Filter Sock Alternative

[Tim Olson]

I don't know how nobody can get their socks clean. Firstly, I started off buying 25 custom made, 50 micron (7x16) socks from filterbag.com. They cost me about $3 per sock with shipping. So there's plenty of extras and you can get any material and with/without plastic ring.

Secondly, after I take out a dirty sock I place it in a home depot bucket and pinch the top of the bag between the folding handle and the bucket, so the bag is suspended and air-dries the bag out back.

Third, I flip the sock inside out, when dry, and stick it in a 2 gallon bucket with screw-on lid (found as a set on Amazon), filled with peroxide to soak them. (I found a place to buy a case of four 1-gallon jugs cheap if anyone is interested). They soak until I have about 6-7 stuffed in there. They I take those and they hit the washing machine for a few rinses.

I never use a hose or sink to rinse them. The peroxide breaks down all the funk. They must also be completely dry when you put them in the peroxide and turned inside out.

If you use socks, you have to have plenty of extras on hand and not be paying $7-$10 a piece for them. I still have half of the socks I haven't even opened yet of the 25. It's effortless.

There was a person that did a microscopic study on cleaning socks and found that bleach just whitens bits of algae in the sock, but peroxide actually removes it.

I really like the DIY idea, but I have to use flexible filter socks. My sump is so cramped I have to bend them a lot to maneuver them into the holder.

Forsaken77 - What concentration of hydrogen peroxide do you use in the bucket? Or do you use is straight, using the four 1-gallon jugs you mentioned? Thanks!

 

[Joeganja]

Do you try and turn them inside out? I have been washing filter socks for years and have never ran into anything as hard to get clean as the redsea socks.

Don't use Red Sea socks. Simple as that. I had the innovative marine ones and they are similar. Only last about a couple of months.

 

[edsbeaker]

Don't use Red Sea socks. Simple as that. I had the innovative marine ones and they are similar. Only last about a couple of months.

Unfortunately, unless you dremel out the openings in the red sea holders, other socks don't fit.

 

[shih87]

Great DIY idea and demo.

My friend help me "dump the filter sock" idea with similar (use filter pad) but different (drawer design) approach 3 years ago, so far it still work great....

 

[Confuse]

Great DIY idea and demo.

My friend help me "dump the filter sock" idea with similar (use filter pad) but different (drawer design) approach 3 years ago, so far it still work great....

I use the same concept as this with filter floss pad like you. Sadly, mine is not as professional. But what I did with mine was to make sure that the filter pad never made contact with water to avoid leaching nitrates. So the water empties on the filter pad and trickles down to the sump. I use eggcrate for the base because I don't have the tools to mess with acrylic, but it's been working great for me. My sump has never been cleaner.

 

[Centerline]

I don't know how nobody can get their socks clean. Firstly, I started off buying 25 custom made, 50 micron (7x16) socks from filterbag.com. They cost me about $3 per sock with shipping. So there's plenty of extras and you can get any material and with/without plastic ring.

Secondly, after I take out a dirty sock I place it in a home depot bucket and pinch the top of the bag between the folding handle and the bucket, so the bag is suspended and air-dries the bag out back.

Third, I flip the sock inside out, when dry, and stick it in a 2 gallon bucket with screw-on lid (found as a set on Amazon), filled with peroxide to soak them. (I found a place to buy a case of four 1-gallon jugs cheap if anyone is interested). They soak until I have about 6-7 stuffed in there. They I take those and they hit the washing machine for a few rinses.

I never use a hose or sink to rinse them. The peroxide breaks down all the funk. They must also be completely dry when you put them in the peroxide and turned inside out.

If you use socks, you have to have plenty of extras on hand and not be paying $7-$10 a piece for them. I still have half of the socks I haven't even opened yet of the 25. It's effortless.

There was a person that did a microscopic study on cleaning socks and found that bleach just whitens bits of algae in the sock, but peroxide actually removes it.

I've been using filter socks over and over for 20 years and have never had a problem until I ran into the Red Sea socks. If I read your post correctly you use 2 gallons of peroxide? Is that standard 3% solution you are using or something more aggressive? The 3% stuff runs about $9 gallon so 6 or 7 socks per 2 gallons costs around $2.50 a sock to clean. This is assuming the peroxide has lost its reactive nature due to oxygen exposure and reactions with the crap in the socks. I must be missing something here.

 

[Forsaken77]

I really like the DIY idea, but I have to use flexible filter socks. My sump is so cramped I have to bend them a lot to maneuver them into the holder.

Forsaken77 - What concentration of hydrogen peroxide do you use in the bucket? Or do you use is straight, using the four 1-gallon jugs you mentioned? Thanks!

You have to use it straight. If you add water to peroxide it converts it to water. So that's also why the filter socks have to be dry before adding them to the peroxide. It's 3% hydrogen peroxide btw.

I've been using filter socks over and over for 20 years and have never had a problem until I ran into the Red Sea socks. If I read your post correctly you use 2 gallons of peroxide? Is that standard 3% solution you are using or something more aggressive? The 3% stuff runs about $9 gallon so 6 or 7 socks per 2 gallons costs around $2.50 a sock to clean. This is assuming the peroxide has lost its reactive nature due to oxygen exposure and reactions with the crap in the socks. I must be missing something here.

