Filter Socks and Pods...

[meverha1]

What's the consensus - Do filter socks have a negative impact on pod population?

110 gallon tank with a 40 gallon sump/fuge. Have never really run filter socks but I think running one might help catch some dirt from the overflow. At the same time, I don't want it to negatively impact my pod population because of my Mandarin.

Thoughts?

If it matters, my sump has room for 3 filter socks as water flows from the tank into the sump. Maybe I could add one so some water gets filtered while other water just runs freely into the sump?

 

[Kremis]

i doubt they really do anything. i have socks on my 180, and have enough pods to keep a leopard wrasse and a mandarin fat and healthy

 

[AlSimmons]

Filter socks definitely remove pods, (along with many other beneficial organisms) but if the ratio in which they reproduce is greater than what's being taken out then you should be ok.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I use multiple socks in both my systems and I have tons of pods. And I don't find many pods (or any other beneficial organisms) in my socks. I don't think pods get up high enough in the water column to end up getting pulled over the weir and into the socks. Healthy pods stay down near the rocks to hide. They aren't free swimming around in the water high up.

 

[AlSimmons]

Being that pods & the glass have some sort of magnetic connection I'm pretty sure a lot of them are being removed by the overflow. If your snails are breeding in the tank and there's a planktonic stage then those are being removed too. The list just goes on and on and believing that somehow these organisms are dodging the overflow & the socks is folly IMO. Like mentioned above though as long as the odds are in their favor you should be ok.

 

[homer1475]

About the only thing I see in my socks are my feet. :lolspin:

But seriously, I'm sure they catch some, but I have plenty in my 80 to keep a leopard wrasse and mandy fat and happy. The only thing I ever see in my socks is algae, baby stomatella snails, and the occasional amphipod.

 

[MrHyde]

I used to find all kinds of things in my filter sock, especially if I was lazy and didn't clean it for awhile. Amphipods, small starfish and worms etc. (along with detritus and leftover food) I ended up removing the filter sock and haven't looked back since.

 

[homer1475]

I wonder if the people that find larger items in their socks(bristle worms, asternia stars, etc) are using a strainer on their siphon line?

 

[bxbe888]

I do see a few every time I change the socks, but it's not a big deal