Washing Filter Socks? Help

[PirateLove]

Hi RC. I just removed my filter sock. I then went to my washer and ran it on soak and rinse without the filter sock in it. Then when that was done I put the filter sock in the washing machine along with 2 table spoons of bleach and ran it on soak and rinse. Did I do this right?

For some reason I have a funny feeling that I am just adding bleach to my reef tank. Does anyone have any advice or tips? Can I put this sock back it its place?? I did notice My skimmer started bubbling very much so I took it out after about ten seconds.

Thanks! :hmm5:

 

[Chevelle5434]

I wash mine once more with nothing added, just for added assurance.

 

[PirateLove]

Do you let them dry afterwards? Can I stick it back in my sock holder when it is done rinsing?

 

[Scorpius]

I wash mine in the washing machine with bleach. If you're worried run the rinse cycle twice. I let them air dry.

 

[chucko]

I was mine with bleach, run the rinse cycle 2x with nothing added. Let them air dry for a day or so and then rense with rodi.

 

[Patver258]

I wash them with bleach and let them dry for a day then back in it's place. Never had a problem.

 

[Chuckd76]

When I swap them out I let them soak in a bucket with bleach. When I'm on my last one I dump them in the washing machine (with the soak water), run them on gentle and then let them air dry upside down on top of my T5 fixture. By the next day when I swap again, they're all dry.

 

[Vorog]

I put mine in a bucket with water and bleach and let them soak for a day. Then pressure wash them with a hose outside (flipped inside out). Let air dry and add to tank. I haven't had any problems, just let them dry completely!

 

[CStrickland]

Idk what the other people in my condo building put in the washers, and I'm too cheap to waste the quarters on a couple filter socks anyway. I rinse mine inside-out in the sink, like I hold it over the faucet so really hot water pushes the dirt out and use the sprayer nozzle to blow the crud off. That gets almost all the dirt I can see. Then I lower the temp and squish it with my hands a little and toss in a bucket. At that point it's almost white.
Once they are all dirty, I add bleach at 10% (I volunteer at the dog pound and that's what they have us do for cleaning crates and blankets and such, it's meant to kill even the fiercest parasites without degrading fibers too much) and let it sit over night.
Then I just squish them in tap water a few times, until it runs clear. On the last rinse I add a dash of Prime for good measure.
After a couple months they start to look pilly and grungy, so I do a stronger bleaching. If they look ratchet after that, I throw away. I sew mine myself so it's just as easy to make another as to clean a nasty one.

I would think that if your skimmers going nuts they picked up some fabric softener from the pipes in the washer or something. Really for what they do, socks don't need to be immaculate. They are catching big stuff and grease, mostly. I've skimped and just rinsed them out in the sink with no probs before too. I don't think it needs to be more complicated than getting the larger chunks out so they aren't clogging up.

 

[Tarawa]

One thing I wonder about the socks is, does the stuff in the tap water (TDSes) get stuck in the sock?

As for washing, I just run it thru several cycles in the wash machine, and let them air dry. There are occasions when the socks cause the skimmer to go a bit crazy, but it settles down after a little bit. I've gotten into the habit of lowering the skimmer's pump speed when I swap socks.

 

[CStrickland]

One thing I wonder about the socks is, does the stuff in the tap water (TDSes) get stuck in the sock?

Yes, it does. But it's not the same as using tap water for you tank water b/c it isn't evaporating and concentrating whatever little bit of copper or alk or unobtanium is present. There are all kinds of contaminants in a washing machine, think of the mold smell they often have.
TDS is just a tiny snapshot of what's in the water, the conductive bits. But when we see them in our meter we can fairly assume that other contaminants are present as well. Tds's of themselves aren't bad or good.

The biggest concern is chlorine, that's why people are so careful to dry them (it off gasses). And a water treatment like prime is a smart extra precaution to bind heavy metals or chlorine that hasn't evaped. But that's mostly for when you use bleach (chlorine) to oxidize the chunks of organic matter. There's not much in tap water that'd hurt a tank at the levels a wet sock would introduce.

 

[Sapelo]

I have 4 pair of filter socks which I rotate depending on what else is happening, when I have time to wash, etc.
One pair -- and I'm serious, this happens with one pair of the four -- makes my skimmer go crazy for about 30 minutes. It is so consistent - only that pair and it always happens - that I've taken to shutting the skimmer off for an hour after I change filter socks.

I was my socks in vinegar, that way even if I get some residual I don't have to worry about mucking up the tank.

 

[Isaacs55]

I wash my socks in laundry soap and like a half cup of bleach....After the cycle I Run the cycle again in just Hot water only...when it's done I stick it right back into its place in my sump.

I used to rinse over the sink with vinegar and hot water and then rinse in rodi water....but it got old pretty quick. So now I just toss them in the washer for 2 cycles. Easy and haven't had any problems whatsoever.

Skimmers react weird to a lot of things it seems. I wouldn't rely on my skimmer to be the sole outcome of everything in the tank...

 

[Sounds Fishy]

I change my socks,daily,because I over feed my DT,purposely,and have about 8 pairs,so they all get washed,about once a week on a double cycle in the washer machine,with no soap or bleach.There was a thread a few weeks ago,and I don't know the details or if anyone saw it, but , they said that bleach only made the socks appear whiter but did not significantly remove the algae locked in the fibre, or something simular to that.I like to add a little bleach but only once in a while.

 

[MaccaPopEye]

I have 5 socks. Change the sock probably every 3 days or when it overflows and throw the dirty one in a bucket. When I put the last clean one in I take the bucket to the laundry, turn the socks all inside out and just throw them in the machine on a normal hot wash. No bleach or anything else. My machine does a rinse, wash and a separate spin cycle with no water. This brings them back to white and the spin actually dries the socks and I can just turn them back the right way and put them near the tank to go back in.

 

[laga77]

I rinse them out after turning inside out. They get washed with the rest of the white wash with bleach. After washing, they then get rinsed in a bucket of tap water treated with Prime and left to air dry.