots of stuff.

 

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[Isaac]

i use a filter sock on the skimmer return.  carbon/gfo also goes to this sock.  the tank returns fall onto a koi filter which sits atop bioballs (for aeration)  in the sump i have a course sponge between the main chamber and the pump chamber.  essentially.. all the detritus ends up in the first chamber, its easy to clean out during water change.  then rinse off sponges.. done.  i change my sock out about weekly.  more often if i just replaced the gfo/carbon.

i dont use it on the main return because if a fish decides to take a journey, they will get stuck there and most likely die... and snails/crabs and pods.

[+Dogfish]

I have gone both ways. So to me it depends on were you want to remove the detritus. Clean the socks or clean your sump. In my current sump build, water will drain into 1 chamber then flow over the top of a baffle into 4 socks. That 1st chamber is easy to clean out with a vacuum. My over flow pipes will be screened off in the coast to coast overflow box. No danger of fish taking a Dory ride. I learned from a goby that refused to stay in the DT and would always be found in my sump hanging out eatin' cheatos.

[+BobcatReefer]

I only use them for cleaning events - usually when I scrape the back wall algae, as that's like once every 4-6 weeks.  Other than that, too much of a PITA constantly swapping and cleaning them.  

I clean my sump by putting the sock on,  cranking all the pumps and powerheads up, and agitating the heck out of the sump chambers.  Shoots it all back into the DT, powerheads on high shoot it back into the overflows and into the sock.  That's usually a couple of hour process where I go over every 30m or so and blast everything w/ the turkey baster to move/clean until the water is sufficiently clean.  

[Paula]

I'm currently using a sock directly on my intake into my sump. I have a bean animal overflow and the primary (siphon) overflow goes directly into the refugium. I have a screen on the primary overflow to prevent anyone going Dory. The other overflows go into the skimmer section and the return section.

I'm still a complete noob and this is a new tank. It's just starting to get a CUC and will be getting its first corals this week.

Thanks for the different perspectives. I'm going to continue doing it as I am for now. I don't want to start making unnecessary changes. My primary focus right now is just getting it established as a stable tank.

Cheers,

Paula



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