Bye Bye Filter socks

[Thaxxx]

You got the 18 oz. Cups? Mine were The Walmart® brand SOLO
I have a eshopps sump and it fits perfect.

 

[BigHildy53]

Was sick of the cleaning and changing of my filter socks. Found a company online that makes drop in cups to replace the socks. Will be running filter floss in the cup, and will only need to change out the floss as needed. Time will tell if its a smart move, but had to make a change over the socks.
Company sells 4in and 7in cups. Different colors and flow rates as well. Shipping was super fast to my front door. Pricing was not bad $13. high flow 4in. And $4. Med flow 4in.

Update forgot to put were filtermediacup.com

Would you mind providing an update? How often are you replacing floss? What brand and model sump do you have?

 

[lavoisier]

I tried the 7" cups for about 2 months but found my flow was to much for them (Reeflo Hammerhead) @5000 gph. Some floss would escape the cup and end up attached and streaming from my MP60s.

 

[Lear31a]

Would you mind providing an update? How often are you replacing floss? What brand and model sump do you have?

Jebao DCT-4000 on a BR40 tank. Running about 500gph. Change out floss every 2 weeks. No problems.

 

[NHgoalstop]

Jebao DCT-4000 on a BR40 tank. Running about 500gph. Change out floss every 2 weeks. No problems.

What's that little light you use for your chaeto? And does it grow good with it?

 

[reef3reef]

Better yet, install Klir DI 4/7 or Clarisea roller filters. 45 days of no roll changes etc. plus, trapped food still decays whether cup or sock, but roller filter pulls it waste out right away. Dollar for dollar, the best investment I have made in my tank. Details are the build thread below.

After 45 days do you just throw away the roll, or can you wash and reuse?

 

[Butuz]

After 45 days do you just throw away the roll, or can you wash and reuse?

throw them away. I dont think you can clean those microfilter rolls to be able to roll them back and reuse. They are fairly cheap.

 

[robbyg]

Better yet, install Klir DI 4/7 or Clarisea roller filters. 45 days of no roll changes etc. plus, trapped food still decays whether cup or sock, but roller filter pulls it waste out right away. Dollar for dollar, the best investment I have made in my tank. Details are the build thread below.

I am using a Klir DI-4 and there is no way I am going back to filter socks!
The original ver1 unit they sold had issues but the Ver2 unit is pretty good. I was getting some occasional issues due to slight sump level changes that would eat through my floss in less than 30 days but I did manage to tweak it and get about 40 days out of the rolls. For good measure I recently scrapped that Craptastic controller they supplied and now have it running via my tank controller. It looks like I should get nearly 50 days out of a roll and no part of the floss will remain in the water for more than 24 hours. I can do that because I now have a lot more control over its behavior.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Better yet, install Klir DI 4/7 or Clarisea roller filters. 45 days of no roll changes etc. plus, trapped food still decays whether cup or sock, but roller filter pulls it waste out right away. Dollar for dollar, the best investment I have made in my tank. Details are the build thread below.

This is the route I wanna go, but don't have enough space between sump and stand

 

[Lear31a]

What's that little light you use for your chaeto? And does it grow good with it?

This is the light. And yes it grows Chaeto like a weed. I have to thin out 1/2 every 4 weeks. 13.00 off amazon

 

[robbyg]

This is the route I wanna go, but don't have enough space between sump and stand

I know what you mean Daniel. I had about 1/4" left over on the side of that compartment in my Sump after I slid the DI-4 Stand in. I also had about 1" of sump height left. It was one heck of a tight fit and I almost thought I had miscalculated. If you cannot get a DI4 in then I think nothing else will work unless you DIY one. The units are pretty simple, you could probably rebuild a DI-4 and make it smaller.
When I made my Sump in 2003 I never even imagined filter socks much less a roller mat and all the other stuff I have added over the years.

 

[Butuz]

This is the route I wanna go, but don't have enough space between sump and stand

the nice thing with Klir is that it drops into your existing sock compartment. Some minor mod may be required, but it doesnt require too much extra space height wise, since you can fold it to get in and out tight spaces.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

the nice thing with Klir is that it drops into your existing sock compartment. Some minor mod may be required, but it doesnt require too much extra space height wise, since you can fold it to get in and out tight spaces.

Didn't know it folded... I may need to look again.

 

[Reef.]

Would you mind providing an update? How often are you replacing floss? What brand and model sump do you have?

BRS Has a good vid on the best time to change, think the ideal period was 2-3 days, less than that saw next to no benefits, more than 3 days saw and increase in nitrates etc.

 

[canadianeh]

Klir vs clarisea? Which one is better?

 

[robbyg]

Klir vs clarisea? Which one is better?

I have seen posts point out good and bad in both products. I think you would have to do more research and see which one suits your sump and flow. I can say that the Ver2 Klir does not have any issues with breaking the fleece. The controller with it is a bit flaky as it can only roll the fleece when the water level rises and stop when it comes back down. The only safety feature is that it will stop rolling fleece in 30 seconds if the water level does not come down and set off an audible alarm. You have to position that optical level sensor just right or you can either have the fleece not rolling enough or rolling too much. It takes about half a roll of fleece to dial in everything properly, including the flow rate into your sump and the bypass gate opening. For tanks with 500 GPH or less flow and a single DI-4 this will not be as difficult but for larger pumps it requires some tweaking to get it right.

The Clarisea probably has some of the same issues but I don't own one and have only read some posts on it.

 

[Reefrats]

I buy that white and blue filter media in 6 x 2 foot sheets. Cut off a 2 ft x 4" strip, roll it up so it makes a funnel and stick it in my plastic insert concave side up . Lasts 3-7 days, throw it away, and put in new. Pad is about $15, lasts about 3 months.

I have tried a few combinations for my filter cups and they all make the water in the cup compartment start to rise and I worry it will overflow. I don’t have this issue with socks. I would like to switch to cups. I’ve tried the blue and white filter pads and I’ve tried bio media rocks with a little poly-fil on top. My mesh socks don’t capture much - the tank has only been going for a few months and I don’t have much of a load yet. Why do my floss cups overflow but my socks are fine?

 

[DHill6]

Try Pinky floss rolled into a cone shape. It works for me using a Red Sea cup made for the tank. Members here also make cups.

 

[Juan Andrés Botero R]

I use a nylon filter sock 400 microns, that I clean ones a week easily, almost NO FILTER, the aquarium biomass and the skimmer and a quartz sand reactor does all the work!, my nitrates are at 3-5 ppm. and the phosphates are a little higher for my taste 0.12 ppm. Ones the aquarium has a good biomass that eats every thing!, there is no need for fine filter socks of floss! those are nitrates factories!. To keep the water crystal clear, I loaded a carbon reactor with 1-2 mm quartz sand with a flow similar for carbon, that was a BIG innovation to keep the water Crystal clear without Carbon !, I speed the water thought it ones a week to wash it, food for the corals!