How do I need to clean a filter sock?

[coral_reefer_25]

I have a filter sock in my sump that prefilters the water that drains from the tank. It gets dirty pretty quickly and begins to overflow because water won't flow through the material anymore.

How do I clean this thing?

Here's a link to the one I have, in case you want/need to see it.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=BS1123

 

[Pickupman66]

heard of folks washing them in washing machine.

 

[cee]

Washing machine w/ bleach and/or oxyclean, hot water, double rinse when I used to use them.

Dave

 

[reefer5060]

dishwasher , maybe?? I dont know maybe with no deteregent

 

[fishdoc11]

I wash them with bleach in the washing machine with hot water...no soap. Make sure they are completely dry before you use them again. FWIW running a sock for more than a couple of days will cause a pretty dramtic increase in nutrients. Changing them out often is the way to go if you run one 24/7. I run a couple when I blow the rocks off for a day afterward and that's it.
Chris

 

[coral_reefer_25]

Hmmm....good to know. Thanks Chris. I'll start running it for a day or two then take it out. It just seems like I get a bunch of crap at the bottom of the sump and if I ever have to move something in there..whether I'm cleaning it or whatever, it stirs all that crap up and then it gets pumped into the tank.

 

[rsteagall]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8155553#post8155553 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishdoc11
I wash them with bleach in the washing machine with hot water...no soap. Make sure they are completely dry before you use them again. FWIW running a sock for more than a couple of days will cause a pretty dramtic increase in nutrients. Changing them out often is the way to go if you run one 24/7. I run a couple when I blow the rocks off for a day afterward and that's it.
Chris

So, mechanical filtration of any type will cause a dramatic increase in nutrients? Whats the difference in it getting caught in a filter sock or elsewhere in your sump?


btw... AC has these for the same price.

 

[coral_reefer_25]

Ryan,

I think it works the same as the bioballs. The sock is exposed to air.

 

[fishdoc11]

I think it has something to do with pressure and the amount of water that flows through the sock compared what would be on the bottom of the sump....coule be air as well, I'm not really sure. The one thing I noticed when I ran filter socks 24/7 was that I had an explosion of bubble algae growth with params still seeming normal. That told me that nutrients were rising...possibly ones or levels that aren't tested with our hobbiest test kits. I just siphon the bottom of my sump every few weeks when I do a water change.
Chris

 

[rsteagall]

ok ok ok... as a follow upUP on this...

I used my filter sock for the last 3-4 days 24x7. This I even scraped the glass on my tank during this time. Tonight when I did a water change... I almost forgot that I was meaning to take the filter sock out. When I took it out, it looked pretty gross. I took it outside and in a clean white bucket I sprayed it out. The water was soooooooo brown, you would have thought I just sucked my substrate clean.

After this experience and per what Chris has said, I definitely believe a filter sock should NOT be run 24x7. They can definitely be a nutrient farm if you're not careful. From now on, I'll only run one while I'm cleaning my tank to prevent anything that shouldn't be in my sump from marinating there as detritus.

 

[DMBillies]

Well, I have Chris' old set-up (so maybe this is Chris set-up specific :lol: ) but I had the same experience with running the filter sock too long. I'm not sure why, but aside from the air and extreme flow issue, perhaps the "useful" stuff in the gunk that the sock takes out is consumed quicker in the bottom of the sump by various critters (pods, mini stars, microrganisms, etc.) and by algae growing in the sump rather than the stuff simply decomposing in the high-flow from the overflow and spreading those nutrients throughout the tank. I won't pretend that I have science to back that up, but seems plausible.