No, lol. I should've been more clear, but didn't want to type a novel. I use a 2 gallon pail, not 2 gallons of peroxide, with an air tight/water tight Gamma Seal twist-on lid.

I get a box of four 1-gallon bottles of peroxide for about $30 shipped from an online medical supplier. The socks take up a lot of the room in the pail. So I use approximately 3/4 of a gallon for every 6-7 socks that I stuff in the pail.

I change the 50 micron, drawstring, 7x16 sock (so it's large) about once a week because I don't overfeed and I'm not overstocked.

So the peroxide keeps longer having a sealed lid and dry socks. After they've been soaking inside out, all the crap is loosened out of them. I empty out the peroxide and toss them in the washer for 2-3 rinse cycles.

I didn't say it was the cheapest, or free, I just said it gets the socks clean. Because I've used the hose before and soaking them works much better. They come out white, without bleach. Then they air dry.

This article made me remember I needed to order more peroxide and the supplier now has no prices listed next to ANY of their products and it says "contact us for price." I hope they didn't close down. The last time I ordered was January and I've been using this method for the past 2 years.

 

[Forsaken77]

I've been using filter socks over and over for 20 years and have never had a problem until I ran into the Red Sea socks. If I read your post correctly you use 2 gallons of peroxide? Is that standard 3% solution you are using or something more aggressive? The 3% stuff runs about $9 gallon so 6 or 7 socks per 2 gallons costs around $2.50 a sock to clean. This is assuming the peroxide has lost its reactive nature due to oxygen exposure and reactions with the crap in the socks. I must be missing something here.

What's the problem with the Red Sea socks that makes them more difficult?

 

[edsbeaker]

I've used the regular kind of filter socks for many years without issue until I got my Red Sea reefer. The socks must be much more tightly woven with thicker fabric so clog much faster then anything else I have used. They only last 2-3 days in my tank, which means I clean 6 in just one week. This is when they are new. Each consecutive week of use they seem to clog faster and faster. Unless you modify the holders in the sump....which I may do as a last resort... you can not use other socks. That combined with the cost of each at a very reasonable Price of $9.99 EACH is what makes all of us Reefer owners crazy!

 

[Gahngoo]

My tank has been running for almost 10 years. I've always used socks. I used to buy eshopps socks, but they get clogged in about a week. For the last few years I've been using Odysea filter socks I bought on eBay. They are cheaper and are more of a filter pad material than a felt material like the eshopps. With that said, they filter well and I can get easily get two weeks out of them. They are much easier to rise clean than the eshopps. They rinse out back to white unlike the other ones that turn a brownish color. They aren't as durable, but they're cheap and effective.

That's my 2¢.

 

[Tim Olson]

You have to use it straight. If you add water to peroxide it converts it to water. So that's also why the filter socks have to be dry before adding them to the peroxide. It's 3% hydrogen peroxide btw.


No, lol. I should've been more clear, but didn't want to type a novel. I use a 2 gallon pail, not 2 gallons of peroxide, with an air tight/water tight Gamma Seal twist-on lid.

I get a box of four 1-gallon bottles of peroxide for about $30 shipped from an online medical supplier. The socks take up a lot of the room in the pail. So I use approximately 3/4 of a gallon for every 6-7 socks that I stuff in the pail.

I change the 50 micron, drawstring, 7x16 sock (so it's large) about once a week because I don't overfeed and I'm not overstocked.

So the peroxide keeps longer having a sealed lid and dry socks. After they've been soaking inside out, all the crap is loosened out of them. I empty out the peroxide and toss them in the washer for 2-3 rinse cycles.

I didn't say it was the cheapest, or free, I just said it gets the socks clean. Because I've used the hose before and soaking them works much better. They come out white, without bleach. Then they air dry.

This article made me remember I needed to order more peroxide and the supplier now has no prices listed next to ANY of their products and it says "contact us for price." I hope they didn't close down. The last time I ordered was January and I've been using this method for the past 2 years.

Thank you!

Do you think if I hose them down first I could use the hydrogen peroxide more than once? BTW I have a sealed bucket I can use to soak and/store it in.

 

[Forsaken77]

Thank you!

Do you think if I hose them down first I could use the hydrogen peroxide more than once? BTW I have a sealed bucket I can use to soak and/store it in.

You could try it, but I can't say definitively. In fact I just started doing the same thing, starting yesterday, since I saw my suppliers site is not showing prices anymore until I get them on the phone.

Because the peroxide has been holding for almost 2 months worth of socks as long as it's sealed and with dry socks, I just don't know how much longer it will last. So yea, I started to hose the sock off yesterday, then throw it in the pail when it's dry.

You go through a lot less peroxide if the bucket is smaller. A 5 gallon bucket would cost a fortune in peroxide, it's just too big. The lid of the 2 gallon bucket actually keeps the socks submerged in the peroxide because it screws into the bucket, pushing down anything that is near the top. So I know I'm at the max when peroxide starts to overflow out of the top.

