Filter sock = introducing phosphates?

S

sherm71tank

Premium Member
Hello! I have been battling a HA problem for quite some time. I got rid of the HA and then what I believe to be Dinos took off. I run ozone and carbon and do religious water changes ( at least 5 gal ) once a weekwith ro/di water that is 0 tds and phosphates.
My question is, if I wash the filter socks I am using in the washing machine in my house water that is REALLY high in phosphates and let them air dry am I getting phosphates from the socks when I put them back in use? I really don't want to have to rinse them off with ro/di water and spin'em again! Thanks!
 
nope... I cannot imagine its any significant source of phosphate at all. Not compared to the pack juice of thawed frozen foods if not properly strained away (rocket fuel for nuisance algae), or any of a number of other ways to import phosphate.
 
Thank you. I just got rid of my sand bed and recured my rock for 1 1/2 months. Everything is clean now and I just wanted to eliminate the socks as a problem.
 
Anthony Calfo said:
nope... I cannot imagine its any significant source of phosphate at all. Not compared to the pack juice of thawed frozen foods if not properly strained away (rocket fuel for nuisance algae), or any of a number of other ways to import phosphate.
Click to expand...

So are you saying that if I feed frozen mysis shrimp I should let it thaw out and whatever "juice" left behind I should throw out? I always thought the juice was just mysis squeezins
 
the pack juice from most frozen prepared foods is brutally concentrated with nutrients. It is quite a bad habit to admit this in aquaria habitually.
 
Hello Anthony - What are your feelings on phosphates from fresh/frozen prepared foods? I make up a frozen food mix based on Sanjay's recipe. Lots of variety of fresh fish (squid, mussels, scallops, ahi) and...frozen shrimp. I also add a bunch of additives/solutions. Lengs garlic elixcir, fish solutions, zoecon/selcon, Kents Marine C, frozen cylopeze and Tahitian blend phyto, TLF Marine Snow.

I have had a few clients break out with hair algae the last couple of months. I do know that they overfeed and believe that that is where the problem begain.
 
foods/feeding in general are the biggest vehicle for importing concentrated nutrients including phosphate into the aquarium. Yet is varies considerably with each ingedient. Do use your phosphate test kit with some soaked/dissolved ingedients to target which if any have significant phosphate.
 
sfsuphysics said:
So are you saying that if I feed frozen mysis shrimp I should let it thaw out and whatever "juice" left behind I should throw out? I always thought the juice was just mysis squeezins
Click to expand...

mysis squeezins... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! :lol:
 
laundry detergent

laundry detergent

Hi, Sherm71tank.
If your laundry detergent is phosphate free, then you may not have a problem. I would worry more about the residual laundry detergent left in the fabric and its effect on your tank. I'm assuming you are using some sort of detergent in your washing machine. Most household washers do a poor job of rinsing and so leave detergent all over the place. May I suggest this test:
After you wash and dry your filter sock, soak it in a half gallon of RODI water for about an hour and then test for phosphates and TDS. That should give you a good indication what's left behind in your sock. I would be interested in your results.

thanks,
Steve
 
Steve, I always run a rinse through before I wash the socks. I have thought about doing that test though just to make sure. I think I will. I don't when I will get to it. Maybe this weekend. I will post my results and let you know.
 
Ok, I started the test. I rinsed and scrubbed out a bucket with ro/di water. 0 tds and po4 in the buckett water. I put a sock in that has been washed the same way I always do and will soak for 30 minutes and retest.
 
Well, thanks, Sherm for the followup. That's good to know, I think I'll start washing my filter bag that way also.

Steve
 
It doesn't seem like a TDS of 12 should be a really big deal. My tap water is about 10x that. No doubt there's a little something left behind, if nothing else because it gets rinsed with tap water. Good to know phosphates aren't an issue, though. I love all these mini science experiments people do here. I know I'd never even think of half this stuff. Now to give my mysis a RODI bath. . .
 
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