Shoo-Wee Dirty Socks! Are you cleaning your filter socks good enough?

[Passedyouby]

Automated filter roller baby!!!!!! Once a month maintenance, with socks being "replaced" twice a day! Love it

 

[aqua_code]

This is a good reminder to change my filter sock, should do these polls more often.

 

[JCOLE]

Ok this is a question is more for me than anyone at this point because I'm always wondering if I am getting my filter socks clean enough! I'm always wondering did I rinse good enough, should I take a water hose to them, should I throw in the washer, should I add bleach, or maybe I should do all of that? But I'm always wondering are there nasties still in there and what effect, if any, will it have on my water chemistry. So let's talk about it!


1. What is your routine for keeping your filter socks clean?

2. Do you have any tips for cleaning your socks that you could share?


@JCOLE knows how to make his wife mad!

LOL. What she doesn't know won't hurt her!

I made the switch a couple of months ago from Felt to Mesh socks. The felt was hard to get completely clean. The mesh cleans right up with little effort. I also don't run socks 24/7. Only on an as needed bases. I pop them in when I am cleaning the tank, after water changes, etc.

I have two bins. One is for dirty socks and the other is for clean socks. I have about 10-12 socks to go through before throwing them in the washer. I wait until I am on my last two then in the washer they go. I turn them inside out first and wash them with HOT water and a capful or two of bleach. I also put it on presoak to help loosen up dry algae, etc. After the first wash then I flip then right side out and add another cap or two of bleach. On this wash, I run it with two rinses. Once that wash is done then I run another final single rinse wash with no bleach and I add a Dechlorinator to the washer to neutralize any chlorine/bleach.

The socks come out pearly white and do not smell of bleach. I throw them in the clean bucket with the top off to allow them to dry for 24hrs.

 

[Drew Halliday]

I don’t use filter socks unless I did something to make the tank cloudy or if I am siphoning into the filter sock in the sump while I suck up detritus or hair algae. If I use one I take it out after I am done and throw it in the washing machine with extra rinse cycles, hot, with only bleach.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

I selected other. I clean my socks every day. I have 9 or 10 socks, I wash them every Saturday in the washing machine with a cap full of bleach on an hour long cycle, on the the hottest wash. I then rinse again on the hottest wash with no bleach for another 40 mins. I then rinse before use in left over fresh salted R/O from the previous weeks water change. This is for felt socks.

The mesh sock gets rinsed every day under a hot tap, then rinsed with left over slated R/O.

Both socks are changed 20 mins after feeding each day, this way I don't leave any food that may have found its way into the socks for no longer than 20 mins.

 

[jeffrey750750]

Actually I'm washing them in their bleach soak as we speak. I'm only doing that right now because my 7 stage rodi from brs came in as a 4 stage ro unit. A little disappointed right now

 

[Merv49]

Ok this is a question is more for me than anyone at this point because I'm always wondering if I am getting my filter socks clean enough! I'm always wondering did I rinse good enough, should I take a water hose to them, should I throw in the washer, should I add bleach, or maybe I should do all of that? But I'm always wondering are there nasties still in there and what effect, if any, will it have on my water chemistry. So let's talk about it!


1. What is your routine for keeping your filter socks clean?

2. Do you have any tips for cleaning your socks that you could share?


@JCOLE knows how to make his wife mad!

I think the question you ask should be how often do you change filter socks instead of clean. Most have multiple socks so cleaning them could be a weekly, bi monthly, or monthly process. I change socks about every three days and clean/wash them about every three weeks

 

[shakygator]

I have enough I just swap them out every few days when they start to overflow. Throw the dirty ones in a bucket and then about twice a month I run them through the washing machine without any additions. Just need to get the crap off them so water flows through again, no reason to bleach them IMO.

 

[Cyclone-G]

I wait until I have a few reef room towels and filter socks. Do them all at once in our front load wash machine on the normal cycle twice. The first cycle I put in bleach and a few drops of liquid laundry soap (All). The second wash cycle uses no soap or bleach but rinses the socks to the point of no further smell of bleach, soap, or stink.

 

[Reefer92630]

I switched to mesh socks and will never go back to felt. For anyone who thinks felt is better at trapping detritus etc, I disagree as you can get mesh in a wide range of sizes, like from 50 micron to 300 micron. I find it hard to believe that felt can trap better than 50 micron mesh given that most felts are 100. micron.

I use 200 micron since I am not seeking to polish my water.

Here is the huge difference. I can clean my mesh socks in 2 minutes in the sink. Felt is good at trapping detritus from getting past, but it's also good at trapping that junk in the fibers of the felt which makes it difficult to clean.

