Filter socks - good or bad?

[Oceandreamadean]

I'm currently plumbing in my sump for my reef tank & was wondering whether to drop my overflows into filter socks as they enter my skimmer chamber or not?
Do the pros outweigh the cons - yes they remove unwanted matter, but they will also remove microscopic food. Opinions please

 

[Sk8r]

You've got it in a nutshell.
If you want a high pod population because you want a dragonet [mandy] no, I wouldn't. I also don't use them in a tank with softie or lps coral, same reason: they trap stuff the coral would eat.

In an sps coral reef, they are good because those corals eat light more than they eat solids, so it's good with those, and it's good to have the room to add one temporarily if you have a detritus kick-up and want to clear your water. Then remove it.

 

[Oceandreamadean]

Thanks Sk8r, very helpful & yes I do want to keep a pair of Manderins. You've more or less said exactly what my mate does. He uses his when he required, so I think I'll go with your advise & leave room for them so that I've got the option later on.

 

[Sk8r]

They're quite stiff, and real easy just to stuff under an overflow temporarily: they pretty well stand up on their own in a narrow confine.

 

[Teenreefer15]

These are commonly known as nitrate factories but If you clean em out and throw em in the wash they will be reusable. Depending on your BIO load you should do this on a regular basis. The more frequent the better. If you keep up with this Im all for it.

 

[Eac7466]

I have to wash mine every week

 

[CuzzA]

If you change the socks everyday they can be a very effective means of exporting organics and maintaining clearer water. If you plan on changing them out any longer then the trapped organics will begin to break down and add nutrients to the water.

The pods a Mandarin eat are benthic, like Tisbe biminiensis. Meaning they live and breed in/on the substrate and rocks and not in the water column. A filter sock shouldn't effect their populations. I've run filter socks from day one on my system and added a lot of different pods, all of which are still continuing to breed including Tigriopus californicus which are planktonic, meaning in the water column. My Mandarin remains happy constantly snatching pods off the rocks every few seconds.

 

[ca1ore]

Just go and read the 1,898,567 other threads on the pros and cons of filter socks.

 

[hkgar]

Yup no univesal agreement. Seems to be split almost 50/50. I have run them and currently am not. The only difference I see is more detritus on the bottom of the sump - that I can vacuum out.

 

[tmz]

Personally. I only use them during maintenance when things get stirred up a bit. They do remove particulate organic matter which can be of benefit to organisms and the food chain. Too much detritus in the wrong places can be a problem ,though ;so, it depends on the overall system and inhabitants.
As for sps which rely less on feeding than some other corals,they still need to get some organic carbon beyond what they get from photosynthesis.. My system incorporates several refugia and heavy skimming . Others run their sytems in many different ways. Many like using filter socks.

 

[DasCamel]

I change once a week and don't have any nitrate issues....

 

[garyinco]

I've never used them. Never will. Imagine something you have to remove, run in your clothes washer, bleach, worry about phosphates from residual laundry soap, dry, and then replace. almost daily. Repeat FOREVER. No thanks.

 

[Pluedke1]

There are several different grades of filter socks also. Even when using felt and stirring the sump I have never had to change once a day with the thickest I can buy. Having run an ats and just fit right filters for 3 years I am scrapping ats and going back to filter socks and large skimmer. Water parameters stay in check easier and the crystal clear water is awesome IMO. Good luck

 

[toothybugs]

Just go and read the 1,898,567 other threads on the pros and cons of filter socks.

Ha, this.

I ran one for a while (first 8 or 10 months) on my new setup, but having slow/ minimal softie growth I pulled it a month or so ago. My former system used to grow a few polyps in to a softball or football over 6 months (seriously) but I had nothing but an overflow and skimmer going. I'm trying that now to see if I can boost my growth rates, otherwise my chemistry is very clean.

So put me in the "for 'em but I still don't use 'em" category.

 

[Mikefromaz]

Filter socks don't catch the small stuff

Filter socks don't catch the small stuff

I ran my tank the first year without filter socks but with an overly large skimmer from a previous reef. All seemed rather normal. I then went to filter socks. I chage the sock every three days at most and the last few weeks every day. I am amazed that even with daily changes the sock is noticably dirty with brown gunk. Here is the strange part. I only have one oscellaris, two green chromis and a handfull of lps/ sps corals in my 42 gal. system. With over 8000 gal. a day going through the sock, one would think that the tank would be as barren as desert right? My guess is either the sock only catches a small portion of tbe available biological stuff or the micro plankton simply reproduce faster than they are removed. Pretty amazing to me considering I am also running a coralife 125gal. Super skimmer and a UV sterilizer as well. My current reef is a 29gal. display tank with a 20gal. sump under it.

 

[CStrickland]

Yeah, I think it's kinda hard to go back once you see how much gross stuff they catch. But it's like anything else, working together as a part of the whole maintenance setup. Between my sock and my sand vac I've been able to over feed and put off buying a skimmer, but if I wanted to do less work as far as swapping them out every other day and cleaning weekly I think a good skimmer+gfo+less food would do the trick. That would be more about dealing with the results of the stuff decaying whereas now I'm getting it out before it does. It's a balance.

Fwiw I make my own out of felt for cheap.

 

[bmrigs]

I change my 50 micron filter pads twice a week. I strive for cartridge pure water.

 

[Mcgeezer]

I use large felt socks on my drain. I change it out every 5 days or so and run it thru the washer. This along with carbon gives me crystal clear water.

Changing them frequently is important as noted so as not to accumulate nutrients.

 

[ericarenee]

i use filter socks and .50 micron pads.in my pre filter box on my drain to sump line. I have a huge pile of them and change them out every 2 days.. I toss them in a Container with a strainer on top of it to allow them to dry out then once a week in the washer on HOT With a Cup of Bleach and two rinse cycles.. Then back on the shelf to be reused..

If you do use them Just rinsing them out under water is not enough in my opinion. they need to cleaned with bleach and HOT Water....

Also on the trap and stop pods from growing. I do not agree with this . MY tank sump and fuge is full of many types of pods. When the lights go out on my tank you can watch them swimming in the water as if some kind of huge spawning event each night... But i Do Drip feed phyto from kent with a dosing pump 12 times a day....

 

[hogfanreefer]

Can someone explain the "nitrate factory" thing. I believe it but I don't understand it. Why do nutrients trapped in the sock cause nitrates to rise when the same stuff circulating in the tank doesn't? I mean all you've done is change the location of the particulate matter so it can be removed when the sock is changed.

Am I looking at it too simplistically?