Just my point of view here, this is the Advanced section which is a great place to think outside of the box. I will not tell anyone to not use a sock but I don't use them, I do not see a real need. Some things to consider...
A 200 micron sock will trap anything 200 microns or larger, until it does collect things at which point the pores begin to close down and get smaller, enabling it to filter smaller and smaller particles until it clogs and overflows, this is how all filters work. So what is it filtering? It is indiscriminately filtering waste products and living creatures (planktonic life and larger) which perform a function and are also a food source.
A sock or any other mechanical filtration will not capture 100% of planktonic life, some will remain but in most tanks there is a very low quantity of planktonic life and it makes no sense to remove it and deplete it's numbers further.
Detritus happens, but because it is there should not automatically mean it is a problem. I took my tests this morning, PO4 was .01, lower than I normally run but within testing margin. NO3 was undetectable with Salifert, as it usually is and I prefer it to be around 5 and feed heavy to try and keep it at least measurable. The end process of the consumption of food is mostly devoid of any nutritional items, it is benign bulk that has no benefit or harm. I could filter that out before anything has a chance to eat it, but why, it has been feeding things that I want in my little ecosystem.
This is a pic of my sump, in the place detritus normally settles, It has been a couple of months since I last cleaned the sump, I will clean it next water change or perhaps longer.
According to some of what has been suggested my nitrates and phosphates should be high from all of that rotting poo in my sump, but it isn't. Why? It is certainly plausible that I have enough life in the tank to consume the input of food and enough export to prevent it from becoming an issue. I also intentionally feed extremely small particles of food to the tank, pureed seafood items that are so small the fish can't eat them but they help feed the rest of the creatures in the tank, about a fourth of my food is this fine mix. These creatures would not stand much of a chance if I used a sock. I do have a lot of sponges, and I mean a lot, my rocks are covered in sponges that have grown a lot in the past year and a half when only a few small pieces were there after setting up the tank. About 90-95% of my rock was freshly acid washed prior to starting this tank in our new place. Sponges are your friends, if you don't have much sponge growth, consider why.
I do not wish to tell people not to use a sock, but as in all things sometimes you need to look at what you are doing and consider if it really has value or not. I see no need in trying to create a sterile, nutrient void container of water that I am encouraging life to grow in. If you choose to do so that is fine, but at least consider why and what the effects are.
People often notice their tanks do better after the one year mark, some sooner and some later but there is always a point where the life in the tank has reached a point where nutrients are easier to control, growth is consistent and the tank is fairly stable. Why is that? It takes time for all of the biological entities in the tank to reach stasis. You can certainly reach this point with mechanical filtration but it isn't beneficial to do, it just seems like it is and you may be slowing down the maturity of the tank and limiting the biological life that helps to control excess nutrients. Maybe you are not, but judging by the number of people on this forum daily with problems it stands to reason that some of the things we do may be contributing to problems instead of solving them.
Just my long take on the subject, please do what you think is best, but don't be afraid to examine what you are doing and why.