Cleaning mesh socks is no longer a task I give much thought to anymore. I remove the old (which drains much faster too) , put in the new, walk to the sink, give it a decent rinse with sink sprayer and set aside to dry. And they dry much faster as well so I can store it away.

Mesh doesn't fall apart the way felt does.

I am at a loss how felt has become the standard in the hobby.

Thanks for This. Had no idea mesh filters can go that low in microns. Just ordered 2 50 micron mesh filters. Excited to try them. Dealing with socks has been a pain.

 

[Spendian68]

Wouldn't it be easier

"Black socks, they never get dirty,
The longer you use them the stronger they get. "

Sorry had to post this

Yes but sometimes I think I should change them
but something inside me just tells me not yet not yet not yet not yet.

i stopped using socks as mu tank was too clean, I couldn’t get my nitrates up.

 

[Emerson]

I only have room for 4" x 8" socks, so I end up swapping out socks about every 2-3 days when they start to back up. Each time I clean in a utility sink spraying inside and out with high pressure faucet. Then, I put them out in the sun to dry.

I run a rotation of 5-6 socks. About every 2-3 months, after doing an empty rinse on the washing machine, I'll throw the lot in the washer for a quick wash cycle with hot water only. I'm afraid to add bleach because I worry there will be some residual chlorine leaching into my tank.

Incidentally, I find that my socks clog up significantly (~50% faster) when I'm running UV. Has anyone else noticed that? Maybe because all the algae and bacteria "carcasses"?

I would like to hear more techniques and results from bleach vs no bleach!

 

[Robert1994]

I try to keep up with changing them when ever the water starts flowing over the socks rather than flowing through them. I spray them with the high pressure nozzle in the kitchen sink. On occasion I'll run them through the dish washer after spraying them off in the sink. I keep three sets of the fine mesh nylon socks on hand.

 

[FishTruck]

When I was using them... I was the worst about waiting until they were totally spilling over before swapping them out. Using a rollermat system now - but BOY HOWDY... the cost of those rolls is going to be considerable. My barebottom tank though is staying remarkably clean. The only thing I see are little piles of tiny rocks.

 

[saltyhog]

When I used filter socks I had (still have) about 25 of them. I would turn them inside out and wash with a water hose as thoroughly as I could then put them in a bucket till I was down to the last 3 (my sump has three sock holders) and wash them in my washing machine with a bit of bleach. Dry for at least 3 days. I found it very important to rinse them with the hose as soon as they were removed from the tank. After they dry the grunge is a LOT harder to dislodge.

Now I use filter cups with Polyfil that I change every 3 days. I like that a lot more than socks.

 

[dbl]

I make my own and toss them...no more dealing with poop laden socks. Someday I will get around to hooking up the filter roller I bought a year ago...lol.

 

[drblakjak55]

Answer. Clean them when they overflow. Using the same three 200 micron mesh socks for two years. Two working. One drying. Do a rock and sand cleaning can clog a mesh in one day. Otherwise every five days when they overflow. One unit clearly the workhorse. Two minutes rinse in sink. Dry. Two years

 

[Terr-c]

I use filter floss in a cup as a replacement for my socks. Change the floss every day.

This sounds like something I'd like to try. What kind of cup do you use? Is the name actually filter floss? Do you just put the cup in your sump? If you have any pics that would be great.

 

[Daveobrien]

Current Regime;

• Change all socks in system (2) every Monday
  • Turn dirty socks inside out, rinse bulk of gunk out in sink immediately
  • Store socks wet in bucket of water, one cap of bleach
• Wash two weeks worth of socks in washer every other Monday
  • Hot water, extra rinse, two caps bleach, no detergent -> air dry

But reading these updates - I might start changing more often based on this survey results. I've got enough spare to change about every other day.

 

[RevMH]

This sounds like something I'd like to try. What kind of cup do you use? Is the name actually filter floss? Do you just put the cup in your sump? If you have any pics that would be great.

Sure thing. I'm attaching a picture of the cup I use. It's made by Red Sea. It fits right into the sock compartment, I had to slip the plastic ring from an old sock around it to give it a snug fit, but it fits great otherwise.

I'm also including a picture of it in use, but it's top down and is probably hard to see.

Finally, the last picture is of the filter floss I use. I bought it on Amazon, bag is huge and should last a long time. If I can find the link, I'll edit and add.

Edit: here's a link to what I used.

Fairfield PF-5 Poly-Fil Premium Fiber