FILTER SOCKS - do you need them, alternatives and the great debate

[BanjoBandito]

In the interest of full disclosure, I do have a small shop vac that attaches to a Home Depot/Lowes bucket that I have to vacuum out the bottom of the fuge chamber with maybe every 3-6 months depending. The macro does a good job eating the detritus but it does build up over time. I also do clean the sand bed maybe twice a year. Socks/rollers do a good job of keeping the gunk out but if you're willing to remove it manually once in a while it's no big deal.

I bought a maxi jet pump and the 3D printed 'vacuum attachments' I saw on a BRStv segment. Never looked back. Water change and sweep all in one. I love em.

 

[blaxsun]

i run a mesh filter sock and a normal sock in my sump the mesh are really easy to clean

I like the mesh socks, too. They just don't catch quite as much.

 

[BanjoBandito]

my sump has 6 socks and I absolutely hate them with a passion. I would like to personally throat punch whoever designed my sump with 6 freaking sock holders.

They work so I keep using them.

Really really want to throat punch whoever decided a sump needed 6 socks. I can't stress that enough.

6!?!?! SIX!??!?!?! That's the 3rd level of reefer he** right there!

 

[Dom]

Filter sock/Roller Mat substitute...

I have a cost-saving suggestion that some may appreciate. It isn't "industry standard" but effective. Roller mat systems are nice as they add automation. But is that automation worth the price of a roller mat system? I recently suggested that white felt from a local craft store would do the...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[shakacuz]

i have 8 filter socks that i cycle through. my sump only uses 2, so while i am using the 2, i am bleaching/washing the others. rinse in some FW or tap, then swap.

 

[Gtinnel]

What's mulm and GO BLUE!

It’s the organic debris that builds up, basically detritus.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Never ran a filter sock , I prefer mulm build up as it actually reduces phos / nitrates once you get past an initial bloom because of the micro fauna it creates

 

[Labridaedicted]

I used to run regular felt socks, but started using Reef Diaper socks recently and it made things much easier. Changing socks is no big deal, it's washing them that is literally the absolute worst.

 

[ZoWhat]

Long running tanks have a "silt" that builds up, which is inert and nontoxic...but does dirty the tank and sump.

Socks do a great job exporting this silt

 

[Sean Clark]

I use filter socks because they are simple, cheap, and can not really brake unless you are really trying. They are simple to clean; mine just go straight from the sump into a bucket with bleach water in it, when the bucket is full they go in the wash. They might take me 15 minutes a month of actual work to clean them. I do only run one sock on the main drain of the system and let the secondary and emergency go right into the sump.

If you run a filter roller and you do maintenance in you tank, you have to take your filter roller offline unless you want to waste $30 of reef tank toilet paper. There are so many stories about those things blowing through multiple rolls in a single month or even a week and having motors and sensors failing on them. That doesn't sound like easy maintenance to me.

Refugiums and ATS are both A+ in my book too. Easy filtering that can not really brake.

 

[BanjoBandito]

Long running tanks have a "silt" that builds up, which is inert and nontoxic...but does dirty the tank and sump.

Socks do a great job exporting this silt

I just do some "spring cleaning" with my pump vacuum and suck it up.

 

[PeterC99]

I hate filter socks and changed to these 3D printed filter cups. Change out a small piece of filter floss every week (30 seconds). Cheap, effective, and simple. Also, one less mechanical thing to go wrong (rollers). $15 for the cup & $10 a year for the filter floss. Wife no longer complains about the smell in the washing machine from those filter socks!

 

[Midrats]

Reef Diapers here. I like to spoon a little GFO or Phosguard right into the sock. They go straight into the trash when dirty, pop two fresh ones into the flange, boom done.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I didn't run filter socks. The only time I ran them is when I was doing maintenance. Then I replaced my old recirculating Reef Octo skimmer with an internal Bubble Magnus. I have yet to figure out how to not run filter socks without causing the skimmer to overflow. If I can figure out a work around, I won't run filter socks.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Good discussion! Hope you don't mind. I added a poll!

 

[WVNed]

8 feet of water that goes through nothing but skimmers

 

[WVNed]

I took my sump apart to upgrade it after a couple of years.
Nothing there either.

 

[gbroadbridge]

How many of you run filter socks, if YES - what is your opinion? Does it help? Is it a pain? For those saying NO - why do you not run them and what type of alternatives (if any) are you running?



FULL DISCLOSURE: I hate filter socks.

Roller Mat - I'd never, ever, ever go back to filter socks and their inconvenience.

Tried running the tank commando, too much gunk.

 

[Tcook]

I hate socks. Switched to filter baskets holding polyfil. Much easier.

 

[Rjramos]

From a guy who has been doing this for 30 years, no socks only a passive blue bonded filter pad. Somehow, the methods of mechanical filtration have changed, from filter pad, to socks, to automatic roller fleeces. No doubt, the effectiveness of trapping detritus, uneaten food, and organics has improved. But for what? To trap the reefroids, phyto, PO4/NO3 boosters, and other micro foods you spent money on for your corals? I’d rather all that end up in the coral polyps, refugium, or flowing around in the display water where it can be used. If the nutrients and organics get elevated, then there are water changes, protein skimming, and yes a more effective mechanical filtration. Make sense?