Obviously the socks at the bottom will clean better because they've been in the solution much longer, but I usually put my last sock in and give it a week until my next sock change. So that last sock doesn't get as much time.

I've heard of people using coffee filters to reuse the same peroxide and get all of the particles out. Just seems like to much extra work unless you need to change out 1 or 2 socks on a constant basis. That's why I bought a bunch of socks cheap, so I didn't have to go that route.

 

[Forsaken77]

I've used the regular kind of filter socks for many years without issue until I got my Red Sea reefer. The socks must be much more tightly woven with thicker fabric so clog much faster then anything else I have used. They only last 2-3 days in my tank, which means I clean 6 in just one week. This is when they are new. Each consecutive week of use they seem to clog faster and faster. Unless you modify the holders in the sump....which I may do as a last resort... you can not use other socks. That combined with the cost of each at a very reasonable Price of $9.99 EACH is what makes all of us Reefer owners crazy!

Maybe try contacting the guy at filterbag.com and asking if they've made socks for the Red Sea Reefers (if they're different than the Max's socks) and had success with making them. Or maybe you could send him a sock that's almost out of commission so they can make it fit identically, but not clog like that. It's the ring of the sock, I assume, why you can't use other socks?

Because they make filter socks for EVERY type of industry (aquarium, oil and gas, ect...) and every aspect of the sock is customizable from the micron rating, size of the sock, felt or mesh and if you want polypropylene felt or regular, plastic rim at the top, regular or drawstring.

Because even if they have to custom make them, which is what I did, I can almost guarantee they would be much cheaper than $10. The only thing with a custom order is you need to get at least 25 socks minimum, unless, like you said, you find another way around it.

 

[Forsaken77]

I've used the regular kind of filter socks for many years without issue until I got my Red Sea reefer. The socks must be much more tightly woven with thicker fabric so clog much faster then anything else I have used. They only last 2-3 days in my tank, which means I clean 6 in just one week. This is when they are new. Each consecutive week of use they seem to clog faster and faster. Unless you modify the holders in the sump....which I may do as a last resort... you can not use other socks. That combined with the cost of each at a very reasonable Price of $9.99 EACH is what makes all of us Reefer owners crazy!

Sorry, couldn't edit my previous post any longer. They have tabs holding the sock in place right? So if you get a sock with a round plastic ring at the top, is it possible to just cut a nook out of the plastic ring instead of modifying the sump?

 

[edsbeaker]

Maybe try contacting the guy at filterbag.com and asking if they've made socks for the Red Sea Reefers (if they're different than the Max's socks) and had success with making them. Or maybe you could send him a sock that's almost out of commission so they can make it fit identically, but not clog like that. It's the ring of the sock, I assume, why you can't use other socks?

Because they make filter socks for EVERY type of industry (aquarium, oil and gas, ect...) and every aspect of the sock is customizable from the micron rating, size of the sock, felt or mesh and if you want polypropylene felt or regular, plastic rim at the top, regular or drawstring.

Because even if they have to custom make them, which is what I did, I can almost guarantee they would be much cheaper than $10. The only thing with a custom order is you need to get at least 25 socks minimum, unless, like you said, you find another way around it.
Sorry, couldn't edit my previous post any longer. They have tabs holding the sock in place right? So if you get a sock with a round plastic ring at the top, is it possible to just cut a nook out of the plastic ring instead of modifying the sump?

I could try calling filterbag.com. Thats a good idea...you never know!

The actual ring itself locks down into the sumps holder, it isn't a tab per se, so its possible that I could modify a cheaper sock. I've never really thought of that. I guess it was too obvious!!! I like the BRS ones and since they ship now for free, I think I will order me one. Thanks for the idea.

 

[uptcreek]

Anybody figured out how to keep your copepods from being thrown out with the"bathwater?

 

[Forsaken77]

Thank you!

Do you think if I hose them down first I could use the hydrogen peroxide more than once? BTW I have a sealed bucket I can use to soak and/store it in.

I just wanted to add one thing. You will ALWAYS have to replace filter socks after so many uses. They either take a beating during cleaning and expand the micron size too much, or they eventually start to clog up naturally over time. I think using the hose to blast them clean first will probably speed up the deterioration. That's why I didn't do it, but now I'm forced to until I find another cheap peroxide supplier.

The method I use prolongs the use, for me, but little by little small pieces still stuck within the sock will lead to eventual clogging or the sock will start to shred apart from all of the cleaning from the washing machine and/or the hose. So far they seem to run parallel with each other doing it this way. The sock starts to deteriorate at the same rate it gets clogged, which tells me it's working or one would happen well before the other.

Just wanted to let you know that the method I use doesn't mean the socks will last forever is all.

 

[RONBATTLE]

VERY GOOD IDEA...NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION....

 

[Pjones]

Great idea! why did you only drill the holes up part way? socks use the full length as they fill just wodering.

 

[edsbeaker]

Great idea! why did you only drill the holes up part way? socks use the full length as they fill just wodering.

Following... I was wondering this too. I'm going to be drilling out my containers tomorrow and am planning on doing the entire height of the container unless there is a reason not to.